WHEN Nero came to be, he found himself lying on a bed. But it wasn't the kind with the soft mattress. He was pretty sure it was a hospital bed.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Madam Hammock.

He scowled. Of course, since he was the real Crown Prince, His Majesty would order the Healing Sage herself to treat his minor wound.

"Neoma,

" Nero said in a croaked voice.

"Where's my sister?

"

"Prince Nero, please calm down,

" Madam Hammock said gently.

"Princess Neoma hasn't woken up yet but she's receiving treatment at the moment.

"

He scoffed at that.

If Madam Hammock mentioned Neoma's name without qualms, that meant the only people present in the room were the ones who knew the royal secret.

Other than the Healing Sage, no one else was qualified to look after Neoma.

How dare His Majesty treat my poor little sister so badly even after all the things that she has done to protect my place?

He got up, ready to demand Madam Hammock to personally check on Neoma.

But much to his shock, on the bed next to his, he saw His Majesty healing the cut on Neoma's cheek with his own divine power. While his twin sister was unconscious on the bed, the emperor sat on a chair next to the bed with his hand placed gently on Neoma's injured cheek.

His Majesty himself is treating Neoma's wound…?

"Don't worry, I can heal non-serious wounds,

" Emperor Nikolai assured him after he caught him keeping an eye on his movement.

"And my divine power works better than the ointment when it comes to erasing scars.

"

"Make sure it won't leave a mark,

" Nero said when he found his voice.

"Neoma will cry if the cut leaves a nasty scar on her face.

"

"If you know that, then why did you cut her face?

"

"Because I needed her to get serious with the fight.

"

The emperor let out a deep sigh, then he pulled his hand away from Neoma's face.

He was relieved to see that his twin sister's face went back to its flawless state. Although it was true that he cut her mercilessly just to get her serious with the match, it didn't mean that he wanted to leave her a permanent scar.

"Madam Hammock, your job here is done,

" His Majesty said, obviously dismissing Madam Hammock.

"Check on the other patients.

"

Madam Hammock bowed to them before she quietly left the hospital room.

The only one left in there aside from their family was Sir Glenn, of course. The knight stood by the door.

"Other patients?

" he asked his father when the Healing Sage was gone. Then, he sat on the bed while facing the emperor.

"Did we accidentally hurt someone else during our fight?

"

"Rufus and Lewis Crevan were hurt when they tried to stop the White Tiger and the Black Tortoise from attacking Neoma,

" the emperor explained.

"My Soul Beast attacked your sister when she tried to seriously kill you.

"

He was quite surprised to hear that.

Although he hurt Neoma to make her angry, he didn't think that it would be enough for her to seriously kill her. After all, he knew that if his twin sister did that, the Soul Beasts would react. He would never plan for Neoma to get hurt like that.

I only wanted her to release a bloodlust directed at me.

One could argue that bloodlust was an indication that a person was feeling murderous. But as long as Neoma didn't act on her bloodlust, the Soul Beasts wouldn't have attacked her. He told the Soul Beasts about his plan to elicit bloodlust from his twin sister.

Is giving her a cut on the face enough for her to want to kill me for real…?

"Rufus reported to me that you also tried to kill Neoma for real,

" the emperor said seriously.

"In short, you and your sister went after each other's throat.

"

"That's not true,

" he denied.

"Why would I kill Neoma?

"

He was confused, to be honest.

After all, he knew that Duke Rufus Quinzel had no reason to lie to the emperor.

"Gale said that something out of the ordinary might have happened to you and Neoma when the two of you clashed a while ago,

" the emperor explained.

"Did you see an apparition when you fought Neoma?

"

Now that his father mentioned it, he remembered that he saw the Devil earlier.

Oh, that was an apparition? So when he asked Zev to kill the former Princess Nichole, he actually ordered his Soul Beast to kill Neoma?

"It seems like you've really seen something,

" his father said.

"Am I correct?

"

He just nodded as a response.

"I'll ask you about it later. I want to hear what Neoma saw as well,

" the emperor said.

"I also heard from Rufus that you were able to use the abilities of your Soul Beast. Is it safe to assume that you've successfully awakened it?

"

"I'm not that confident yet,

" he admitted.

"I've tamed Zev, my Soul Beast, in his territory. But I haven't tried summoning him yet now that I'm awake. I'm afraid to activate my curse so instead of summoning him, I simply borrowed his ice power.

"

"Ice is a rare element to use,

" his father said while nodding his head.

"Good job, Nero. Your Soul Beast is a rare kind. Use it well.

"

"Do you know my Soul Beast?

"

"There's only one Soul Beast that uses ice Mana,

" the emperor said.

"It's the wolf with two tails, isn't it?

"

"Yes, that's correct.

"

"Do you know why it has two tails?

"

That question surprised him.

"What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?

"

His Majesty was about to respond when all of a sudden, Neoma grabbed his hand.

Then, his twin sister talked incoherently in her sleep.

"Let's continue this talk when Neoma wakes up,

" his father said.

"First, let's bring Neoma back to her room.

"

Much to his shock, the emperor lifted his twin sister up with utmost care.

Then, with Neoma's body parallel to his father, he lifted her to his shoulder height. After that, His Majesty rested Neoma's head on his shoulder.

It seemed like he had done it gently because his twin sister didn't wake up.

