性瘾者

"PRINCESS Neoma\'s hunch is correct," Paige said, pleased when the device that she made a few days ago informed her that the weapons with Hisa Jewels were close. By \'device,\' she meant the yellow orb in her hand that wouldn\'t stop glowing. "The temple really took the weapons for themselves, Your Grace."

"I never doubted Princess Neoma\'s words, but I\'m still quite shocked," Jasper Hawthorne, the young duke that Princess Neoma introduced to her before they left the empire. "I guess it\'s true that not all religious figures could be trusted."

She nodded in agreement.

Right now, she and Jasper Hawthorne were standing on the roof of one of the houses in the residential area in Valmento. From their spot, they could clearly see the Astello Temple, aka the house of the saint, that looked like a castle.

"The Astello Temple is rich, huh?" she asked with a smile. [They\'re not this rich when I was young.]

"Well, most of the citizens in the empire worships Lord Yule," the young duke explained. "Moreover, the former Saint Zavaroni was the most loved saint in history. He was the reason the Astello Temple thrived this much."

"Oh, dear," she said worriedly. "Does the former saint deserve the love he received from his devotees, or does His Holiness not know what his fellow churchmen do behind his back?"

"I bet it\'s the latter, Lady Avery," Jasper Hawthorne said confidently. "The former saint is also Princess Neoma\'s former mentor. Would it be considered blasphemy if I say I trust Princess Neoma more than I trust religious figures?"

"I\'m not a religious person, so I can\'t give you an answer," Paige said candidly, then she put the black ear stud in her right ear since it was time to report to Princess Neoma. "But like Your Grace, I trust Princess Neoma more than anyone else, too."

***

"HOW LONG are you going to pretend like you\'re half-dead, you dumbass?"

"Warren, that\'s not how you talk to our vice-commander."

Glenn let out a smirk when he heard the familiar voices of his colleagues. "Why the two of you?" he playfully complained, then he opened his eyes to be greeted by two identical handsome faces. "Why did His Majesty send you kids?"

"If you can still be that snarky, then I assume your injuries aren\'t as serious as they look," Wyatt, the serious and the older twin, said. Despite the calm look on Wyatt\'s face, he actually looked relieved to see that he was fine. "We\'re not the only "kids" His Majesty sent to rescue you– Princess Neoma is here, too?"

He got up immediately from shock, then he groaned in pain.

Yeah, he immediately regretted his abrupt movement. Although his injuries weren\'t life-threatening, his whole body still hurt like hell. After all, Princess Brigitte\'s evil brother asked his knights to beat him to a pulp. Thankfully, they didn\'t torture him.

He wasn\'t afraid of being tortured since he already expected to experience that at least once because of his line of work.

[But I kind of lose my sanity when I get hurt too much.]

He couldn\'t afford that because that would ruin the plan that he made with Princess Brigitte, so he endured.

"Why did Princess Neoma personally come here?" Glenn asked after recovering from the shock. "Who did Her Royal Highness come with except for the two of you? Lewis is surely with the princess, right?"

"Of course, Lewis is with Princess Neoma," Warren said while looking around his prison cell. "There\'s also the Wisteria Ladies– Juri, Sera, and Jade. Oh, and a child called Greko."

"Jeno Dankworth and an assassin called Xion Redgrave also came, but they entered the palace in secret."

An assassin?

[Princess Neoma found a new team member while I\'m here, huh?]

"The princess also brought a few royal knights, but I think they\'re just for show," Wyatt added. "It seems like Princess Neoma already gave instructions to her personal guards. Her Royal Highness also gave as an order after we save you."

"What kind of order?"

"Go on a rampage."

He chuckled because it really sounded like something Princess Neoma would say.

"Hey, Glenn," Warren said after he was done inspecting his prison cell. "We found you right away because this whole underground prison is covered with your earth power. Of course, it\'s something that only people who know what your element could detect." He squatted down to meet his eye level, then he grinned. "You buried something in here, didn\'t you? Is that the reason you let yourself get stuck in this prison when you can get out anytime you want?"

"You probably blew up the entire underground prison and rebuilt it using your dirt– er, earth element," Wyatt added while nodding approvingly. "How did you blow up and recreate an entire underground prison without getting noticed?"

He smiled proudly. "Princess Brigitte is a resourceful lady. She doesn\'t have Mana like we do, but she knows how to invest in premium Mana Stones."

Princess Brigitte set up plenty of premium Mana Stones to conceal his movements. The first princess probably spent her whole life savings. But she told him not to worry about it. Still, he would definitely pay her back once the whole ordeal is over.

"You\'re lovesick fool– we get it," Warren said while rolling his eyes at him. "Anyway, hurry and tell us what you hid here."

"That\'s right," Wyatt said, while putting a black ear stud in his right ear. "We need to report to Princess Neoma right away, so tell me everything you discovered while I heal your wounds."

"Princess Brigitte and I discovered that the king and the Crown Prince of Hazelden Kingdom have been smuggling weapons to our enemy nations," Glenn said seriously. "We also found the documents as proof, and I buried them in order to keep it safe."

***

XION smirked after reading the content of the document he stole in the office of the kingdom\'s chamberlain.

To be precise, he found it in the secret room located in the office.

Since he was used to jobs that included searching for the target\'s dirty secrets, he knew where to look. It didn\'t matter even if it was a kingdom. The document would always end up in some sort of secret room.

