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NEOMA was a little surprised when she met Emperor Nikolai and Saint Zavaroni when she came out of Nero\'s room.

Gosh, her eyes were still puffy from fake crying.

No wonder the saint looked worried. On the other hand, her Papa Boss\'s brows furrowed in confusion as if he couldn\'t believe that she was capable of crying.

Yes, Papa Boss. Neoma the Great also cries. And loses.

"Greetings, gentlemen," Neoma said in a cracked voice. To be honest, it wasn\'t the proper greeting for the emperor and the saint. But only Sir Glenn, Trevor, and Lewis were there so she didn\'t care that much. "Nero is throwing tantrums so be careful approaching him."

"Did you two fight?" Emperor Nikolai asked. "It looks like your brother made you cry."

"No, these are tears of joy because I won the fight," she insisted despite her gross runny nose. "I dropped the last words and walked out first so it\'s my win."

"So you really fought," her Papa Boss said while shaking his head. "But it\'s normal between siblings to do that. It will be weirder if you don\'t have fights with Nero."

Was her father talking about his own experience with his twin sibling?

She wanted to say that their "fights" were different though. After all, her grumpy father and crazy aunt\'s "fights" involved literally trying to kill each other. On the other hand, her fight with Nero was more on the normal side. But could she really call it "normal?"

I mean, maybe Nero and I are the only eight-year old twins in the world who fight because one is getting obsessed with the other.

Wait, that sounded wrong.

"Nero doesn\'t want to see me right now, Papa Boss," she said. "I\'m just going to play with Lewis and Trevor since my brother doesn\'t want to hang out with me."

It wasn\'t like she wanted to "play" with Trevor.

She just remembered that her father told her this morning that the talking book had something to discuss with her.

Anyway, her thoughts were cut-off when she saw her Papa Boss glare at Trevor.

The demon boy, on the other hand, turned his gaze away from his father.

Gosh, what\'s with those two?

"Bring Glenn with you," her Papa Boss said, then he turned to the knight. "Glenn, make sure that the demon boy can\'t touch even a strand of Neoma\'s hair."

Sir Glenn bowed to the emperor. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

She, on the other hand, was shocked. If only she could recreate "shocked memes," she would have done it to express how surprised she was with what her father said. She was confused, to be honest.

In her heart, she knew that Papa Boss just showed a little bit of concern for her.

Her big brain just couldn\'t process it. Whenever her Papa Boss would show her a tiny bit of kindness, she would automatically think: "what\'s the catch?"

I\'m sorry, Papa Boss. This daughter of yours is a jaded grown-up inside. No hard feelings.

"Please stop treating me like I\'m a criminal," Trevor complained lightly, then he turned to the emperor with a bow. "I will behave around Her Royal Highness Princess Neoma, Your Majesty."

Her Papa Boss completely ignored the talking book.

She, on the other hand, raised a brow at the way Trevor addressed her. Why did he suddenly call me by my formal title?

"Princess Neoma, can I set an appointment with you?" Saint Zavaroni asked kindly. "May I speak with you after I check on Prince Nero\'s condition?"

"Of course, Your Holiness," she said with a smile. "I\'ll wait for you in my palace."

"I also need to talk to you after I check on Nero. Keep your schedule clear after your appointment with His Holiness," her Papa Boss demanded. When she gave her father a confused look, he raised a brow at her. "What?"

"Nothing, Papa Boss," Neoma said, then he let out a deep sigh. "Gosh, I\'m so in-demand these days."

***

"SO, WHY did you fight with Neoma?" Nikolai asked his son after Saint Zavaroni left the room. West (the White Tiger) and North (the Black Tortoise), his Soul Beasts, were sleeping at his feet as he stood in front of Nero who was seated on his bed. "You made your sister cry."

To be honest, he felt awkward trying to meditate between his children.

But he didn\'t want Nero and Neoma\'s fight to become serious eventually, so he decided to meddle with his children\'s business.

I\'m only doing this because I don\'t want to be on His Holiness\'s bad side, okay?

"Your Majesty, Neoma told me that she\'s working for you," Nero said coldly while looking up at him with empty eyes. "Is it true that you made a contract with her? That in exchange of taking my place, you\'re going to give her freedom once I\'m fully recovered?"

