性瘾者

JURI WISTERIA was born color blind.

But it wasn\'t like she couldn\'t completely see colors. In her eyes, everything was black and white except for one thing: a person\'s soul.

She didn\'t know but she could see the "color" of the soul of the people around her. Her grandmother, Judy Hammock, said that the "soul" she sees might actually be auras. She didn\'t know what it really was, but for some reason, despite the thousands of people around her and the limited colors available to her knowledge, she never once saw two similar colors.

[That means that this young boy in front of me right now is Rara– the little girl that I met in the Royal Capital earlier.]

Also, the boy behind Rara was the same boy that she was with earlier. But this time, the boy that had an "old-looking" soul was wearing a White Lion Knight\'s uniform. It wasn\'t a squire\'s uniform– it was the very uniform that the two adult knights with them were wearing.

"Are you a boy?" Juri asked Rara, confused. Then, she walked towards her. "You–"

She was surprised when all of a sudden, the two adults knight that led her to the drawing room in the emperor\'s palace stopped her.

"Don\'t be rude," the male knight said sternly. "You\'re in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Nero, the Crown Prince of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

To say that she was shocked to hear that would be an understatement.

[Rara… is the Crown Prince?]

Did the Crown Prince pretend as a girl outside the palace for her protection?

It was hard to tell since there were some children that age that could look androgynous. Most of all, Rara was so pretty that she could easily pass either as a boy or as a girl. Well, at least until her/his body begins to develop.

"Lady Wisteria," the female knight said gently. "Please give your greetings to the First Star of our empire."

Ah, right.

She was so shocked that she forgot her manners.

"Greetings to the First Star of the Great Moonasterion Empire," Juri said politely, then she bowed to the Crown Prince. "I, Juri Wisteria, present herself to His Royal Highness."

"Please raise your head, Lady Juri Wisteria," Prince Nero, the Crown Prince, said. "We have a lot of things we need to talk about, right?"

***

NEOMA was quite nervous now that Juri was obviously watching her carefully.

Right now, only Lewis remained in the drawing room as her guard. Dion and Jeanne were guarding another guest in a different room.

Normally, the Paladins wouldn\'t leave her side, especially when meeting new people for the first time. But it was different today because she wanted to recruit Juri to her dream team. Since Lewis was the first member of Team Moonrose, he had the right to stay.

"To be honest, I already have a feeling that you weren\'t an ordinary child as soon as your attendant earlier accompanied me to your "house," Your Royal Highness. After all, that "house" turned out to be the Royal Palace," Juri said carefully. "I was shocked when I found out that the friend I met just a few hours ago turned out to be the Crown Prince."

[Ah, Juri is really a straightforward person.]

"I didn\'t mean to deceive you, Lady Juri," Neoma said. Juri was the one who insisted earlier to call her by her first name instead of her family name. But to be honest, it was how the young ladies of the noble households were addressed anyway. "I\'ll be frank. When I met you earlier, I had no intention of revealing my identity to you. But I changed my mind when I saw you fight my stalker."

The young lady sipped her tea before she asked. "What made you change your mind, Your Royal Highness?"

"You impressed me," she said bluntly. "I want you to lend me your power, Lady Juri."

"Lend you my power in what way?"

"I\'m currently building my non-official Order of Knights," she explained. "Since it wouldn\'t be officially recognized as an Order, you don\'t have to be a knight to be qualified. But of course, you\'ll get the same job as any other knights in an Order. In short, you\'ll be assigned to protect me."

"That sounds sketchy, Your Royal Highness," Juri said with a raised brow. "You\'re the Crown Prince of the empire. Why wouldn\'t the empire recognize your Order officially?" She paused, then she gave her a look full of distrust. "You\'re not creating a rebel group, are you?"

She laughed at the young lady\'s imagination. "I\'m not creating a rebel group, Lady Juri," she assured her future daughter, then she turned serious as she began to reveal her royal secret. "I am not the real Crown Prince."

Juri obviously looked shocked by her sudden revelation.

Well, if she wanted her to be a part of her team, she needed to be honest with her. Plus, she already got her Papa Boss\'s approval anyway.

[But Papa Boss wants me to make Juri take an Oath of Silence.]

An Oath of Silence wasn\'t a mere verbal promise of not exposing her royal secret.

It was more of a spell. Once a person who took an Oath of Silence began talking about the secret to people they weren\'t supposed to share it with, then their heart would be crushed by an invisible yet powerful "hand."