And yes, the documents were also hidden in a safe.

Too bad for the Hazelden Kingdom, but he was trained to open all kinds of safe that existed anywhere.

[Princess Neoma gave me the right job.]

"Kiddo, we hit the jackpot," Xion said, then he turned to Jeno Dankworth who was sitting on a floating piece of cloud. "We didn\'t find the documents about the kingdom smuggling weapons to the enemy nations. But we got the names of this kingdom\'s nobles who invest money for that sketchy business." He smirked, but it was out of anger this time and not amusement. "You know what\'s worse?"

"You look pissed," Jeno Dankworth commented bluntly. "What else did you find out?"

"The detailed plan to assassinate "Prince Nero de Moonasterio.""

The young lord didn\'t give a remark, but the murderous look on his face was enough to know he wouldn\'t forgive the stupid royals and nobles of the kingdom for their plan to assassinate their master.

After all, whom the kingdom thought to be the Crown Prince was actually Princess Neoma– the empire\'s secret princess, and the lady they swore to protect.

[They will pay for this.]

When Xion heard Princess Neoma\'s life story from the princess herself, his resolve to protect and serve her well became stronger.

[There\'s something about Princess Neoma that simply draws me in.]

"Let\'s go," Jeno Dankworth said. "We should be at Princess Neoma\'s side."

"Kiddo, we\'re not supposed to fight beside the princess. We are long-range fighters, and our job is to protect her from afar. Lewis and Juri are there anyway, so don\'t worry too much," Xion said, then he put the black ear stud that Paige Avery gave him before she left with the young duke. "For now, we need to report this to Princess Neoma."

***

[THIS IS the perfect spot to assassinate me.]

Neoma wanted to laugh at her dark humor, but she was being serious.

Right now, she was having lunch with the Hazelden Kingdom\'s royal family in an open garden. Sure, the garden was lavish, and the lunch was sumptuous. Still, it was too often and the Hazelden Kingdom knights around were fucking weak.

[They\'re making it too obvious they want me dead.]

But she wasn\'t worried.

Lewis, Juri, and Greko were standing behind her.

Sera and Jade Wisteria were joining them for lunch. The two noblewomen looked meek and fragile, but she knew the two could protect themselves once shit hit the fan.

"Prince Nero, I heard you took care of my oldest daughter while she was in the empire," King Landon said in a formal yet somewhat excited voice as if he was waiting for something good to happen. "My son and I prepared some gifts for Your Royal Highness."

"We also prepared some gifts for His Majesty," Prince Blake added. "It would be an honor if Your Royal Highness could deliver them to His Majesty personally, since those gifts require utmost care."

Hah!

She wanted to laugh at how ridiculous this whole thing was.

[The queen and the three princesses haven\'t uttered a word since our lunch began. They all just ate their food quietly. This blasted father-and-son duo has been ignoring Lady Sera and Countess Jade Wisteria all this time, too.]

And she clearly knew the reason.

["Women aren\'t allowed to join the conversation among men."]

It was the vibes the king and the Crown Prince were manifesting.

Neoma was pissed, but she smiled anyway. "I\'m sure my father would be delighted to receive gifts from a kingdom that the empire is friendly with."

Bullshit.

King Landon and Prince Blake didn\'t even bat an eye and just kept sprouting nonsense, even going as far as throwing compliments on her and her Papa Boss.

[But I have to admit this father-and-son duo is also good at acting.]

Maybe all politicians and public figures were also born natural actors.

Thankfully, the king and the Crown Prince\'s annoying voices were soon washed away when the beautiful voices of her allies began entering her mind. Those voices were coming from the black ear stud she put on earlier.

["Your Royal Highness, this is Paige Avery. Duke Hawthorne and I have confirmed that the missing weapons made from Hisa Jewels have been kept by the Astello Temple. To be precise, those weapons are currently being used by the Holy Knights.]

She smiled and sipped her tea.

The tea tasted weird, but she didn\'t care.

["Your Royal Highness, this is Xion Redgrave. Unfortunately, Jeno Dankworth and I didn\'t find the documents related to the smuggled weapons. But we got the names of the nobles who seem to be supporting the royal family\'s illegal business. Moreover, we also got a hold of their detailed plan to assassinate you while using the first princess as the scapegoat."]

The first princess?

She discreetly looked at Princess Brigitte, and she had to stop herself from smiling when she saw the fire in the first princess\'s sparkling blue eyes.

Princess Brigitte\'s mouth was shut, but her eyes were still full of life and fight.

["Your Royal Highness, this is Wyatt Fletcher. Warren and I have already rescued Glenn. He\'s fine. The documents regarding the Hazelden Kingdom\'s smuggled weapons are also safe."]

Ah, finally.

She put the teacup down on the table quietly, but that action was still enough to make both the king and the Crown Prince shut their mouths.

"Princess Brigitte," Neoma said, addressing the first princess directly. King Landon and Prince Blake looked pissed while the queen and the younger princesses looked surprised when she talked to Princess Brigitte. She ignored all of them. "He\'s safe now."

Princess Brigitte immediately smiled, then she stood up and kneeled down in front of her while offering her a vial in her hands. "Please drink this antidote, Prince Nero."

As expected, she was poisoned.

[At least, not by coconut wine this time.]

***

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