性瘾者

She rolled her eyes.

What a snitch.

Anyway, she already gave Nero and Jasper Oppa a heads up a while ago. She talked separately to them, but she told her two older brothers the same thing. She created a lie as to why she and Jasper Oppa fought.

After all, their story needed to be consistent.

Right now, Madam Hammock was leading her twin brother to the private parlor where Nero would wait for them.

She, on the other hand, would greet her Papa Boss.

Thus, she was on her way to the main entrance of Madam Hammock\'s residence.

"Ah, there he is," she said when she saw her Papa Boss and Sir Glenn a few meters away from them. Well, it wasn\'t hard to see them since her father\'s beauty was impossible to miss. Sir Glenn was also quite a looker. Most of all, the two were both over six feet. The emperor and the knight were too tall not to be seen right away. "And who must be those kids…"

Her voice trailed off when she recognized the blonde hair from afar. Even though the two kids had their backs on her, she could still make out their features.

Rubin Drayton…?

The young lord wasn\'t alone. There was a young lady with him– a young lady with long jet-black hair. Based on the modest dress that the girl wore, she could tell that she wasn\'t from a noble household.

In the past, there was only one lady beside Rubin who refused to wear elegant dresses no matter how many times the young lord bought them for her.

Her heart thumped against her chest painfully.

"Regina Crowell," she whispered to herself. "That\'s Regina."

Lewis turned to her with a worried look on his face. Since her son already knew the story of life, he was aware of who Regina Crowell was. "Should I deal with her…?"

"No," she said, then she clenched her hands. "I need to confirm first if she\'s innocent or not."

Before she changed her mind, she marched towards the two traitors in her past life.

Her heart was still beating erratically and even though she didn\'t want to admit this, her body was trembling a bit. She didn\'t know if she was scared or excited to roast Regina Crowell now that she had the advantage of her previous life. Either way, she didn\'t want to miss this moment.

"Papa, you\'re here," she greeted the emperor brightly.

"Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Rubin and Regina greeted her, their heads still hanged low.

She looked at Rubin and Regina.

Since Regina was bowing deeply, her jet-black hair framed her small face. She couldn\'t see her face yet, but she remembered that she had green eyes that almost resembled Hanna\'s.

Regina used those green eyes of hers to manipulate Duchess Amber Quinzel in her first life.

"You didn\'t have to come out to greet me," her Papa Boss said when he turned to her. "Let\'s get inside."

"Let me greet Rubin first, Papa," she said with a bright smile. "Please wait at Madam Hammock\'s lounge first. She already began preparing tea for us."

Her Papa Boss let out a sigh. "Make it quick."

After saying that, her father began to head towards the infirmary.

"See you later, Your Royal Highness," Sir Glenn said brightly to her before he followed the emperor.

And now, she was left with Rubin and Regina.

Of course, Lewis stood closely behind her.

"You may now raise your heads," she said to Rubin and Regina while her hands were on her back.

She didn\'t want them to see her nails digging deep into the skin of her palms.

Especially when Rubin and Regina finally raised their heads to look at her.

The first thing that caught her attention was Regina\'s green eyes. She couldn\'t help but make eye contact with her after all.

Neoma smiled and tried her best not to leak her bloodlust. "And who might be this pretty young lady that you brought here, Rubin?"

Not gonna lie– Regina Crowell is really pretty.

Jet-black hair, big and rounded green eyes, porcelain skin. She looked like a doll. And her beauty stood out no matter how simple her clothes were.

"She\'s older than you, Prince Nero," Rubin said with a scowl. "Her name is Regina Crowell. She\'s a friend of mine."

\'Friend,\' my ass.

Regina smiled and curtsied to him. "I\'m very honored to meet you, Your Royal Highness."

"The pleasure is mine, Miss Crowell," she said smoothly even though in her mind, she had already planned twenty-three ways of killing Regina Crowell. To distract herself from her murderous thoughts, she turned to Rubin. "I didn\'t know that you were going to visit. How did you enter the Royal Palace?"

"I arrived with my father," the young lord explained. "I only made a detour because Regina wants to meet you, Prince Nero."

The audacity of this b– never mind.

"Really now?" she asked, still in a cheerful voice. Then, she turned to Regina whose cheeks suddenly turned rosier. The sight almost made her puke. "Is there a particular reason why you wanted to meet me, Miss Crowell?"

