性瘾者

"DID YOU just ask me what I \'did\' to my father, Lord Sprouse?" Neoma confronted Count Kyle Sprouse. "That\'s the first thing you asked after you saw His Majesty unconscious? Because if I were you, the first thing I\'d ask is what happened and if His Majesty is alright– not accuse the familiar presence beside him. Am I a stranger to you, Lord Sprouse?"

She was usually chill even if the count was rude to her because she was a cool celebrity who knows how to handle anti-fans.

But she didn\'t like what the count had implied with his question a while ago.

If other people had heard Count Sprouse, they would think that the count saw her kill the emperor or something. She had been struggling to survive in the palace for the past few years so she was sensitive when it comes to things that may endanger her current position.

"That\'s not my intention, Princess Neoma," Count Sprouse said, then he bowed to her. "I apologize if my words offended you."

"If your words offended me?" she asked, then she smirked. "And now you\'re gaslighting me. You make it sound as if I\'m just overreacting."

The count flinched, then he raised his head to meet her gaze but it seemed like he didn\'t know what to say.

"If you\'re going to apologize, just say you\'re sorry," she told him sternly.

He bowed again. "I will remember that, Your Royal Highness."

"You better," she said, then she turned her back on the count. "My father suddenly collapsed. Call his doctor."

"As you wish, Your Royal Highness," Count Sprouse said in a more polite tone. "I\'ll return quickly."

After saying goodbye to her, the count finally left the room.

Neoma sat down beside her Papa Boss and tried waking him up again. But her mind was already somewhere else. And yes, she was upset.

Papa Boss already accepted me so why can\'t Count Sprouse do the same?

***

"NIKOLAI, wake up."

As soon as Nikolai opened his eyes, he realized right away that he was in a dream.

Why else would he wake up in his old bed with the ever-beautiful Mona, dressed in a pristine white dress, beside him? He had already destroyed the bedroom where he and his lover conceived the twins. Moreover, he could never forget the fact that she was already long gone.

It was too painful for him to forget.

"If you want me to stop loving you, then stop showing up in my dreams, Mona," Nikolai said, then he gently grabbed Mona\'s wrist to stop her from playing with his hair. "If you keep on doing this, then I\'d rather die and just stay here with you."

Mona was a Roseheart.

Showing up in his dreams as if she was still alive was something that her clan could do. But if he remembered it correctly, this was the first time that she showed up in his dream like this.

Mona smiled sadly at him. "You have to return to our children, Nikolai."

He let go of her wrist, then he leaned down to bury his face against her slender neck. As soon as he sniffed in his lover\'s familiar sweet scent, he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her slim waist. If possible, he wouldn\'t let go of her.

Never again.

In the past, even in his dreams, he was angry at Mona. But he was too exhausted to hate her now. He\'d rather become honest with his feelings this time.

"Your spell didn\'t work," he said softly, kissing the side of her neck tenderly. "I still love you. And it seems like I have started loving our children as well."

"You\'re really stupid, Nikolai," she said in a cracked voice while gently hitting his back with her fists. Mona was physically stronger than most people. The fact that her punches were light obviously meant that she wasn\'t trying to hurt him. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

He smiled at her childish tone. "When it comes to you, yes, I\'m stupid."

"I broke your heart."

"My heart is yours," he said. "You can do whatever you want with it and I still wouldn\'t hate you for it."

This time, she sobbed loudly. "I don\'t deserve your love. I hurt you." She paused to take a deep breath before she continued in a broken voice. "I betrayed and abandoned you."

"I know now why you abandoned me, Mona. Why you only brought Neoma when you tried to escape from me," he said, then he pulled away from embracing her to raise his head and look at her straight in the eye. "Neoma is going to kill me, isn\'t she?"

The tears in her eyes were a loud response to his question.

"The Crown Prince is meant to steal the Moonglow of the emperor because the Moonglow is the symbol of the emperor\'s blessing from the Moon God," he said while caressing Mona\'s cheek. "The successor wouldn\'t kill the predecessor by stealing their Moonglow though. But for some reason, Neoma is also stealing my life force."