Of course, his first thought was to doubt Nero and see if he was just trying to fool him into confessing the contract that he made with Neoma. As an emperor, he couldn\'t simply trust anyone– even his own children. Especially not a male heir like Nero.

After all, he betrayed his father in the past. He wouldn\'t be surprised if Nero does the same to him. To be honest, he was prepared for that day to come.

But it seemed like it wasn\'t today.

The fact that Neoma cried must mean that she already told her twin brother about their deal. It was understandable why Nero would get mad for learning the truth. After all, his arrogant son must be thinking that his twin sister\'s world revolved around him only. But now that Nero knew the truth, it must have shattered his ego.

"Welcome to reality, Prince Nero," he said sarcastically that made his son glare at him. "Neoma asked for three things in return of taking your place. First, she asked me to cancel her engagement with Rubin Drayton. She wanted to gain the freedom of choosing her own husband."

"That should be a basic right of every person in the world."

"Not when you\'re a noble– especially not when you\'re a royal," he said. "Only a few have the luck to marry the person they love."

The first couple that came into his mind was Rufus and Amber Quinzel.

But then again, the two got lucky that they were both born from wealthy families. It also helped that both their families belonged to the Royal Faction.

"Second, Neoma asked for a duchess title and a small dukedom," he continued when Nero didn\'t comment on his last remark. "It seems like she\'s adamant to leave the Royal Palace once you take back your place as the rightful heir."

"And you accepted her terms?"

"A life of a duchess would give Neoma more freedom than her title as the royal princess," he said firmly. "You know that the royal princesses born in the family have no use except for marrying them off to wealthy and powerful families."

"I intend to change that when I steal the throne from you," his son said with confidence. "To be honest, I\'m thinking of simply waiting for you to step down and let me sit on the throne. I was willing to wait but I changed my mind now. It seems like I need to seize the throne from you earlier than planned if I want to protect Neoma, Your Majesty."

"It seems like you have a wrong impression of my relationship with your twin sister, Nero," he said. He actually didn\'t mind Nero\'s threat regarding the throne. After all, he made the same threats to his father in the past. The thing that annoyed him was his son\'s implication that he wasn\'t doing his best to protect Neoma. "Do you know what her third wish was?" When Nero didn\'t respond, he continued talking. "Neoma asked me to spend one hour with her every single day. We shared breakfast, lunch, and dinner together for the past three years, Nero. She might be closer to me now than she is to you."

Nero hissed and stood up as if he was about to attack him.

At that moment, West (the White Tiger) woke up, stood, and growled at Nero. North (the Black Tortoise), despite being silent, was also ready to attack his son for his sudden hostility towards him.

"Stay put," he told his Soul Beasts. Then, he looked at his son. "Nero, Neoma isn\'t a weak child that you need to protect. She\'s stronger, smarter, and more cunning than you think. You always accuse me of belittling Neoma because she\'s a girl. But by trying to control her and forcing her to depend on you, don\'t you think it\'s you who looks down on her the most?"

His son looked shocked by his accusation. Then, shame crossed his eyes as his face turned red. Ah, he must have hit a nerve for the royal prince to react that way.

"If you want to hear about what Neoma has been doing for the past three years, I\'m willing to tell you everything. I even have the reports of her accomplishments," he offered to his son. "Ah, before I forget, I think you\'ve misunderstood something."

"Misunderstood what?"

"Just because Neoma signed a contract with me doesn\'t mean that she betrayed you," he said. To be honest, he didn\'t know why he was doing this. All he knew was he didn\'t want Neoma and Nero to end up like how Nichole and he parted ways. "Your twin sister is working hard to protect your crown. She\'s doing her best to make sure that you have a comfortable place to return to. A person who just wants her freedom won\'t put her life at risk for someone that she doesn\'t care about."

The royal prince suddenly turned teary-eyed. It seemed like he was embarrassed by it, so he turned his gaze away from him.

It was too late though, since he already saw his tears.

He\'s still really a kid.

"I want to hear what Neoma has been doing for the past three years," Nero said in a soft, shy voice before he turned to him again. Ah, his face was as red as a tomato. If Neoma was here, she would have laughed at how embarrassed her twin brother looked at the moment. "But I want to visit Hanna first," he said. "I haven\'t thanked her yet for saving my life ."

