"YOUR MAJESTY, I have returned.

"

Nikolai didn't show it, but he was relieved to have Rufus Quinzel back.

"You took your time, Rufus.

"

He did tell his cousin to stay with his daughter as long as he needed to, since Hanna Quinzel was currently in the process of mastering the complete Shadow Manipulation Technique of the Quinzels. Thus, the child needed all the support that she could get from her family.

But Rufus was still the duke of the empire. His cousin had duties to fulfill– especially now that the crows had formally announced their return.

"I apologize, Your Majesty,

" Rufus, who was standing in front of his office table, said with a smile.

"I came back as soon as I received the report about the crows' appearance.

"

The smile on the duke's face disappeared, and his eyes turned sharp.

Of course, Rufus has a personal grudge against the crows after they almost killed his one and only daughter before.

"One crow executive showed up,

" he said to his cousin.

"It was Bram de Luca.

"

Rufus knitted his eyebrows.

"He's still alive?

"

"Unfortunately, yes,

" he said.

"I thought I already eliminated those damned crows in the past. But it seems like most of them survived, then went into hiding.

"

The duke let out a frustrated sigh.

"As expected, people who carry the de Luca bloodline aren't easy to kill.

"

"Bram de Luca asked me where the royal princess is,

" he said in a cold voice.

"The crows are showing interest in the royal princess now.

"

"It's probably because the royal twins are turning ten years old soon,

" his cousin said sympathetically.

"The crows always make their presence known to the royal children once their ages turn two digits.

"

He nodded in agreement.

"I'm afraid they'll find out Neoma's secret soon.

"

"Your Majesty…

"

"Don't give me that look– I'm confident Neoma will be fine. I won't let any danger befall on my children,

" he said firmly. He couldn't stand the pity in Rufus' gaze, so he changed the topic.

"Rufus, there's another reason I summoned you back here.

"

"I'm listening, Your Majesty.

"

"I didn't send you a report about this because I thought this is something I should personally tell you,

" he said carefully.

"Rufus, we already found where Gavin Quinzel is.

"

The duke looked shocked, but his eyes also showed his complicated feelings.

"Your brother is trapped in a block of ice similar to where Mona is trapped.

"

Rufus' jaws clenched.

"Then that means my brother will be trapped in there unless…

"

His cousin didn't have to finish his sentence, since he already knew what the duke was trying to say.

"Neoma intends to save Gavin Quinzel once her Soul Beast returns,

" he shared with Rufus.

"But even if Neoma saves your brother, I still intend to punish him accordingly.

"

The duke nodded slowly.

"I understand, Your Majesty.

"

"If you do, then go and buy the land where Gavin Quinzel is trapped.

"

"Excuse me?

"

"It's inside a cave near the shore of Aldives.

"

"The so-called 'Sea of Stars' because the water sparkles at night?

"

"Yes, that one.

"

"Then it must be located in one of the private islands owned by House Lennox since their territory is in Aldives…

" Rufus trailed off, then he nodded as if he understood why he had to ask him to buy the land instead of directly doing it.

"Right. Your Majesty has a sour relationship with House Lennox.

"

After all, House Lennox was the maternal family of the late Empress Juliet.

"You didn't have to remind me,

" he snapped at Rufus.

Of course, Rufus just laughed it off.

He was about to scold his cousin when, all of a sudden, the ground shook hard. It was followed by the explosion of a familiar aura that even Rufus recognized.

Could it be…

He immediately stood up and ran to the balcony of his office, his cousin following behind him.

When the two of them reached the balcony, they were greeted by a strange view.

The Glass House, the greenhouse that he built for Mona in the past, could be clearly seen from the balcony. And so, they could also see the gigantic tree that suddenly grew big and penetrated the Glass House's high ceiling. The top of the tree almost touched the sky.

He was damn well certain that a tree as huge as that didn't exist in the Glass House before.

After all, when Mona disappeared, all the plants and trees in the Glass House died as if they were frozen in time. He didn't bother to take care of it, but he also didn't have the heart to destroy the Glass House. In short, he just left it untouched.

