性瘾者

"I\'M SO HANDSOME," Neoma said in a frustrated voice while looking at her reflection in the mirror. I\'m so freaking handsome!

Just look at her fancy outfit for tonight.

She wore a red medieval-ish military jacket with tail back and high slit, double lines of golden buttons in the front, golden laces for decoration, and golden epaulettes with tassles on both shoulders. Underneath the military coat were a white crisp shirt with small trimmings on the cuffs, and a white cravat tie with double layers.

For her bottom, she wore a pair of white trousers (she stopped wearing shorts a while ago) and a matching boots and belt (and a lot of golden chains around her outfit).

The cherry on top of her outfit was the gold cape draped over her left-shoulder.

And oh, her chic black gloves too.

"Why am I born with this face?" she continued complaining even though she liked what she was seeing in the mirror anyway. "I even look immaculate in this kind of outfit that\'s very hard to pull-off."

Stephanie and Alphen looked confused by her complaint.

Well, to be honest, the two did a very good job.

Alphen chose her outfit for today\'s banquet while Stephanie was the one who helped her wear her clothes. Since her identity as the royal princess was a top secret, only the head maid was in-charge of helping her take a bath and dress up.

"Your Royal Highness, are the clothes that I chose too flashy for your liking?" Alphen asked worriedly. "There are several other clothes that I prepared for the banquet. Would you like to see them?"

"Nah, I trust your taste, Alphen," she said. "And whatever I wear, we cannot hide the fact that I\'m pretty. Gosh, my face is top-tier."

"Your Royal Highness, your face is the kind of face that suits both a girl and a boy," Stephanie said sincerely. "Please don\'t worry about that too much."

Ah, Stephanie understood her.

As expected of my nanny.

The head maid\'s words actually made her feel better.

"Thank you, Stephanie and Alphen," she said with a smile. "Can you fetch Hanna from her room and bring her here? I\'d like to have a talk with her before we leave my palace."

Stephanie and Alphen bowed to her before they quietly left her room.

After a while, she heard a soft knock on her door. Then, Lewis entered.

Woah!

"Lewis, you look so cool!" she gushed when she saw her son\'s outfit today. "The White Lion Knights\' full dress uniform looks so good on you."

Lewis wore a white full dress high-necked tunic that reminded her of pre-World War 1 pattern that she saw in the pictures back in her second life. Anyway, the jacket had golden epaulettes with tassles, and blue linings. Her son\'s uniform was completed with a pair of white trousers and black boots.

The most stylish parts of Lewis\'s outfit were the one-shoulder navy blue mantle on his shoulder, and his pair of white gloves.

"Lewis, you\'d look cooler if you have you sword attached to your hip."

"We\'re not allowed to bring swords or other types of weapon in the presence of the emperor, Princess Neoma," Lewis reminded her. "Only Sir Glenn, His Majesty\'s personal knight and the vice-commander of the White Lion Knights, is allowed to do so."

"Ah, right," she said while nodding his head. "Knights who will guard inside the palace won\'t be allowed to bring weapons inside. Only the knights outside could wield weapons."

That was why the knights of the inner palace were Mana-users. So even if they couldn\'t wield weapons, they could still protect the emperor and the guests using their Mana. Luckily, the emperor\'s Order never lacked of talented Mana-users.

"Don\'t worry, Princess Neoma," Lewis assured her. "I can protect you even without a sword."

"I know that," she said, then she gave him a thumbs up. "I can also protect myself even without a weapon."

For some reason, her son let out a deep sigh.

She was soon distracted when she heard a knock on the door. This time, it was Hanna who entered her room.

And wow, she almost fell on her knees.

"Hanna, you\'re so pretty!" she gushed when she saw her cousin. "And OMG! Your dress is so lovely!"

Hanna wore a jewel neck lace appliqué beaded dress with feather sleeves and a tulle with cascading ruffle sweep train. The color of the dress was lavender gradient. It seemed to be her cousin\'s favorite color and she could clearly see why.

Her cousin looked prettier than normal tonight.

Hanna\'s wavy hair fell freely on her back, and she wore a flower crown for decoration. Since she already had good skin, her face still glowed beautifully even without makeup.

