性瘾者

[I’m a strong independent woman, you know?]

That meant she was used to doing everything and anything on her own. She hated relying on others. Most of all, she hated it when people were inconvenienced because of her. Hence, even though she was working with other people, she developed the bad habit of taking the heaviest workload so that her allies wouldn’t be too burdened.

[Huh? I think that’s the part about me that my “children” hate.]

Ah.

[I get it now.]

Fortunately, her “children” didn’t have to worry about that today.

After all, Neoma felt so relieved to see her Papa Boss and Mama Boss in the court.

For the first time in a long while, she didn’t feel like doing everything on her own. Now that her parents were here, she could finally relax.

.....

Neoma immediately looked up at the balcony and saw Nero looking at their parents with a blank look on his face. It pained her to see her baby twin brother look that emotionless while staring at their mother and father, but she had a feeling that everything would be fine now that their whole family was here.

She would make sure that Calyx and the fake Empress Dowager’s reign would end now.

[No— our entire family will take down the fakes and win Nero over.]

It seemed like Nero felt her burning gaze because her twin brother turned in her direction and met her gaze.

Neoma made a heart with her hands to convey her feelings.

[I love you, baby brother. Mama Boss and Papa Boss are now here. We will save you from your fake family.]

Nero just made a disgusted face before turning away from her.

Clearly, her feelings didn’t reach her twin brother successfully.

[Gosh, so grumpy.]

***

IT TOOK all Nikolai got in order to stop himself from going on a killing spree.

He hated everything that he saw after he retrieved his clothes from the palace.

The stampede where hundreds of innocent people were hurt…

The almost-empty empty courtroom…

Some of the Twelve Golden Families who were clearly only there to judge Neoma unfairly…

Then lastly, Calyx Dalton and the fake Juliet…

[How dare those fakes to stand next to my son– the legitimate Crown Prince of the empire?!]

“Calm down, Nikolai,” Mona, who was standing next to him, whispered. “Protecting Neoma and Nero in this trial is our top priority and not eliminating the enemies.”

Mona’s calm voice soothed him.

Nikolai nodded subtly in response.

“I don’t even know how to address you right now,” Marquis Vincent Lennox said in a mocking tone while approaching Nikolai. “An emperor who abandons his duty for a woman doesn’t deserve to be respected–”

“Shut your mouth when you don’t know what you’re talking about, Marquis Lennox,” Nikolai said sternly, cutting off Marquis Lennox in the rudest tone he could muster. He was NOT about to get disrespected in front of his precious children. And he wouldn’t let anyone disrespect his family, too. He might be a hypocrite since he was being rude to the marquis, but he never claimed to be a good person so he didn’t really care. “I didn’t abdicate the throne willingly, and I am here to prove that.”

Marquis Lennox’s face turned red from anger and perhaps embarrassment as well.

“You’re here to prove your innocence?” Duke Winchester asked in a mocking tone, stepping up when Marquis Lennox was shut down. “You’re not as relevant as you thought you are. This trial is for the royal princess who deceived the empire–”

“And that has something to do with the reason I was forced to leave the empire,” Nikolai said, cutting off the duke in a very disrespectful manner. Then he smirked when Duke Winchester’s face also turned red from anger and shame. “Duke Winchester, even if you take away my title as the emperor, don’t you think I still outrank you as a former monarch? You may claim that I abandoned the throne, but the records didn’t say so.”

“Your Majesty is correct,” Rufus said. “The records only claim you went missing five years ago, Your Majesty. It was never officially recorded that you abandoned the throne.”

The crows did that in order to protect Nero’s reputation as the Crown Prince.

[At times like this, the crows are pretty useful.]

“It wasn’t officially recorded, yes,” Marquis Russell Spencer, the bastard who had lusted after Mona in the past, scoffed. “But everyone knows the truth–”

“None of you here have the right to confront me,” Nikolai said, blatantly ignoring the perverted marquis. Then he looked up at the balcony where Nero, the fake Juliet, and Calyx Dalton were standing in silence. “Only the Crown Prince has the right to do so.”

Nero looked unfazed, and even his voice sounded indifferent when he responded to him. “I’m afraid you’re wrong, Father. My Imperial Mother is the most senior member of the Royal Family, so it falls under Imperial Mother’s authority to judge you and Neoma.”