Regina, like the actress that she was in her first life, looked "shy" all of a sudden. She couldn\'t even meet her gaze. "I heard that the Crown Prince\'s beauty is unparalleled. I\'m curious if it\'s that\'s true," she said "shyly." "And now that I have been given the chance to see you up close, I can attest that your beauty is really blinding. You\'re shining, Your Royal Highness."

Shining…?

Ah, that reminded her of a misconception about a certain type of bird.

"You seem to be fascinated with shiny things, Miss Crowell," she said.

Regina smiled and nodded. "This is shameful to admit but I\'m really attracted to shiny and beautiful things, Your Royal Highness."

Neoma smiled at the answer that she was expecting from Regina. "Miss Crowell, perhaps, are you a crow?"

***

SURPRISINGLY, Nero could tolerate Emperor Nikolai\'s presence now.

Currently, they were in Madam Hammock\'s parlor. He and his father sat opposite each other while having tea in silence.

Sir Glen stood behind her father.

On the other hand, the White Tiger and the Black Tortoise had returned to their beastly form. And now, the two Soul Beasts sat lazily on either of his sides.

Madam Hammock left a while ago after serving tea to them.

"I heard that Neoma had a brawl with Duke Jasper Hawthorne," Emperor Nikolai said, then he put his teacup down on the coaster. "Apparently, you and Hanna Quinzel were there. Did you just watch your twin sister beat the young duke to a pulp?"

"It was entertaining," Nero said, then he sipped his tea. "Neoma has grown so much in the past three years."

"It seems like you don\'t have any intention to tell me why Neoma fought with the young duke," his father said. "Then, I have no choice but to talk to him later."

"They had a feud over a territory that the duke wants to buy from Lewis Crevan," he said. Before Neoma left a while ago, she already made up an excuse as to why she fought with Jasper Hawthorne. The young duke was also informed of that lie in advance. "But I have something more important to discuss with you, Your Majesty."

"And what might it be?"

"You told me earlier that you\'re giving Neoma her own Order," he said. His father mentioned that to him when he informed him of the things that his twin sister had accomplished. Apparently, as a reward, the emperor decided to give Neoma her own private army– one that she could keep even after her role as his substitute. "I also want my own Order, Your Majesty."

"You didn\'t have to ask, Nero," His Majesty said. "As soon as your curse has been purified, I will create an Order for you."

"No, Your Majesty," he said while shaking his head. "I want you to start recruiting outstanding individuals to be a part of my future Order now instead of later. Of course, it should be done discreetly."

His father seemed to be amused by his idea. "Is there a reason why you want me to gather extraordinary people for your Order as early as now?"

"Because I\'m looking for specific individuals and it might not be easy to find them," Nero explained, then he sipped his tea again. "Your Majesty, I\'d like you to create the "Secret Order" in my place and call it "Project Zero." Would that be possible?"

"You\'re the real Crown Prince, Nero," Emperor Nikolai reminded him. "I will give you everything and anything that you desire."

***

"A C-CROW?"

Neoma raised a brow when Regina acted like she was confused.

But she saw it– she saw how girlie\'s (Regina was \'girlie\' to her from now on) eyes turned dark for a moment. Her instincts said so, and she trusted herself the most in this world.

"I apologize but I\'m afraid I don\'t know what you mean by that, Your Royal Highness," Regina said as if she was panicking. "I am not educated so perhaps, my understanding is lacking…"

"Regina, it\'s okay," Rubin said while gently patting girlie\'s back. "It\'s not your fault."

"I\'m talking about a folklore about crows," Neoma explained. She didn\'t mean to insult Regina\'s education. Plus, she knew that she was faking it. Regina was educated and she was damn smart. "Apparently, crows like shiny things. There are even stories that say crows steal shiny objects that catch their attention."

"Oh," Regina said when she calmed down. God, she\'d give girlie an A+ for acting naïve. "Is that why you asked if I was a crow, Your Royal Highness?"

"Yes, Miss Crowell," she said with a smile. If she\'d grade her acting skills, she\'d give herself an A+++. "Your penchant for shiny objects reminds me of crows. It\'s cute."

Girlie smiled as if she was pleased.

"But do you know that crows don\'t actually like shiny things?"

Regina seemed genuinely confused now. "But I also thought that crows like shiny objects, Your Royal Highness."

"That\'s a misconception, Miss Crowell," Neoma said with a soft laugh. "Crows are actually scared of shiny things." She tilted her head and gently poked her cheek with her finger. "Shiny things such as my glow, don\'t you think so?"

***

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