性瘾者

Neoma could see the craziness in Calyx Dalton’s green eyes.

[I knew it.]

As a veteran weeb/otaku/bookworm, she knew that overly cheerful people usually ended up as the craziest character in the story. She was glad she followed her gut feeling to not trust Calyx Dalton. Plus, she never liked him the moment she saw him anyway.

[There are people that you will simply hate at first sight just because.]

“Young master, please calm down.”

Her thoughts were interrupted when the butler suddenly appeared behind Calyx Dalton.

.....

[As expected, it’s the male attendant I saw this morning.]

It was only her hunch that the “invisible man” was Calyx Dalton’s attendant/butler. But as expected of a genius like her, she was correct.

“Your Royal Highness, please excuse our rudeness,” the butler said. “My name is Raven, and I’m Lord Calyx’s butler.” He bowed deeply to her. “I beg Your Royal Highness’s forgiveness for concealing myself in your presence.”

“It’s alright, Mr. Raven,” Neoma said, then she smiled “innocently” at them. “It’s not like you hid in order to assassinate me, right?”

Calyx Dalton, that smiling psycho, laughed as if he was amused.

Raven, on the other hand, bowed deeply. “Who would dare assassinate the Lesser Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire?”

[You crows, obviously.]

Her thoughts were interrupted when Raven put his hand on the back of Calyx Dalton’s head. Then the “butler” gently pushed his young master’s head down.

So now, Calyx Dalton was bowing to her.

“I apologize for my rudeness, Your Royal Highness,” Calyx Dalton said, his head still hung low. “This won’t happen again.”

Neoma smiled, acting as a benevolent royalty even in front of a potential enemy. “It’s alright, Lord Calyx and Mr. Raven,” she said, then she said the following words in a low voice: “You can’t take me down anyway, even if you try to.”

Raven remained bowing deeply, but she could tell that the butler tensed up.

Calyx Dalton just laughed like the psycho he was, though.

***

“HE SAID that?” Neoma asked, her hands clenched tight. “Calyx Dalton told you to be careful around explosions?”

Hanna nodded solemnly. “I can’t help but be reminded of the crows who tried to kill me off in an explosion, Neoma.”

She and Hanna could talk freely because the two of them were in the penthouse.

It was a safe place because a barrier that would prevent anyone or anything from “wiretapping” them was activated.

Although it was considered vulgar for the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess to spend the night together in the penthouse, having dinner in the penthouse was acceptable. Thus, Hanna had a reason to hang out with her in her room before bedtime.

“That punk doesn’t even bother hiding his identity,” she said, frustrated. To calm her nerves, she sipped her hot chocolate. She and Hanna just had dinner, and she chose hot chocolate instead of tea because she was craving something sweet. “Should I just “accidentally” kill him during the match?”

The problem was her Hellgate.

[Every time I kill someone, the Hellgate I created would open up. If I kill Calyx Dalton in front of a crowd, my attribute that’s similar to demonic power would get exposed. I should have asked Trevor to teach me how to control it before that punk betrayed me.]

Hah.

She wanted to laugh bitterly.

[When did I consider resorting to killing my enemies this easily?]

It was a horrible change in her personality, and she didn’t like it.

Living as a privileged Korean vlogger in a peaceful country for so long gave her a clear moral compass. Thus, even though the world she lived in now was literally “to kill or be killed,” she still felt conflicted every time she needed to resort to violence.

“During the match, you say?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by Hanna’s question.

Hanna, who was sitting on the chair across from her, looked confused. “Why do you talk like it’s already been decided that you and Calyx Dalton will face each other in the last round of the exam?”

Oops.

She bit her lower lip. Her conscience suddenly kicked her. How could she talk like that in front of Hanna who was also a student applicant?

“I’m sorry, Hanna.”

Hanna laughed softly. “I’m just teasing you, Neoma. I’m not offended, so please don’t apologize,” her cousin assured her. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up. I still intend to last until the last round.”

She smiled and nodded. “Let’s do our best, Hanna.”

Her cousin chuckled while nodding, then she clenched her hands. “Fighting.”

It was her turn to laugh after her cousin used the term that she taught her before. ‘Fighting’ or ‘hwaiting’ was a Korean term/phrase that was used to encourage someone.

[Hanna learns fast.]

“Will Duke Quinzel accompany you tomorrow for the second round of test?”