"I am Neoma de Moonasterio, the real Crown Prince\'s twin sister," she said, revealing her real identity to the shocked Juri. "You\'re smart so I\'m sure you\'ll find out eventually that something bad has happened to my twin brother that forced me to take his place, so let me tell you the truth. A few years ago, my brother was cursed by an unknown enemy. He\'s currently being treated in a faraway yet safe place. My father, the emperor, doesn\'t want anyone else to find out that the real Crown Prince is sick. Thus, he asked me to live as my twin brother."

Juri gasped softly when she heard that, then she gave her a look of pity. "Are you okay with that, Princess Neoma?"

She was quite taken aback when she heard that from Juri.

To be honest, she expected her future daughter to ask about the current condition of Nero. But she didn\'t expect the young lady to express concern towards her.

Still, that felt nice.

"I\'m not okay with it," she said honestly, then she smiled at Juri to not make her worry too much. "But I\'m used to it now. Moreover, I deeply care about my twin brother. It was hard at first but eventually, I got surrounded by good people who genuinely love me." She paused, then she looked at her future daughter meaningfully. "I want you to be one of those people, Lady Juri."

The young lady fell silent for a while before she spoke again. "The fact that you revealed your royal secret to me only means that I can\'t leave this room without a proper answer. Princess Neoma, what will you do if I turn down your offer?"

"I won\'t hurt or kill you," she assured her future daughter, then she sighed and told her the thing that her father insisted on a while ago. "But we\'ll have your memory of me erased. It was something that my father, His Majesty, directly ordered."

Juri suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Mind manipulation such as erasing a person\'s memory is a high-level skill, Your Royal Highness. And it\'s not something that should be cast on ordinary citizens, is it?"

"Usually, that\'s the case," she admitted while shaking her head regretfully. "But it\'s necessary because my royal secret is considered a natural treasure."

"Who will perform the mind erasure spell on me if ever?"

"Madam Hammock," she informed her seriously. "Lady Juri, your grandmother is currently being guarded in the room next door by the two Paladins that you saw a while ago. If you turn down my offer, Lewis will escort you to the next room."

Thankfully, Juri didn\'t seem upset with that.

[Well, my future daughter is smart so I\'m sure that she knows I have to do this to protect my royal secret.]

"And if I accept your offer now, what do I do next?"

"First, you have to take an Oath of Silence to protect my royal secret," she said, then she opened her right hand. "Come out, Glass Noodles."

\'Glass Noodles\' was the Divine Twin Blades aka the Divine Scissors that she got from Yule.

She didn\'t like both names so she decided to call the scissors \'Glass Noodles\' since the scissors had the same color as it.

"I made a contract for the future members of my dream team," Neoma said with a smile while playing with the scissors in her hand. "If you decide to join my team, I will cut a portion of your soul as a seal of our contract."

To be honest, she was afraid that it might scare her future daughter.

But she was relieved as soon as the young lady smiled.

"I actually came here because I\'m bored after being locked up in the mansion for too long, Your Royal Highness," Juri said, then she paused as if she remembered something. After that, she gasped as her eyes widened. "Princess Neoma, before I officially join your team, I want His Majesty to free Author Sola first!"

"Ah," Neoma said, then she laughed. "Of course, that must be our top priority."

***

"YOUR MAJESTY, may I take an indefinite leave?"

"Sure."

Glenn was shocked when Emperor Nikolai approved his vacation leave request without even looking up from the paperwork in his hand. That kind of hurt his feelings. "Your Majesty, you do not know how long I\'ll be gone," he said in an upset tone. "Are you really okay with that?"

"Yes."

"Your Majesty, you\'re so cold."

His Majesty let out a frustrated sigh, then he raised his head to glare at him. "If you want to return as soon as possible, then go to Princess Bridgette as quickly as you can. Stop bothering me, you lovesick fool."

He suddenly got emotional despite being scolded by his master. "Your Majesty, I\'m going to miss your lectures."

The emperor just rolled his eyes at him. "Just leave, Glenn," he told him. "Go to Kyle and tell him that I already approved your indefinite leave. He\'ll take care of the rest."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Glenn said in a sad voice. "Please always be healthy, Your Majesty."

His Majesty just let out a deep sigh.

"Your Majesty, I have one last request before I leave."

"What is it?"

"Please be more open with your feelings," Glenn bravely declared despite the risks. "Your Majesty, no one will say anything even if you openly dote on Princess Neoma now."

Emperor Nikolai glared at him. "Do you want me to fire you, Glenn?"

Ah, he was really going to miss this life in the palace.

***

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