"C'MON, Your Majesty. At least let me finish what I'm saying,

" Trevor lightly complained after the emperor cut him off rudely.

"I need the Moon Princess–

" He instantly shut his mouth when His Majesty glared at him. Then, he cleared his throat before he spoke again.

"I need the cooperation of Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma.

"

Emperor Nikolai glared at him for a few more seconds before he calmed down.

"What is your plan?

"

"Thank you for asking, Your Majesty,

" he said.

"Anyway, I hope you didn't throw the Death's Scythe away.

"

The emperor turned to his knight.

"The Death's Scythe didn't disappear when the Devil escaped,

" Glenn, if he remembered the knight's name correctly, said.

"I confiscated the weapon and put it in the Forbidden Armory.

"

He knew what the 'Forbidden Armory' was.

Just like what its name suggested, it was a room where the weapons disapproved by the royal family were kept. And because of those weapons, the Forbidden Armory had a tight security in it. A strong spell was placed in the room and it would activate if a

"non-personnel

" stepped foot inside. He heard that anyone who'd enter the room without permission would instantly get shredded into pieces by the spell.

"The Devil had other chances in the past to take the Death's Scythe back from Neoma,

" the emperor said.

"But they didn't.

" He paused for a few seconds.

"Would it be more appropriate to say that they couldn't take it back?

"

"That's right, Your Majesty,

" he confirmed while nodding firnly.

"The Devil hasn't recovered enough yet to fully control the Death's Scythe again. I also heard that His Holiness purified the scythe for the Moon Prin– I mean Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma. It makes me think that the Death's Scythe already considers the royal princess as its new master. So, therefore, I believe that she can help me use the Death's Scythe to lock my territory. If that happens, the Devil or their minions could never infiltrate my place again.

"

His Majesty fell silent as if he was considering his idea.

At least, the emperor didn't shut him off this time.

Emperor Nikolai de Moonasterio has changed somehow. Since when did he care about my Moon Princess? The last time I saw him, he only cared about Prince Nero.

"Your Majesty, may I share my thoughts with Mr. Trevor's plan?

" Saint Zavaroni asked politely.

He cringed at what the saint called him because he wasn't used to be treated with respect.

Well, His Majesty calls me a useless demon boy while my Moon Princess calls me a talking book.

"Go ahead,

" the emperor told the saint.

"I can help Mr. Trevor use the Death's Scythe to lock his territory using my divine power,

" Saint Zavaroni said.

"I can make it so the Devil and anyone or anything with demonic power wouldn't be able to touch the scythe.

"

He gave the saint a thumbs up. Well, he got that gesture from Princess Neoma.

"Nice, Saint Zavaroni.

"

The saint just nodded politely to him.

"If Saint Zavaroni will help, then I will allow it,

" His Majesty said, then he turned to him again.

"When will you return to your territory with Nero?

"

"I need a week before I gather enough strength to open my territory,

" he said seriously.

"I'm sorry but I need to recharge after the fight that I had a while ago.

"

"What will we do about Nero's condition?

" the emperor asked.

"The saint put him to sleep so the curse won't activate.

"

That was a smart move.

When Prince Nero was hit by the curse, it wasn't that bad at first. The royal prince was still able to live normally as long as he didn't use his Mana. But it got worse eventually. Now, the curse would activate if the poor prince wasn't asleep.

Thus, one had to put Prince Nero to sleep if the curse got activated.

"I can stop the curse from hurting Prince Nero while we're here,

" he declared. Well, he needed to discharge the excess Mana in his body anyway. Might as well use it to give Prince Nero to spend a week with his Moon Princess. Sucking up to the emperor was almost impossible for now. So he'd try to win the royal prince over first. He would be his brother-in-law in the future anyway.

"It wouldn't be bad to give the royal prince a few days to spend with you before we go back to my territory.

"

"That would be nice,

" Glenn said cheerfully, then he turned to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, isn't that great? The Royal Capital will have a week-long celebration for the crowning ceremony. I'm sure Princess Neoma would be delighted to know that she could spend the festival with Prince Nero.

"

Oh, right.

He heard that his Moon Princess was just enthroned as the crown prince.

The crowning ceremony would be followed by a week-long celebration. During that time, the palace gates would open for the commoners to take a peek at the heir apparent. His Majesty would properly introduce the crown prince to the people by then.

And during the last day of the celebration, the Moon Festival would take place.

Nice timing. I will ask my Moon Princess to be my first and last dance during the festival. I need to solidify my position as her fiancé.

"I can stay with Prince Nero and Princess Neoma for the whole week, Your Majesty,

" Saint Zavaroni offered.

"But I can't do it in the open this time. Although I already showed up during the crowning ceremony, to be seen by the crown prince's side all the time might give the enemies an idea about the current situation.

"

"Lewis and I will guard them closely as well,

" Sir Glenn offered.

"I'm sure the Quinzels will also help us conceal Prince Nero's identity, Your Majesty.

"

"Alright,

" Emperor Nikolai said.

"I will approve that.

"

Trevor smiled brightly.

"My utmost gratitude, Your Majesty.

"

Now, how will I make my Moon Princess fall for me in seven days?

***

"BUT I'M also a Roseheart,

" Neoma reasoned after hearing from Mochi that the William her mother wanted her to summon was known as the de Moonasterio Executioner.

