性瘾者

NOT EVERYONE can simply step foot in the Royal Kitchen of Yule Palace.

That was why it was Glenn who personally delivered the silver food trolley back to the Royal Kitchen.

To be precise, he sent it back to Chef Ruto's personal station. Since the young chef was special, he had his own station where he worked alone. It was separated from the main kitchen that was under the Head Chef– Morton Stroganoff, Chef Ruto's father.

"Chef Ruto, it's me. Glenn of the White Lion Knights," Glenn introduced himself to the young chef. It wasn't their first time. But Chef Ruto had a condition where he couldn't recognize and remember the faces of the people he meets. "I have come here to deliver back the meal that you prepared for His Royal Highness Prince Nero."

Chef Ruto looked surprised and offended by what he said. After all, this was the first time that the young chef's cooking was rejected by a member of the Royal Family. "Is there anything wrong with the food that I prepared for His Royal Highness?"

He couldn't tell anyone about the "silent war" between Princess Neoma and His Majesty.

Thus, he had to lie.

"His Royal Highness doesn't have an appetite," Glenn said to the young chef. "And until the Crown Prince asked for a meal, please don't send any food to his residence."

"No," Chef Ruto said firmly. The young chef was usually laid-back. In fact, this was the first time that Glenn saw something akin to determination in the child's dark eyes. "It's my duty to bring back His Royal Highness's appetite with my cooking."

Ah, who would have thought that the obedient young chef had a stubborn side as well?

***

NEOMA'S stomach was growling loudly but she tried to ignore that.

But Mochi and Lewis couldn't.

"I'm fine," Neoma said, trying to act cool. "Let's begin my training."

Right now, she was in the pond's pavilion with Mochi and Lewis.

Sadly, Hanna already left the Royal Palace. She sent her cousin off with tears a while ago. But she didn't have the time to be sad for too long.

After all, today was the first day that the Wind Spirit would teach her how to summon a Spirit.

It's time to learn how to be a full-fledged Summomer.

They were in the pavilion by the pond because Mochi's challenge for her was to summon Marvin– the Spirit of a merman dwelling in the pond.

She may be hungry, but she was ready.

Her arms were already healed. After her dramatic fight with her Papa Boss, she went to Madam Hammock to have her wounds treated. Thankfully, it didn't leave a scar thanks to the magical ointment.

I don't know what to do without Madam Hammock.

"Princess Neoma, I don't think you're in the right condition to begin your training," Mochi said sternly. "I heard that you didn't have dinner last night, and that you also skipped breakfast this morning."

That was true.

Thus, her stomach was "crying" right now.

This was the first time that she felt hunger after a long time. The last time that she felt hungry was when she was five years old. That was when she and Nero were still living in Luna Palace. The maids treated her poorly and would only feed her salad.

"I can still move even if I'm hungry," she insisted. "I was even able to attend a meeting with Count Sprouse a while ago without a problem."

Well, every time she was with the count, she never fails to feel determined to do her job well. After all, she didn't want to be judged by Count Sprouse as incompetent or something.

"I don't want to teach a hungry student," the white bunny said. "To use the power of your soul, the shell must be in excellent condition."

The 'shell' must be her physical body.

"I'm sorry but I have to cancel our class for today," Mochi said, her body turning translucent before she could even retort. "I'll show up again once your stomach is filled, Princess Neoma."

And just like that, the Wind Spirit was gone with the end.

"Argh," she complained, then she turned around to face her only companion now. "Mochi left me, Lewis–"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence when Lewis gently pushed a round chocolate candy in her mouth. Out of shock, she swallowed the candy without chewing it.

What the–

"Lewis!" she said while gently patting her chest. "I almost choked!"

"Sorry," Lewis said, then he held up another chocolate candy in his hand. "Say 'ah,' Princess Neoma."

She covered her mouth with her hands. "Lewis, I'm on a hunger strike."

"A candy can't be considered a meal," he said. "It's okay to eat candies when you're on a hunger strike."

"No, it doesn't work that way."

He was about to talk back when his stomach rumbled loudly.

"Lewis!"

"It wasn't me," he lied with a straight face. "It was your stomach, Princess Neoma."

"Stop lying," she scolded him. "Where did you learn how to lie?"

"You," he said bluntly. "Princess Neoma is a good liar."

She almost choked on her saliva.

Damn, her son wore his smarty-pants today.

Although she was annoyed, she was still proud of how good Lewis was at giving retorts. And even though he kept talking back to her, she didn't feel disrespected at all.

"Did you not eat because I didn't eat, huh?" she confronted him. "Are you crazy?"

"How could I eat when my princess is starving herself?"

"I'm starving myself for a cause."

"Then, I'm also starving myself for a cause."

"That's not an excuse to starve yourself!"

"Exactly."

Damn it, she could only bite her lower lip when she realized that Lewis got her.

She knew that it was pointless to starve herself because her Papa Boss didn't care about her like how a father should care about his daughter. But she still went and declared that she would go on a hunger strike to guilt-trip her father.

