性瘾者

"CONGRATULATIONS, Princess Neoma."

Neoma smiled and turned to Mochi. The white bunny was sitting on the windowsill. Even though the Wind Spirit was in that form, she could see that she was happy for her success. "Thank you, Mochi," she said, then she plopped on the bed. "But I wasn't able to maintain the Field for long. Marvin and the Field disappeared as soon as I heard static in my head earlier."

It stung a bit, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared so she was fine.

"Are you okay, Princess Neoma?" Lewis, who stood beside her, asked worriedly. "Should I call for Madam Hammock?"

Ah, yes.

As soon as her Field disappeared, Lewis rushed to her room. He almost broke her door, to be honest. He must have been agitated because when the Field was still active, he wasn't able to enter her chamber.

Lewis is such a worrywart.

"I'm fine, Lewis," she assured him with a smile. "The sting already disappeared anyway."

"It was probably because of the Holy Barrier around the Royal Palace," Mochi said, then she hopped in the air until she landed on her lap. Ah, she wouldn't be called a Wind Spirit for nothing, right? "Since the de Moonasterios have always been wary of the Rosehearts' Spirit Summoning Ability, they created a special barrier that nullifies a Summoner's ability."

"Oh."

"It didn't work on Mona though," the white bunny said. "But my previous master decided to refrain from using her ability in the Royal Palace to avoid creating problems for little Nikolai."

Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. "The barrier didn't work on Mama Boss but it easily nullified my Summoning power."

"Should I break the barrier in your palace, Princess Neoma?" her son asked, tilting his head to see her face better.

"No, thanks," she said with a laugh. She knew that Lewis didn't ask that ill-intentions so she wasn't offended. "Papa Boss will kill you if you break the barrier, Lewis."

As if Papa Boss was summoned when she mentioned him, they suddenly heard a knock on the door followed by Sir Glenn's voice.

She wasn't the only one surprised by that.

Lewis and even Mochi flinched.

Argh. We didn't even feel Sir Glenn's arrival until he made his presence known. Is he a knight or an assassin?

"Princess Neoma and her companions, please make yourselves presentable," Sir Glenn said formally. "His Majesty is here to see you."

She stood up with Mochi in her arms. When Lewis stood behind her, she told Sir Glenn that they may now enter her room.

When the emperor stepped foot in her room, she and Lewis bowed politely to her father.

"I want to talk to my daughter alone," Emperor Nikolai said in a commanding voice. "Everyone else, leave."

Sir Glenn and Lewis both bowed at the emperor's order.

She smiled proudly at her son's manners. In the past, he wouldn't even budge at her father's command because he only wanted to follow her orders. But it seemed like he was slowly learning to adapt to the life of a noble.

After Lewis bowed to her, she handed Mochi to him.

"Little Nikolai, don't hold the young princess up for too long," Mochi said to her father sternly. "Princess Neoma needs to rest after successfully summoning her first Spirit."

Her Papa Boss just ignored the Wind Spirit.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

"Papa Boss, I've always wondered about it," she said when they were alone in her room. "How can you understand Mochi? Lewis and Sir Glenn don't."

"I've met the ruler of the Spirit World in the past," her father explained. "She blessed me with the ability to speak and understand the language of the Spirits."

"Did you come to the Spirit World with Mama Boss?"

"I don't remember," he said, then he got down on one knee which surprised her. "Give me your hand, little rogue."

She automatically reached out for her father when he extended his hand to her.

"The Holy Barrier in the Royal Palace is set to nullify any kind of Summoning power. It's the Royal Family's way of negating the ability of the Rosehearts that they fear the most," her Papa Boss explained while he was drawing some ancient symbols on her palm using his index finger– and his index finger was covered with a pretty silver-ish light. It kind of reminded her of the faint light around the moon. "With this mark, you're now free to use your summoning power in the Royal Palace," he said, then he raised his head to meet her eyes. "But Neoma, as I said before, don't let anyone else know that you can summon Spirits just like your mother."

"I understand, Papa Boss," she said with a nod. "Thank you for giving me the freedom to use my power within the Royal Palace."

Her father looked taken aback by what she said.

"What?" she said, defensively. "I know how to say 'thank you,' Papa Boss."