She couldn’t stay with Hanna tomorrow because she and Calyx Dalton would take the second test late. Since they aced the exams, they were given the privilege to rest longer. Thus, she and Calyx Dalton would be the last ones to take the second test tomorrow.

[The second test is about measuring one’s Mana. So, rest is an important factor in order to be in our best condition tomorrow. That’s the privilege given to the students who aced the written exam.]

“Vice-captain Emmett returned earlier with a letter from my father,” Hanna said seriously. “Father said he’ll wrap up his work tonight so he could accompany me tomorrow.”

“I’m relieved to hear that,” she said. “We can’t brush off that psycho’s threat.” She turned to Lewis, who was standing behind her. “Lewis, I’ll bring you tomorrow to the academy as my attendant. Keep an eye on Hanna. The crows already tried to kill Hanna before. They might attempt to do that again.”

Lewis nodded firmly. “As you wish, Princess Neoma.”

“Thanks, Lewis,” she said, then she turned to Hanna. “It’s not like I’m saying that you can’t protect yourself, Hanna. I know that you’ve grown stronger these past few years. But I just want to make sure the crows won’t be able to hurt you again.”

“I understand, Neoma,” Hanna said with a smile. “Even if I have grown stronger, I still wouldn’t underestimate the crows. After all, I almost died because of them.”

Hanna must have been traumatized by that unfortunate incident.

Neoma held Hanna’s hand and squeezed it gently. “We have the power to stop the crows now, Hanna.”

***

“ARGH.”

Calyx laughed at his Uncle Raven’s reaction when he came out of the bathroom after taking a shower and changing into his sleepwear. He knew why his uncle made a disgusted face upon seeing his actual appearance. “Is my face that bad, Uncle?”

The potion that he consumed earlier to change his hair and eye color had already worn off.

“Your face isn’t bad,” Uncle Raven, who was sitting on the sofa like a king, said. There was still a disgusted look on his face, though. “It just creeps me out since looking at you feels like I’m facing the young Nikolai de Moonasterio.”

He laughed at his uncle’s words.

Then Calyx caught his own reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall.

White hair.

Ash-gray eyes.

Pale skin.

He hadn’t seen the current emperor personally yet. But every one in his family said he looked like His Majesty’s younger version. And upon seeing the fake Crown Prince, he could already imagine how the emperor would look in the flesh.

“Uncle, why do you seem to hate His Majesty?” he asked curiously. “The crows put him on the throne.”

“Calyx, he almost ended our bloodline before,” his uncle said bluntly. “That ungrateful emperor tried to kill our family members after everything we’ve done for him. If we didn’t help him with his rebellion, he wouldn’t have succeeded in stealing the throne from his father.”

“But despite that, I think the family is still fond of Emperor Nikolai.”

“I blame it on his charisma,” his uncle said while shaking his head. “Nikolai de Moonasterio is just too irresistible. He’s not a good person, but he’s not evil. And even though he’s greedy, he doesn’t fall into temptations.” His uncle let out a dreamy sigh. “Moreover, Nikolai de Moonasterio is the strongest emperor in history. He’s perfect... but his taste in women sucks.”

“You sound like a jealous lover, Uncle,” he said while grinning. “Actually, our whole family seems to be in love with the emperor, even though he almost ended the cult.”

“Because he shines,” Uncle Raven said defensively. “And crows like shiny things.”

“I see- our family has a love and hate relationship with the emperor.”

His uncle just nodded in agreement. “Calyx, for tomorrow’s test, you must hold back as much as you can. If you let out your true power, everyone in the academy premise would die.”

“I know what to do even without you reminding me, Uncle.”

“You can be an airhead sometimes, so I need to make sure you won’t mess up our plans,” his uncle said. “It’s a shame that you have to hold back, though. I wanted you to crush the fake Crown Prince completely.”

“The male de Lucas really hate the female de Moonasterios, huh?”

“The more threatening a female de Moonasterio is, the more hate we feel towards them,” his uncle said. “The hate I felt towards Nichole de Moonasterio was already severe. But when I saw the fake Crown Prince earlier...” His uncle clenched his hands tight. “I felt the urge to crush her. It was a relief that my bloodlust didn’t leak out.”

“I find her interesting, though. And I can’t hate her,” Calyx said, smiling. “After all, the royal princess and the Crown Prince are still my little siblings.”

.....

“Siblings?” his Uncle Raven asked, then he laughed. “Well, I guess you can say that.”

***

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