It was strange and he was curious to know the reason why his daughter was unconsciously killing him. But for now, he could only come up with one plausible conclusion: Neoma was born to bring a drastic change to the empire.

"I\'m sorry, Nikolai," Mona said between sobs, then she cupped his face between her warm hands. "I\'m sorry for giving birth to the child who will take your life away."

Ah, he was right.

If he found out a few years ago that Neoma wasn\'t only a threat to Nero\'s position but also to his life, then maybe he would consider getting rid of his daughter. But a lot of things had changed now.

Fist and foremost, he didn\'t hate Neoma anymore.

"Don\'t apologize for giving birth to Neoma," he said while shaking his head. "She\'d curse at you if she heard you say that."

She blinked in disbelief. "Our daughter… would curse at me?"

He nodded. "I know that you\'re shocked but our daughter inherited your love for swear words. But unfortunately, she isn\'t as eloquent as you, Mona. She calls me \'scumbag.\'"

She fell silent for a while, then she burst out laughing. "I want to be upset that our daughter calls her father \'scumbag\' but Neoma isn\'t wrong. You can really be obnoxious, Nikolai. You have no idea how many times I stopped myself from cursing you to get bald every time we fought in the past. Thankfully, my love for your beautiful face outweighs my anger back then."

He just rolled his eyes. "Neoma also inherited your obsession with good-looking people."

"I\'m not obsessed with good-looking people," she denied firmly. "Your face is the only face I\'m obsessed with, Nikolai."

Then, why did you leave me for Gavin Quinzel, Mona?

That was the question that he didn\'t dare voice out.

He didn\'t want to ruin this moment.

And moreover, he didn\'t care anymore. In this dream, Mona was his. That was all that mattered to him right now.

"Nikolai, don\'t you resent Neoma?"

"I don\'t," he said in a sincere voice that even he couldn\'t believe. "I can no longer feel hatred for our children, Mona. I don\'t mind giving up my Moonglow or my life force if it means saving Neoma."

Mona smiled warmly at him. Yet, he still saw sadness and guilt in her eyes. "You\'re rushing to your death to follow me, aren\'t you?"

He couldn\'t deny that.

"I won\'t die until our children are strong enough to protect themselves," he promised her instead of directly answering her question. "I won\'t die until the two of them can lead the empire and live the life that they want at the same time."

"The two of them leading the empire?"

"Neoma and Nero are strong individuals, but they are stronger when together because they are twins," he explained. "Both of our children have the right to the throne."

Well, technically not because right now, the law dictates that only male heirs could inherit the throne.

But that was about to change soon.

He was pretty sure that once Nero heard that Neoma needed to become an empress, his son would do everything to change the law and help his twin sister sit on the throne.

When that day comes, he wouldn\'t stop Nero. In fact, he might even help his son. After all, he still had the power of an emperor as of now.

"Fortunately, I know that Neoma and Nero won\'t kill each other for the throne," he said. "I trust them. I\'m certain that our children will figure out a way to lead the empire together. I will make sure that I\'m still alive to see that day so don\'t worry too much, Mona. I have our twins to live for."

Her smile grew wider and her eyes sparkled even more. "Thank you, Nikolai," she said softly. Then, her face suddenly turned crestfallen again. "Nikolai, I can\'t say much but please protect Neoma. I know that I may sound unfair to Nero but I know that our son is well-protected. After all, he\'s the first male child born in House Roseheart. He will easily gain the favor of the Spirit World just like William."

He already knew that.

Nero was a genius. On top of that, he was the first male child of House Roseheart after a long time. His son was bound to walk the rosy path the moment he was born.

But Neoma…

"However, our Neoma wasn\'t born with the same privileges as her twin brother," she said in a sad voice. "You know that the Crow appears every time a royal princess is born, don\'t you?"

He nodded firmly. "Neoma once said that she saw a black crow with red eyes in her dream."