"Very well. I will send Alphen and Stephanie here to assist you. For you to be able to move freely around the palace, you will have to dress up as \'Lady Nara Quinzel\' again," Nikolai told his son. "My White Tiger and Black Tortoise will remain as your personal guards."

***

[VALENTINE SPECIAL EXTRA]

Note: This takes place three years ago, a few months after Nero and Trevor entered the latter\'s territory.

***

"YOUR MAJESTY, I\'m here to report Princess Neoma\'s expenses for the month," Kyle reported to him when he came to his office that morning. "Her Royal Highness\'s finances for this month exceeded the usual amount of money that she spends monthly."

Nikolai raised his head to look at the count. To be honest, money wasn\'t the issue. Since Neoma was acting as the royal prince now, her funds were enough to run a huge village. But this was the first time that she splurged this much. It would be more appropriate to say that he was curious as to where she spent her money on. "What did she purchase for her to exceed her usual funds?"

"According to the report that I received from the Royal Kitchen, Her Royal Highness requested the Royal Chef to make premium heart-shaped chocolates for every single person working in the Blanco and Yule Palace, Your Majesty."

He was surprised to hear that.

Then, she remembered that Neoma told him yesterday that she\'d "borrow" the servants in his residence– including the royal guards– for an hour or two today. She also requested Glenn\'s presence. That was the reason why he was alone in his office with Kyle.

Since he was used to Neoma\'s ridiculous antics, he didn\'t ask what she was going to do to the servants. He just asked Glenn to keep an eye on the royal princess.

But Glenn spoils Neoma too much.

"Her Royal Highness also ordered a lot of roses from a luxury flower shop," the count continued his report. "I heard it was enough to hand a single-stemmed red rose for everyone working for both the Blanco and Yule Palace."

"No wonder she exceeds her usual budget," he said nonchalantly. After all, that amount of money wouldn\'t be enough to make him bankrupt anyway. "But what\'s the occasion? Why is she suddenly generous to the servants?"

"I saw Princess Neoma a while ago and she greeted me a \'Happy Heart\'s Day,\'" his aid said. "Apparently, today is the day where a person is encouraged to give presents like chocolates, roses, candies, accessories, etc. to the people that they like. Her Royal Highness also explained that there are two kinds of chocolate that a person can hand out today: an obligatory chocolate for your friends, and a "romantic chocolate" for the person that you want to "date.""

He raised a brow at that. "I haven\'t heard a holiday or custom like that and I\'ve seen several other cultures in my life."

Sometimes he wondered if Neoma was just really creative, or something else gave her such ideas. He couldn\'t believe that a five-year-old little girl who had never stepped foot outside the Royal Palace could come up with interesting ideas.

"That\'s the same for me, Your Majesty," Kyle said. "But the servants are very thrilled right now. Everyone is in high spirits after receiving a precious present from Her Royal Highness." He scratched his cheek and he sounded hesitant when he spoke again. "And today, love seems to be in the air. The servants and the royal guards are using the royal princess\'s "special event" to confess their feelings to the person that they like."

He just rolled his eyes at that.

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard a knock on the door. Then, Glenn entered the office with a bunch of flowers and chocolates in his arms. The foolish knight\'s face looked radiant than normal.

"Your Majesty, I received chocolates and flowers from Her Royal Highness and the others…" Glenn said, then he trailed off while looking at him and Kyle back and forth. "Oh. His Majesty and Kyle didn\'t receive chocolates and flowers from Princess Neoma?"

"I saw Princess Neoma a while ago and she didn\'t hand me a present," Kyle said, then he let out a deep sigh. "The chocolates look delicious so it made me feel sad a little. What a shame that Her Royal Highness hates me."

"It\'s because you\'re mean to Princess Neoma. You don\'t even deserve a grass from her," Glenn said to the count who glared at the knight. As usual, Glenn just ignored Kyle before he turned to him. "Don\'t worry, Your Majesty," he said with an annoying bright smile on his face. "I\'m pretty sure that Princess Neoma will give you a chocolate and a flower later."

Nikolai rolled his eyes. "I am not expecting a gift from Neoma."

***

That night, Nikolai spent the night waiting– uhm, reading reports.

On the other hand, Neoma, knowing that she made a lot of people happy that day by handing out chocolates and roses for everyone, slept peacefully.

***

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***

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