"An enormous tree with white leaves. And that familiar aura…

" Rufus, who was standing behind him, said in an amused voice.

"Your Majesty, it's a message.

"

"Yes, and I got it loud and clear,

" Nikolai said, then he let out a sigh.

"The Cosmic Tree is awake now.

"

***

"I ALREADY forgot the details about the first Holy Knight from the Roseheart Clan, and the legend of the White Lion. It's been so long, after all. But I'm sure William will tell you the whole story if you ask him later.

"

Neoma was dying of curiosity about the story behind Nero Roseheart, the first Holy Knight that served the first de Moonasterio ruler, but Delwyn literally slept on her. The Ice Spirit told her to wake him up when it was time for them to work.

Tsk. But it looks like Delwyn has really forgotten the story about the first Nero Roseheart. I guess I don't have a choice but to ask Uncle Scumbag about it later.

"Your Royal Highness?

"

Neoma stopped getting distracted, then she turned to Juri Wisteria and Jeanne Audley who just entered her temporary office in the king's palace.

"Welcome back,

" she said to her

"children.

"

"How's the situation outside?

"

It had been a week since she had taken over Hazelden's Royal Palace.

Her father, Emperor Nikolai de Moonasterio, had already released an official statement throughout the empire (and the neighboring kingdoms and nations) about Hazelden Kingdom's betrayal.

Through something similar to a virtual press conference using a special communication device, Neoma and her Papa Boss presented the evidence of the atrocities committed by Hazelden's Royal Family against the empire.

Princess Brigitte served as a witness.

And a whistleblower, I guess.

Paige Avery and Jasper Hawthorne, on the other hand, helped them by sending some of the weapons sold by the Hazelden Kingdom to the terrorists that attacked Valmento in the past.

Since the High Priest and the Holy Knights weren't in the condition to fight, Paige and Jasper Oppa were able to

"borrow

" the stolen weapons with no more conflict. According to Paige, His Eminence didn't look happy about it. But unfortunately for High Priest Wellington, he still has to recover before he could complain.

Well, Paige and Jasper were taking good care of the people of the Astello Temple affected by Darkness, so she wasn't too worried about the current state of Valmento.

I should wrap things up here so I could head over to the Holy Land soon.

"Princess Brigitte is talking to the commoners in the plaza, Your Royal Highness,

" Jeanne Audley reported to her.

"As planned, Princess Brigitte is giving detailed instructions to her people on how to stay safe in their homes later. Glenn and the knights loyal to Princess Brigitte are there, too.

"

Ah, right.

The Paladins and her

"children

" didn't apprehend the entire troop of Hazelden's royal knights. It came as a surprise to her, but Princess Brigitte was actually well-loved by the people working in the palace. Most of the decent and the strongest knights supported her all this time.

Plus, Princess Brigitte was also loved by the commoners.

Her **ty family and the **ty higher nobles blocked Brigitte unnie's chance to become the Crown Princess instead of her **ty brother, though.

Ah, she shouldn't get too involved with Hazelden's politics.

Her Papa Boss told her to focus more on purifying the remaining Darkness left by the crows in the kingdom. Thus, her father and Princess Brigitte ended up working together while dealing with Hazelden's Royal Family.

Plus, her Papa Boss and the first princess were also discussing what punishment to give upon the nobles who supported King Landon and Crown Prince Blake's illegal businesses.

Well, Papa Boss is the emperor. It's his job to deal with a case as big as a kingdom betraying our empire. And since Princess Brigitte is the only Hazelden's Royal Family member that we can trust, she's the best person to work with my father.

"Your Royal Highness, the Fletcher Twins have installed the Mana bombs in all the target areas we marked,

" Juri reported to her.

"Everything is set here.

"

That meant it was her turn to work.

Lewis should be done with his task by now.

"Good work,

" Neoma said to Jeanne Audley and Juri Wisteria.

"For now, I ask everyone to stand by.