"Don\'t let the crows break our Neoma the way they broke the late Princess Nichole," she pleaded to him with tears in her eyes. "Please, Nikolai. Do everything to protect our daughter."

He nodded and put his hand on top of hers. "I won\'t let the crows touch even a strand of our daughter\'s hair, Mona."

She looked relieved to hear that. "Thank you, Nikolai."

After saying that, her body began to turn translucent.

"No…" he said weakly, then he gently grabbed her hands. "Don\'t leave yet, Mona."

"I\'m sorry but I can\'t stay for long, Nikolai," she said with a sad smile on her face. "Please tell Nero and Neoma to always be kind and loving to each other."

"I will," he promised. "Will you visit me again?"

Mona just smiled sadly, then she lifted his hand near her mouth and kissed his knuckles. "Take care of yourself, Nikolai," she said, then she raised her head. This time, her smile wasn\'t sad. It was bright and warm. "I leave our children in your care."

Nikolai gently grabbed Mona\'s face, then he closed his eyes and leaned down to kiss her.

Unfortunately, before his lips touched hers, she disappeared from his grasp.

***

"PAPA BOSS!"

Nikolai woke up with a stinging cheek.

When he opened his eyes, Neoma (with her small hand frozen in mid-air) greeted her with a relieved smile.

"Good morning, Papa Boss," Neoma, seated beside him, said brightly. "How are you feeling?"

Nikolai looked at Neoma\'s hand before he turned to hiss daughter\'s face. He could clearly see the panic and guilt in her ash-gray eyes. "Did you just slap me?"

"I\'m just trying to wake you up, Papa Boss. I swear I have no ill-intention this time. I\'m sorry," she said while hiding her sinful right hand behind her back. "Did it hurt?"

"As if your tiny hand can hurt me," he said, his cheek still swelled from his daughter\'s slap.

Then, he got up.

That was when he realized that they were alone in his bedroom.

"Marcus said that you just need to rest, Papa Boss. He left to brew medicinal tea for you," his daughter explained. "On the other hand, Count Sprouse left and said he\'d attend the meeting with the nobles regarding the bombing incident in your place. Sir Glenn is currently dealing with the nobles who came to your palace without an appointment. It seems like most of them are parents and families of the nobles who fell victims to the bombing incident." She paused and scowled before she continued. "They are led by Duke Drayton. Apparently, Rubin is one of the victims."

He already expected this kind of thing to happen considering how big the bombing incident was. Especially since most of the victims were nobles.

"I sent Lewis to my palace to fetch Stephanie and Alphen," she continued. "Since you need to rest, I plan to appease the public in your stead, Papa Boss. Count Sprouse will fetch me after his meeting with the nobles."

"Don\'t be ridiculous, Neoma," he said. "I was just a little exhausted after using my divine energy a lot today. But I\'m fine now. It\'s you who should be resting. You\'re going to have a week off and that\'s an order."

"You don\'t look fine, Papa Boss," his daughter argued while pouting. "You were murmuring in your sleep. It looks like you were having a bad dream."

"Mona showed up in my dream."

Her face lit up. "Mama Boss did?"

"She told me to tell you to always be kind and caring to Nero."

"I\'m already doing that," she said cheerfully. "Nero and I are really close."

"Mona also told me to tell you that you should be kinder to me– your father."

"I bet my big brains that Mama Boss didn\'t say that," she complained firmly. "And I\'m already kind to you, Papa Boss."

Well, that was somehow true.

She doesn\'t curse at me these days.

"You may leave now, Neoma," he said, changing the topic because he wasn\'t ready to have a sentimental conversation with his daughter yet. "I need to get back to work. I\'ll ask Rufus later to secretly bring you to his mansion to meet Hanna Quinzel."

She smiled brightly, her resemblance with Mona more evident now. "Papa Boss, as of this moment, you\'re my best father ever!"

Nikolai raised a brow that. "I\'m your only father in the world, Neoma."

Neoma just smiled awkwardly at him.

What\'s with the strange silence?

***

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***

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