"If you understand, eat more candies," Lewis said, suddenly talking like he was older than her. Well, physically he was older. But whatever. She was too hungry to think. "You won't be able to outwit His Majesty if you're too hungry to think straight, Princess Neoma."

She couldn't help but laugh at Lewis's excuse to make her eat the candies he prepared for her. Raising a good son wasn't a waste, huh?

"Thank you for taking care of me, Lewis," Neoma said, then she took the chocolate candy from Lewis. Then, she split it into two and gave the other half to her son. "Eat. You have to be strong to protect me so you can't starve yourself."

***

"YOUR MAJESTY, I think Princess Neoma lost weight already."

Nikolai rolled his eyes at Glenn's dramatic remark. "Neoma won't lose weight for simply skipping dinner and breakfast."

"But our princess must be hungry now, Your Majesty," Glenn insisted in a worried voice. "I can't imagine how a little girl like her could starve herself as a sign of protest. Your Majesty, don't you feel bad for Her Royal Highness?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Can't the next visitors come sooner?

Right now, he was in the throne room with Glenn.

Only the two of them were there and thus, his personal knight who seemed to favor his daughter over him wouldn't shut up. For the first time ever since he took the throne, he couldn't wait to meet the Noble Faction so just Glenn would finally shut his mouth.

"Neoma won't die from skipping a few meals so stop nagging," he hissed at Glenn. "If you don't want her to starve, then go ahead and force her to eat."

The simpleton of a knight was about to open his mouth to retort when his stomach growled loudly. But Glenn just laughed it off while scratching the back of his head. Whenever his personal knight acted like a fool, he couldn't help but wonder who someone as naïve-looking as Glenn could turn into a blood-thirsty monster on a battlefield.

Glenn's simple-mindedness got worse when he got attached to Neoma.

"For god's sake, just eat," he told his personal knight. "What are you starving yourself for, Glenn?"

Glenn smiled at him. "How could I eat when my master didn't? Your Majesty, you skipped your meals when you heard that Princess Neoma refused to eat."

"It wasn't because of Neoma, if that's what you're thinking," he said firmly. "It just so happens that I don't have an appetite because I got too drunk last night."

The knight's smile grew wider. "Of course, Your Majesty."

This jolly bastard obviously didn't believe him.

"Glenn, just go and feed Neoma," he told the knight. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you."

"Don't worry about that, Your Majesty," Glenn said cheerfully. "Chef Ruto said that he'll personally go to Blanco Palace to feed "Prince Nero.""

"What?" Nikolai asked, surprised. "Ruston Stroganoff left Yule Palace?"

***

"OH, I'M famous," Neoma said after reading the letter that arrived at her palace a while ago. Right now, she was back in her office. She sat behind the desk while Lewis stood beside her. "Jasper Oppa is requesting an audience with me."

She almost forgot that she had a business with Duke Jasper Hawthorne.

After all, she had been very busy during the Moon Festival. But now that it was over and Nero already returned to hell with Trevor, she could focus on her mission again.

It wasn't like she was wasting time though.

To save the slaves in the Death Camp, she had to be prepared by making herself stronger. After all, she didn't want to be a dead weight in Jasper Oppa's operation. Plus, Lewis would risk his life as bait for their plan so she should be strong enough to rescue her son.

"Saint Zavaroni also requests a meeting with me," she said. "I need to learn how to make a Holy Barrier the soonest."

After the saint sent off Nero, he told her to wait for him.

Apparently, Saint Dominic Zavaroni requested a short vacation from the temple. His Holiness would spend his free time teaching her how to make barriers.

"Right, His Holiness wants to make me his disciple," she said, then she sighed. "Mochi is also supposed to teach me how to summon Spirits. Gosh, I'm so busy. I can't believe I'm having a family drama with Papa Boss when I can't even allot a time to cry."

Yes, she was so busy that she couldn't allow herself to break down.

If she wanted to cry, she had to "schedule" it. After all, aside from her training, she also had a lot of royal duties to fulfill.

"Princess Neoma, you should eat first," Lewis insisted firmly. "You'll die if you starve. A lot of children who were with me in the past died because of hunger."

She froze when she heard that.

If she wasn't mistaken, it was the first time that Lewis shared something from his past without being asked to. Upon hearing that, she suddenly felt guilty for skipping meals when there were hungry people in the empire.

Why the hell was she starving herself when there were children her age who couldn't find a decent meal to eat?

She raised her head to meet her son's gaze. "Lewis, I'm sorry–"

Ah, she wasn't able to finish her sentence when she heard a knock on the door. It was followed by Stephanie's voice.

"Come in," she told the head maid.

Stephanie entered the room. Then, she stood in front of her and bowed politely at her. "You have an esteemed guest, Your Royal Highness," the head maid said. "Chef Ruston Stroganoff of the Royal Kitchen is requesting for an audience."

Neoma's eyes widened in shock. "Ruto is here?"

***

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