‘Imperial Mother?’

Nikolai clenched his hands tight, in disbelief that Nero called the fake Juliet his ‘Imperial Mother.’ It was a title that he couldn’t give Mona because they weren’t legally married yet. Hence, it pained him to hear his son address another woman with the title that should only belong to Mona.

[I can’t even look at Mona now.]

Nikolai was sure Mona was also in pain.

“Nikolai, Mona, I’m glad that both of you are alive.”

Ah, damn it.

Nikolai tried to calm down for the sake of his family, but hearing the fake Juliet address him and Mona casually made his skin crawl. “Your eyes…”

He had to stop talking because he was afraid to snap and yell.

The fake Juliet, hence, looked confused. “What about my eyes?”

“Mona, I’m sorry,” Nikolai said, pulling his sword– Calypso– out of the scabbard. And yes, he took the sword with him when he went to Korea. After all, he couldn’t leave it in the Royal Palace. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to entrust Calypso to Nero during that time. “I have to get a little wild.”1

“Alright,” Mona said, sighing while shaking her head. “Just make sure Nero won’t be hurt.”

“Of course,” Nikolai said before he swung his sword.

Marquis Lennox, Duke Winchester, Marquis Spencer, Count Emerson Zachary, and Marquis Frank Balasco all tried to block his attack.

But Rufus, Marquis Lawford Gibson, and Count Sean Dankworth– who was awake for once– stopped the opposition.

Rufus used his Shadow Veil to literally block Marquis Lennox and Duke Winchester (the strongest among the bunch) while Count Sean Dankworth used fog to blind Marquis Spencer and Count Zachary who both screamed while covering their eyes with their hands.

On the other hand, Marquis Gibson knocked Marquis Balasco out with just a needle.

It was chaotic, but Nikolai’s attention was focused on the balcony where the Mana– in the form of a boomerang– that he threw by swinging his sword was headed.

Calyx Dalton tried to use a shield, but of course, it easily crumbled.

Nikolai scoffed.

[You have to be on Neoma’s Dome’s level to stop my attack.]

Nero clearly knew that because instead of blocking Nikolai’s Mana, he simply jumped off the balcony.

After all, Nikolai’s target was the balcony.

Since Calyx Dalton failed to block his attack, Nikolai’s boomerang-shaped Mana hit the balcony in the middle– almost hitting the fake Juliet in the process.

Tsk.

[What a shame the fake dodged.]

Anyway, the balcony collapsed instantly.

He didn’t care about Calyx who carried the fake Juliet in his arms before jumping off the balcony.

[Anyway…]

Nikolai’s gaze was focused on Nero. He was relieved to see the glowing ice wings on Nero’s back. Thanks to those wings, his son landed on the floor gracefully.

[Those must be the wings of Zeru, his ice phoenix.]

“Father, you almost hurt my Imperial Mother,” Nero said while approaching Nikolai calmly. “Whether you like it or not, my Imperial Mother is now the most senior member of the Royal Family. You do not have the right to act this way.”

“Nero, shouldn’t you greet your real mother first?”

Nero’s cold eyes turned to Mona. “Why? To me, she’s just the woman who gave birth to me.”

Nikolai clenched his hands tight until his nails dug deep into the skin of his palms.

For the first time in his life, he felt the urge to strike Nero when he saw the pain in Mona’s eyes. But he had to remind himself that Nero wasn’t in his sane mind at the moment. And Neoma would hate him for having thoughts of physically punishing Nero.

This was shameful to admit, but Nikolai would always lose his mind when it came to Mona.

[I’m sorry, children.]

“Nikolai, I’m fine,” Mona, who definitely felt Nikolai’s sudden aggression, said. Then she smiled at Nero, her eyes brimming with tears. “I’ve missed you, Nero. I don’t have the right to ask how have you been these past few years, but I’m glad to see you again.”

Nero just scoffed at Mona’s heartfelt words.

Nikolai, once again, had to stop his urge to scold Nero for treating Mona this way. “Let’s take a break for half an hour. Let your people clean up the courtroom first,” he commanded Nero not as his son but as the Crown Prince. Nero and not the fake Juliet had the right over the courtroom at the moment. “The trial won’t begin until the necessary people get here.”

.....

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