"Thank you, Neoma," Hanna said with a smile. "You look lovely."

She laughed softly. "Shouldn\'t you say I look "dashing?""

Her cousin chuckled and shook her head. "You are lovely, Neoma."

Lewis nodded in agreement.

Aww, she was touched.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "I needed to hear that."

Her cousin just smiled at her.

"Lewis, Hanna, do you remember the most important thing that I asked you to do if we were attacked later?"

The two nodded.

"I won\'t use my Mana to fight," Hanna said even though she still looked like she was in a protest. After all, her cousin couldn\'t understand why she was preventing her from using her Mana even though technically, Hanna was a strong Mana-user. "And if your hunch was correct about you getting controlled by the enemies, I will use the item that you asked me borrow from Madam Hammock."

"Good," she said, hoping that Hanna wouldn\'t be put in a situation where she wouldn\'t have to fight. After all, she didn\'t want her cousin to die from using her Mana too much. "Thank you for reaching out to Madam Hammock for me, Hanna," she added before she turned to Lewis. "You also know what to do, right?"

"I won\'t fight an enemy that I know I can\'t beat," Lewis said in a non-committal tone. "Instead, I will ask for Sir Glenn\'s help."

She nodded firmly. "Our last resort would be asking for the help of the adults that we trust– and there are only a few of them."

"I\'ll ask for my parents\' help if the situation goes out of hand," Hanna promised her. Of course, Duke and Duchess Quinzel would be at the banquet later. "But Neoma, you have to promise that you won\'t act on your own."

Lewis nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Of course, I won\'t. I\'m not heroic, you know?" Neoma assured them. "I\'m just a little girl who dreams of becoming a lady of leisure someday."

***

"ARGH," Neoma complained when she saw her father waiting for her in the royal parlor of Callisto Hall– the grandest ballroom in the Royal Palace. Of course, only members of the royal family were allowed to use that. "You\'re blinding, Papa Boss."

Emperor Nikolai was shining because of his goddamned face.

If her face was top-tier, then her father\'s face was god-tier. His Majesty was that handsome. No wonder women all over the continent still chased after him despite his awful personality.

"And why are we wearing matching clothes?" she complained. "I\'m usually confident with my looks but I feel like a couch potato next to you, Papa Boss. Especially now that we\'re wearing the same set of clothes."

Emperor Nikolai stopped fixing the cuffs of his sleeves and gave her a blank look. His Majesty\'s military jacket was the same as hers. Only her father\'s top had more gold plates on it. Plus, the red royal cape draped over his shoulder was longer and more majestic than hers. "You\'re speaking non-sense again. You\'re the crown prince so of course, you must wear the same clothes as me."

She had to cover her view of her father with her hands or else, she might go blind.

Argh, she just noticed that her father had his hair slicked back. It made him look more handsome. Now she was pretty sure that women would flock to him later.

"Stop with your non-sense," her father scolded her. "We\'re going to enter the hall together so pull yourself together, Neoma."

She blinked in confusion. "I thought I\'m supposed to enter the hall with Hanna and Rubin?"

"Hanna Quinzel and Rubin Drayton will be waiting for you by the stairs," her father explained. "It\'s in our contract to make people believe that we have a good father-and-son relationship."

"Ah, right," she said when she remembered the terms of their contract. "I almost forgot."

"If you already remember, then get ready."

She could only nod as a response.

If I remember it correctly, Papa Boss didn\'t enter the hall with Nero during my twin brother\'s coronation back in my first life.

Look at her power to change destiny.

Her thoughts were cut-off when she heard a knock on the door.

A few moments later, Sir Glenn entered the royal parlor. And wow, the knight wore the same full dress uniform as Lewis. But of course, the vice-commander of the White Lion Knights\'s uniform had the crest that represented his position.

"Princess Neoma, you look dashing," Sir Glenn greeted her cheerfully. He was able to greet her that way because only the three of them were in the royal parlor. Lewis was guarding outside. "You don\'t look nervous. I\'m relieved."

"I can\'t be nervous, Sir Glenn," Neoma said enthusiastically. "Papa Boss said he\'ll escort me to the hall."