"Will he still kill me even if I'm the daughter of his master?

"

"William tried to kill Mona when he found out that she was pregnant with you,

" Mochi said bluntly.

"Well, during that time, we still don't know that the babies in her womb were twins.

"

She gulped when she heard that.

"H-He tried to kill Mama and me?

"

"Yes,

" the Wind Spirit said.

"We, the Spirit Guardians, had to fight William to stop him from killing Mona. But even with our combined forces, we just barely defeated him. In fact, if your mother didn't use more than half of power to lock him up, we would all have died that day. William is that strong and crazy, Princess Neoma.

"

She fell silent for a while. Of course, she got afraid the first time she heard that William was the Executioner of the Royal Family. But now that she had calmed down, she realized that her mother wouldn't ask her to summon William if he was truly a danger to her. Maybe her Mama believed that she could tame that lunatic Spirit Guardian.

I won't let my Mama down.

"Mama said that William might know where she is,

" she said.

"For that reason, I'm still determined to get stronger and summon him someday. Please help me get stronger, Mochi.

"

The white bunny let out a deep sigh.

"You're really like Mona. I know that once you made up your mind, nobody can change it anymore.

"

She just smiled and nodded.

"Sleep for now, Princess Neoma,

" Mochi told her.

"The most basic yet most important part of training is having enough rest.

"

"Okay, Master Mochi,

" she said that made the Wind Spirit laugh. She just smiled and turned to Lewis.

"Go back to your room and sleep. Papa Boss will be mad if he finds you here once he returns. I want to sleep peacefully tonight so let's avoid fighting him for now.

"

Lewis nodded but he looked sad to be separated from her.

Aww.

"Let's play tomorrow,

" she said while patting his head.

"Good night, Lewis.

"

Lewis nodded, then he stood up and bowed before he left the room.

"He's not much of a speaker when you're with other people, is he?

" Mochi asked in an amused tone.

"He practically ignored me even if I was here.

"

"I apologize on his behalf, Master Mochi,

" she said.

"Lewis is a good child. He just has a lot of things that he still needs to learn. Please understand.

"

"Well, if that's the case, then it's fine,

" Mochi said, then she plopped on the bed.

"William was harder to deal with than the fox boy anyway.

"

"This William is starting to scare me but whatever,

" Neoma said, then she plopped on the soft mattress as well. As soon as her back hit the bed, she closed her eyes and began falling asleep fast.

"Good night, Master Mochi.

"

I hope you're not in pain tonight, Nero.

***

"PAPA BOSS, can I see Nero now?

" Neoma asked excitedly as soon as she entered her father's room. Then, she paused when she realized that Emperor Nikolai wasn't alone this time. Saint Zavaroni was having tea with her father now.

"Oh. Good morning, Your Holiness.

"

Saint Zavaroni smiled kindly at her.

"Good morning, Princess Neoma.

"

To be honest, she was a little shocked when she woke up a while ago. Emperor Nikolai was seated on the sofa in the lounge area of his room. From the looks of it, it seemed like he didn't really sleep all night.

Before she could interrogate him if he really stayed up all night just to guard her, he already called her servants. Alphen brought her a new set of fresh clothes while Stephanie gave her a bath in her father's grand bathroom.

After she put on her clothes, she returned to her Papa Boss's room to ask his permission to visit Nero. She didn't expect Saint Zavaroni to be there though.

And here we are now.

"You should have breakfast first,

" Emperor Nikolai told her, then he put his teacup down on the table.

"The demon boy is checking on Nero so you can't see your brother yet.

"

"Oh, okay,

" she said as she sat next to the saint from across her father's chair. Mochi was nowhere to be found when she woke up and Lewis overslept so she was bored. Alphen and Stephanie weren't allowed in her Papa Boss's room, while Sir Glenn was apparently guarding Nero's room. In short, she had no one to play with. Staying with the emperor and the saint wasn't that fun but she had a question for the two of them anyway.

"Papa Boss, Your Holiness, is there a family in the empire that has a black crow with red eyes as their crest?

"

For some the reason, the air in the room suddenly

"died.

"

The next thing she knew, both Emperor Nikolai and Saint Zavaroni were releasing bloodlust that sent shivers down her spine.

Of course, their bloodlust wasn't directed at her.

But they still looked scary– especially Saint Zavaroni. It was the first time that she saw the saint that angry. His Majesty and His Holiness looked like they were ready to kill.

"Neoma, where did you see that symbol?

" her Papa Boss asked, his eyes now red and glowing menacingly.

"The black crow with red eyes.

"

"I d-didn't see the crest personally, Papa Boss,

" she said. Dammit, did she just stutter? But despite the fear that she felt, she still couldn't tell the emperor the truth about where she saw the black crow with red eyes. So, as usual, she made up a story that had a little truth in it.

"I just remembered the nightmare I had when I was trapped in Gin's territory. In that nightmare, I died and a black crow with red eyes kept watching me.

"

Emperor Nikolai shut his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Are they on the move again?

"

She blinked several times in confusion.

"Who?

"

"The black crow with red eyes is the symbol of the cult that heavily opposes female de Moonasterios,

" Saint Zavaroni said in a cold voice, his eyes as empty as his tone.

"I believe they have something to do with Princess Nichole's… downfall.

"

Neoma's eyes widened in shock.

"Then, does it mean that cult will come after me next?

"

***

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***

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