"

***

NEOMA felt like having a nosebleed while looking at Lewis' adult form.

I hate having thoughts like this about my

"son,

" but he's really hot. He's guaranteed to be a heartbreaker in the future, considering his cold personality. But he might change, since foxes are known to be cunning and, uh, well people say foxes use their good looks to their advantage.

Every time he would use all his nine-tails, Lewis would turn into an adult.

Apparently, young foxes could turn into their adult form temporarily when using their nine tails because a child's body couldn't handle their Mana. So, they needed a bigger 'container,' which was an adult's body.

It's possible for the Silver Fox Clan to do that since their soul is considered old, if we count their age from the moment they lived as a fox for a thousand years. Thus, being able to transform into an adult temporarily despite being physically a child (in humans' years) is possible.

"I wish I could stay in this form permanently.

"

Neoma, distracted by Lewis's sudden monologue, snapped out of her trance.

"Why, though? Aging naturally is still the best, Lewis. You still have a lot of things to learn.

"

"I know,

" Lewis said, then he shrugged.

"But whenever I'm in my adult form, I know you don't see me as your

"son

" because you're obsessed with my face.

"

Wow.

Look at this punk talk casually to me while calling me out for my penchant for pretty faces.

"You didn't have to put it that way,

" she complained, then she turned to her main objective and the reason Lewis was in that form.

Right now, the two of them were on the snowy mountain.

To be precise, they were in the middle of the woods.

She asked Lewis to

"unbury

" Delwyn who literally buried himself in the snow just to sleep. Thankfully, her

"son

" was physically strong enough to dig the ground and unearth the Ice Spirit.

Tsk, this ahjussi…

Of course, the 'ahjussi' in question was Delwyn who was lying on an ice bed and was still sleeping peacefully.

"Delwyn, wake up,

" she said as she approached the 'sleeping beauty.'

"It's time for you to become my temporary Soul Beast.

"

Delwyn, thankfully, opened his eyes right away. Then he got up and turned to her with a sleepy look on his face.

"Oh,

" he said.

"Good morning, Little Neoma.

"

"Good morning, Delwyn,

" she greeted him back even though it was already noon. Then she raised her right hand. The mark of the Lynx ring in her ring finger sparkled.

"Come out, Tarot Cards.

"

Her Lynx Ring, the ring that she received from the former saint Dominic Zavaroni, served as her invisible inventory. The ring concealed all the items she wanted to hide like her choker and the anklet that she received from Ruto.

Of course, it hid not only the things she already wore but also her other weapons.

Her Lynx Ring also hid Skewer, the scissors that Yule gifted her, and the Tarot Cards she received from Manu.

"Tarot Cards?

" Delwyn asked, then he tilted his head to one side.

"I'm pretty sure they're called the Soul Parchments.

"

She smiled while looking at the

"Tarot Cards

" floating in front of her.

Actually, Delwyn was correct.

Manu called those cards 'Soul Parchments.' Apparently, instead of animal skin, the Soul Parchments were made of, well, soul.

Obviously.

But the Soul Parchments had the shape and size of a tarot card. Plus, the Soul Parchments had drawings in it, too. Thus, she decided to change the name from Soul Parchments to Tarot Cards. She thought it would be fun that way.

"Princess Neoma, you changed the name of your items again,

" Lewis, who seemed to be so done with her naming sense, said. Then his body turned translucent as he shrunk. A few moments later, he was back to his regular built. Goodbye, hottie Lewis and hello, her

"son.

"

"Your ancestors probably cry every time you give weird names to the items they treasured.

"

"But I feel like I'll work better with these items if I give them cute names,

" she said defensively.

Lewis just sighed while shaking his head.

"I think William is right,

" Delwyn said, then he let out a rare soft laugh.

"Little Neoma, you're not normal.

"

"A lady who's destined to be the first empress can't be normal,

" Neoma said while laughing, then she placed her hands on the Tarot Cards.

"Delwyn, let's get this over and done with.

"

***

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***

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