"Your Majesty, congratulations,

" Sir Glenn said while clapping his hands as quietly as possible.

"You finally learned how to carry Princess Neoma right.

"

"Shut up, Glenn,

" Emperor Nikolai scolded the knight, even though he looked proud of himself for simply carrying Neoma properly.

Nero scowled at what he was seeing.

It's not Trevor or Lewis Crevan– I should be warier of His Majesty.

***

"WAS I brainwashed or something? Dammit.

"

To say that Nero was surprised to hear Neoma curse would be an understatement.

When he noticed that his twin sister was waking up, he stood up and was about to go to her when he spoke. Hearing her talk that way made him stop in his tracks.

"Tteokbokki, we're going to train harder starting today. I don't want another clown to ** up with my mind again.

"

He almost choked on his saliva.

Did Neoma just say the 'F-word?'

He turned to His Majesty and Sir Glenn to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. But he didn't get that much reaction from the two.

His father just continued sipping his tea.

On the other hand, Sir Glenn looked amused while listening to Neoma talk.

Is it normal for them to hear an eight-year-old child curse like a sailor?

"I wonder what kind of sc*mbag it is this time.

"

He turned to his twin sister again, his ears almost bleeding by now.

Well, I also curse. But hearing Neoma curse feels… strange.

He also turned to Lewis Crevan who stood on the other side of the bed quietly. Just like His Majesty and Sir Glenn, it looked like the fox boy was also used to hearing Neoma curse.

"Ah, **. My whole body **ing hurts,

" Neoma said. Then, she got up while moving her head from side to side.

"What the hell happened back then…

"

"Neoma,

" Nero said, then he put a hand on her forehead to check her temperature.

"You're not sick.

"

"Of course she's not sick,

" Emperor Nikolai said, then he put his teacup down on the coaster.

"That's just how your sister talks, Nero.

"

"But Princess Neoma only talks like that when she's angry,

" Sir Glenn added in a cheerful voice.

"Our royal princess is eloquent most of the time.

"

Neoma smiled at Sir Glenn, then she gave the knight a strange hand gesture.

"There's a reason why you're my second most favorite person in the palace, Sir Glenn.

"

The fact that Sir Glenn was Neoma's

"second

" most favorite person implied that there was a

"most

" favorite person on her list.

"Then, who's your number one most favorite person?

" he asked his twin sister while giving her a scrutinizing look.

"Surely, it must be me.

"

"Not you, Prince Nero,

" Lewis declared in an emotionless voice while looking at Nero straight in the eye.

"I'm Princess Neoma's most favorite person.

"

Nero gave Lewis Crevan a murderous look.

"Neoma, your pet is talking nonsense,

" he said, then he turned to her and gave her a

"sweet

" smile. He knew he promised her that he wouldn't call Lewis Crevan her

"pet

" again, but he was pissed so he wasn't able to stop himself from insulting the fox boy.

"Is he really your most favorite person?

"

"First of all, Lewis is my son and not my pet,

" her twin sister said.

"And yes, he's my number one most favorite person.

" He was about to hit the fox boy with his bloodlust when Neoma spoke again.

"But you're my number zero, Nero.

"

"Number zero?

" he asked.

"Is that supposed to make me happy?

"

"Of course,

" she said, then she gave him the same weird hand gesture that she gave Sir Glenn a while ago.

"Being number zero means you don't have to be on the list because it's a given that we're both each other's favorites. Family members don't have to be on the list, you know?

"

He raised a brow at that.

"Even His Majesty?

"

"Papa Boss is negative zero,

" she said, then she smiled brightly.

"Neoma won't elaborate anymore, Brother.

"

He wanted to ask more but hearing Neoma talk in the third person calmed him instantly.

Neoma is the cutest when she's acting cute for me.

Alright, he'd forgive Lewis Crevan this time.

Number zero is superior to number one anyway.

"Stop talking as if I'm not here,

" Emperor Nikolai complained.

"Now that you two are awake, there's something more important that we need to discuss.

"

He and Neoma faced their father properly.

They hated the emperor, but they both recognized him as the ruler of this empire. He deserved respect as the emperor, at least.

"Glenn, Lewis Crevan, leave the room,

" His Majesty ordered.

"The royal family will discuss an important matter.

"

Sir Glenn immediately bowed.

"As you wish, Your Majesty.

"

Neoma turned to Lewis with a worried look on her face.

"You may leave now, Lewis,

" she told him.

"We'll play later.

"

Lewis's face lit up, then he bowed to them.

"Goodbye, number one,

" Nero told Lewis with a smile.

"Since I'm number zero, I guess I'm still superior to you.

"

And I'll deal with you later, fox boy.

"Nero.

"

He turned to his twin sister when she called him in a serious voice.

"Yes?

"

"Don't call Lewis my 'pet' again or else, I'll get mad,

" Neoma warned him. Then, she smiled

"brightly

" at him.

"Neoma won't talk to you if you continue treating her son that way, Brother.

"

His twin sister was cunning, huh?

First, she threatened him to make sure that he'd listen. Then, she talked in third person adorably to appease him. And it worked.

"I'm sorry, Neoma,

" Nero said, then he gently patted her head.

"I will apologize to Lewis later.

"

Well, he could apologize to Lewis, then threaten him later, right?

***

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