The knight looked surprised, then he gave the emperor a curious look.

"What? Entering the hall at the same time isn\'t that hard," Emperor Nikolai said defensively. "If you don\'t want to, then don\'t."

Gosh, what a tsundere.

***

"HIS MAJESTY Emperor Nikolai de Moonasterio now enters Castillo Hall with His Royal Highness Prince Nero de Moonasterio."

Neoma didn\'t want to admit this but she felt a little nervous after she heard the announcement of an attendant from the other side of the door.

But she didn\'t have the time to process it as the double doors burst open.

When Emperor Nikolai entered the room confidently, she followed suit. Boy, she almost closed her eyes at the brightness of the Castillo Hall. Almost everything was made or decorated with ball. She remembered from her first life that the giant chandelier made of hand-crafted crystals was a personal gift for her grandfather, the crazy ex-emperor that her father ousted.

Anyway, the selling point of the Castillo Hall was the glass ceiling. Thanks to that, the beautiful night sky was visible for the guests.

It was a waste though.

After all, everyone\'s attention was focused on her father. As soon as Emperor Nikolai stood in the balcony, the nobles dressed in fancy clothes all stopped what they were doing to look up at His Majesty.

Since she was standing next to her Papa Boss, she felt the pressure of having scrutinizing eyes fixed on hers.

My Papa Boss looks unbothered though.

Well, the attention didn\'t faze her too.

You\'re looking at a social media star that had almost 10 million followers in her second life, you know? I\'m used to talking to myself while being watched by millions of people. I even read mean comments from my anti-fans sometimes.

Come to think of it, being bashed by strangers online seemed like a child\'s play now compared to her everyday struggle to survive these days. That thought made her smirk haughtily.

Oops.

She noticed that some of the guests looked horrified by her smirk. Did she look evil? There were others who flinched as well.

Gosh, did I also inherit my father\'s condescending look?

"I\'m glad that you\'re still arrogant even at a time like this," Emperor Nikolai said in a voice that only her could hear. "That\'s right. You can hold your head high, Prince Nero."

It sucks to be called by her twin brother\'s name.

But she knew that her Papa Boss was only being careful since there were a lot of eyes watching them.

"Don\'t worry, Papa," Neoma said. Of course, she needed to be careful too so she dropped the \'boss\' for now. Calling the emperor \'Papa\' wasn\'t really "elegant" of a "crown prince" like her. But she was adamant to make the public believe that the crown prince was dear to the emperor. That image could serve Nero in the future. "I\'ll turn the anti-fans of the royal family into genuine fans soon."

As usual, her father ignored her "non-sense."

Then, Emperor Nikolai\'s gaze landed on the ballroom below the balcony, every single person in the hall bowed down.

Yep, Papa Boss is really the most powerful man in the empire.

***

"SOMEONE is sleeping here, you know?" Trevor, who sat on the sofa with his head leaned against the backrest while an opened book covered his face, didn\'t move an inch even though an intruder managed to break his territory\'s barrier. "My fiancée entrusted me with her twin brother\'s recovery so go away," he said while waving his hand to shoo away the intruder. "I don\'t want to make noise and accidentally awaken my future brother-in-law."

Even though the intruder broke in the "living room" of his "mansion," he was complacent that the enemy wouldn\'t be able to go past him. After all, to get to the room behind him where Nero was currently in a deep slumber, the intruder had to go over his dead body first.

Not that he had any intention of dying.

"Did you find another precious person to protect, Trevor?"

He froze when he heard the familiar voice.

To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. Of course, he knew that a demon had entered his territory. But he didn\'t recognize the aura that didn\'t belong to them.

No way…

Trevor immediately pulled the book away from his face. And when he saw the face of the "intruder," he got the shock of his life. "You\'re not supposed to be up yet…" He wasn\'t able to finish his sentence because all of a sudden, he coughed blood. Then, he fell on his knees while clutching his stomach. "What do you need from Prince Nero for you to show up here yourself?" he asked, his purple eyes glowing menacingly. "But whatever it is, I still won\'t let you lay a finger on my brother-in-law."

"Then, die now."

***

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