Chapter 523: ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR

WHEN NEOMA arrived at the boys’ room (aka the room shared by Xion, Jeno, and Greko), she scanned the place and noticed that the one she was looking for wasn’t there.

Jeno was sitting on the windowsill while cleaning his rifle while Greko was reading a book on his bed. The two immediately stopped what they were doing to stand up and bow to her politely.

“Hello, kids,” Neoma said while looking around. “Where’s Xion?”

Jeno was about to open his mouth, but he just closed it instantly.

After all, Xion suddenly appeared in front of her.

[Oh, there you are.]

Xion bowed his head towards her. “You called, Your Royal Highness?”

.....

“Uh-huh,” she said. “Xion, go and stalk Rubin Drayton. I want you to find everything about his business here on the East Continent- from his destination, his itinerary, his goal, and the people he’s meeting with. Report everything to me, no matter how trivial it is. Can you do that?”

Xion nodded confidently. “I can do that, Princess Neoma.”

“Very well,” she said. “Also, while you’re at it, find everything you can about Regina Crowell. Obviously, Rubin is here because he believes that Regina Crowell is on this continent. But I want to know what led him here. He isn’t that capable.”

She wasn’t underestimating Rubin Drayton- she was simply speaking facts.

The assassin tilted his head to one side. “Are you thinking that Regina Crowell might have lured Rubin Drayton here?”

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “Rubin is not that cunning, and I don’t think he has capable people around him. He wouldn’t have “found” Regina on his own.”

On the other hand, Regina Rowell was smart and crafty.

[Regina didn’t let go of Rubin in the past, so there must be a reason why the crows targeted the Draytons back then.]

Now she needed to know if Rubin Drayton was really relevant to Regina Crowell.

“I received Your Royal Highness’s order,” Xion said, then he bowed to her. “Then I’ll take my leave now.”

“Wait,” she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. “If things get too dangerous for you to handle alone, what would you do?”

“I’ll run away.”

“Because...?”

“My life is more important than the mission.”

“Very good,” she said, smiling. She was satisfied with her son’s accurate response. “No mission is worth dying for, kids. You have to return to me alive at all costs or else I’ll go cray-cray. So, for the sake of world peace, don’t get hurt.”

Her “sons” bowed to her to acknowledge what she had just said.

historical

[Gosh, my children are really good kids.]

“Be careful, Xion,” she said, then she patted the assassin’s shoulders. “Report to me every hour, okay? And send a copy of your report to Paige, too.”

It wasn’t official yet, but she was thinking of making Paige the vice-commander of her Knight Order.

[I mean, Lewis is the commander because he’s the strongest. But I don’t expect him to do administrative jobs, since he’ll probably stick to me like glue once he’s free from Nero’s clutches. So, it will be wiser to put someone as reliable as Paige to be the vice-commander.]

“I understand, Princess Neoma,” Xion said, then he smiled at her. “Please stay safe while I’m away. If you get hurt, we will also go crazy.”

She smiled and gave Xion a thumbs up. “Gotcha.”

Xion bowed to her again, and this time, he left without even a word to his siblings.

[Just assassin things.]

She turned to her your youngest child after Xion left. “Greko, can you call your Juri noona and Paige noona for me? They’re in the next room, right?”

Greko smiled and nodded. “Okay, eomma. I’ll call them and return soon.”

She just ruffled their maknae’s head affectionately.

Greko giggled, then he excused himself politely before leaving the room.

And now, she was alone with Jeno, whom she needed to talk to in private. She didn’t want Greko to hear what she was about to ask the Marksman to do, thus she sent the youngest to an errand.

“Jeno.”

Jeno, who obviously knew that she had an order for him, immediately bowed his head to her. “I’m at your service, Princess Neoma.”

“Your Mist that can create illusions, I need that,” Neoma said, her eyes turning glowing red as her head was suddenly filled with murderous thoughts. “I need that to torture someone mentally.”

***

SIENNA almost dropped the precious bottle of wine that she stole- uhm, “borrowed” from the wine cellar after she heard what Phoebe Willows said while they were walking in the garden. “Come again? How did you introduce yourself to Neoma de Moonasterio?”

“I introduced myself as Lord Ruto’s fiancée,” Phoebe answered innocently. “Why? Did I make a mistake?”

She almost dropped the bottle of wine again, so this time, she hugged it close to her chest in order to protect it. “It’s a miracle that you’re still alive, Phoebe. I told you to be careful around Neoma de Moonasterio. That child is a hazard to the world!”

Her childhood friend just laughed at her warning. “What are you saying, Sienna? Princess Neoma is quite collected when I met her. Moreover, what she feels for Lord Ruto is nothing but a mere crush. It’s actually cute.”

[No, you don’t know what you’re talking about.]

It was probably because Phoebe Willows didn’t know that Neoma de Moonasterio was an adult mentally and spiritually, and so was Yoan.

[The Willows Clan is the main family that serves Lord Levi. But even though they have served Lord Levi for generations now, it’s not like Lord Levi would spill Neoma de Moonasterio and Yoan’s secrets to his followers.]

“I can’t be threatened by a child,” Phoebe said confidently. “Moreover, Lord Levi sent his Messenger to our family to inform us that I am the only woman worthy of his son.”

She wanted to roll her eyes at the false hope that Lord Levi gave Phoebe and the Willows.

[Lord Levi will choose anyone over Neoma de Moonasterio because he doesn’t want Yoan to end up with the princess. He only probably chose Phoebe because she’s the same age as Yoan. Physically, that is.]