"Right," he said, then he let go of her hand and stood up. "What kind of Spirit did you summon?"

"A glamorous merman," she said proudly. "He's the Spirit in the pond, Papa Boss."

"You mean the evil Spirit that haunts the pond?"

"Evil Spirit?"

"The merman in the pond has lured several royal princes to their death in the past," her father said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "He tried to drown me as well when I was still a Crown Prince."

"Really?" she asked, surprised. "And you didn't kill him?"

"A Spirit is already technically dead," the emperor said. "To get rid of it, you have to exorcise it. I don't have that kind of ability so your mother took care of the merman for me. She took away his melodic voice that lures men, then she sealed the pond. That's why the merman could no longer get to the surface unless he's summoned."

Oh, so that was why she never saw the merman until Mochi summoned Marvin for her.

She also didn't see the merman when she fell into the pond when she was younger. But during that time, she felt the hostility in the water.

Marvin must have been pissed for getting locked up underwater for so long.

"I wonder why Mama Boss didn't exorcise Marvin back then."

His Majesty scoffed. "Your mother was soft-hearted. She must have been carried away by the merman's sob story."

Her ears perked up at that. "Marvin has a sob story?"

"Ask the merman himself if you want to know," her Papa Boss said, then he gently flicked her forehead– effectively freezing her on the spot. "It's past your bedtime now, Neoma," he said sternly. "Go to sleep."

Neoma could only touch the spot on her forehead that her father hit lightly.

Gosh, what's with this cringy, mushy warm feeling in my chest?

***

"MANY decades ago, I saved a de Moonasterio royal prince from drowning," Marvin said nonchalantly while sitting on the staircase of the pavilion, his shimmering fishtail dipped in the water. "Their royal ship was wrecked by a storm. If it wasn't for me, that prince would have died."

Neoma, seated beside the merman while eating breadstick, almost laughed when she heard Marvin's story. `Sounds like the story of The Little M*rmaid to me.

"The royal prince took me to this palace and promised to treat me well in return for saving his life," the merman continued. "But that bastard treated me like an animal in a circus. He would invite people from different parts of the continent just to show me off." He smirked bitterly. "He even tried to sell me off to a perverted king of some faraway land. So in the end, I drowned that bastard of a prince and his client to death."

She finished her breadstick before she continued. "I heard from my father that you've killed several more princes in the past. You even tried to kill His Majesty when he was a Crown Prince. Why did you do that?"

"The royal princes of the Royal Family were all despicable. All of them harmed until I died. Because of my thirst for vengeance, my soul was tied to the pond, and eventually, I became an evil Spirit," the merman continued his story. "Your father, the current emperor, didn't do anything bad to me, unlike his predecessors. But I lose myself whenever I see a de Moonasterio."

"You can't kill anyone from now on without my order," she said firmly. "I understand your anger for the de Moonasterio princes. But the people who have hurt you are already dead. Don't lash out on the innocent ones, okay?"

Much to her shock, Marvin linked his arms with hers and laid his head on her shoulder. "I will only listen to you from now on, Princess Neoma."

She chuckled at the merman's clinginess.

Their moment was interrupted when Lewis, with Mochi in his arms, arrived.

She didn't miss it when her son glared at Marvin, and she also heard it when the merman hissed at Lewis in return.

Mochi, who witnessed the petty exchange between Lewis and Marvin, only chuckled.

Gosh, I'm so popular.

"Princess Neoma," Lewis greeted her politely when he finally turned to her. "His Holiness has arrived."

"Some delicious-smelling bread has arrived as well," Mochi added, making Lewis frown for some reason. "Can I have some, Princess Neoma?"

"Of course," Neoma said with a smile. "I'm sure Ruto made enough for us."

"It's more than "enough,"" Lewis said bluntly. "The Royal Kitchen is full of some fancy bread right now."

Huh?

***

"MOTHER, FATHER, I have a request," Hanna said to her parents who sat across from her. Right now, they were in the carriage headed to the Royal Capital. "Can we go to the Temple first before I meet up with Miss Regina Crowell?"

"Of course, daughter," her mother and father said at the same time.

She smiled as a response, then she turned outside the window. There was a reason why she wanted to go to the Temple first. And it was to ask for forgiveness.

Neoma, please forgive me for what I'm about to do.

***

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