“Phoebe, Yoan already rejected your family’s marriage proposal when you were both kids,” she reminded her childhood friend. “Did you suddenly bring up the marriage talk again because you heard that Yoan has lost a big portion of his memories? Do you think he’ll change his mind?”

“Exactly,” Phoebe said brightly. “Maybe Lord Ruto losing some of his memories is a sign for me to pursue him.” She clenched her hands tightly, her face lighting up. “I can’t let go of a perfect man like Lord Ruto, so I’ll do my best to win him over this time.”

She wanted to tell Phoebe not to get her hopes high, but she remembered that ‘all is fair in love and war.’

Thus, she just kept her mouth shut.

“Whatever you do, just don’t cross Neoma de Moonasterio,” Sienna warned Phoebe. “Trust me, Phoebe- you can’t handle the crazy princess.”

***

“CYNTHIA Braun, Jennifer O’Kelly, Susan Alberts,” Nero said while drumming his fingers on the table. “I heard those three making fun of you, Hanna.”

“Leave them alone,” Hanna told her while she was busy cutting the steak onto her plate. “I’m not affected by their words.”

“Uh-huh.”

He said that, but he already had a plan formed in his head to punish the ladies who were spreading nasty rumors about Hanna.

[I suppose I can’t kill them.]

But he could end their social lives, along with the downfall of their families.

“Seriously, Nero,” Hanna said, then she smiled at him as if she was trying to appeal to him. “I’m really fine. I will stand up for myself if I have to. But right now, they’re pretty harmless.”

He just sipped his apple juice.

Right now, Nero and Hanna were having lunch at a fancy restaurant near the Royal Moon Academy. It was called ‘The Palate.’ Most guests at the moment were from the same academy as them.

But since he was the Crown Prince, he had the whole private lounge on the second floor to himself and his company.

Lewis was seated at the table next to him and Hanna.

“Prince Nero, I finally found you.”

He instantly lost his appetite as soon as he saw Calyx Dalton approach him. The fake prince was followed by the restaurant staff, who was probably trying to stop the crow.

“It’s alright,” he said to the restaurant staff. “You can leave now.”

The restaurant staff bowed before leaving quietly.

Lewis, on the other hand, stood up and blocked Calyx Dalton’s way.

“Stop,” Lewis said indifferently. “Say. Now. Business.”

He rolled his eyes.

[Lewis is speaking incoherently again.]

No wonder Calyx Dalton looked confused.

It was an opposite reaction from Hanna who looked entertained at the moment. To be precise, Hanna was looking at Lewis with sparkling eyes as if she was amused.

[I don’t like it.]

For some reason, it turned his mood sour.

.....

“As you can see, I’m in the middle of my meal,” Nero said indifferently. “State your business as shortly as possible, Lord Calyx.”

“Princess Neoma will be registered to the Royal Household soon, and the law that will allow women to inherit their family title will be passed along with that,” Calyx Dalton said in a serious voice. “Of course, that law will also grant the de Moonasterion royal princesses the right to succeed the throne.”

Hanna gasped softly.

He wasn’t surprised since he had already expected that outcome.

[Still, Duke Quinzel deserves credit. He followed the script well.]

But he wasn’t satisfied yet.

“All the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families have already signed the law, so we’ll only have to wait for it to be official,” Calyx Dalton continued. “Isn’t it about time for you and His Majesty to quit playing around?”

“Do you believe it’s enough for us to reconsider stepping down from power?”

The crazy bastard knitted his eyebrows. “What do you mean by that?”

“Putting Neoma in the Royal Household Registry is something that even the Crown Prince has the power to do so,” he said in a bored voice. “And I’m confident that I can make the Twelve Golden Families sign the law that allows women to inherit their family title if I wanted to. In short, I don’t need something that I can achieve with my own power.”

Of course, he was half-bluffing.

It was true that putting Neoma in the Royal Household Registry was easy.

However, the law that would allow women to inherit their family titles would be hard. If it was easy without the approval of the Twelve Golden Families, then his father would have already made them pass the law a long time ago.

But, thankfully, Calyx Dalton was easy to fool.

“Then what else do you want, Prince Nero?” the crazy bastard asked desperately. “What will make you and His Majesty stay as the Crown Prince and the emperor, respectively?”

“I only want one thing,” Nero said, smirking. “And that’s absolute power.”

Hanna and Lewis both turned to Nero with a surprised look on their faces.

On the other hand, Calyx Dalton’s eyes went wide when he realized what Nero meant by what he said. “Are you talking about the Emperor’s Decree?”

Nero smiled and shrugged. “I’ll leave that to your imagination, Calyx Dalton.”

***

“YOU DO not deserve my son, Neoma de Moonasterio.”

Neoma was wondering how she ended up meeting the “apparition” of Lord Levi, the God Among Gods or whatever, when she just wanted to eat rice and chicken. But since she was already there, she blurted out the thing that she had always wanted to say to Ruto’s “divine father.” “And you do not have the qualifications to be my father-in-law, Lord Levi.”

So, how did she end up in this situation again?

***

NOTE: Hi. It would be nice to read comments other than ‘please update.’ Back when I was updating daily, I rarely received comments. Sometimes I feel like talking to a wall when I update and there are little to no comments. Hehe. I mean, it’s not a requirement. It would just be nice to hear from you since it motivates me more. ??

PS: Big thanks to the people who are consistent with leaving comments.