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Nikolai flinched at Mona’s question as soon as he returned to his bedroom.

He took a bath and changed his clothes in a different room to use it as an excuse as to why he left early. But it was useless.

[Mona already knows that I went out to confront Ruston Stroganoff, so I can’t deny it.]

“Nikolai, you’re so petty,” Juliet said, then she sipped her milk. “Neoma is an adult inside. Moreover, I heard from Mona that Neoma and Ruto seemed to have been lovers in the first timeline. What’s wrong if they continue their relationship now?”

“Neoma is still too young to have a lover,” Nikolai said firmly, then he sat on the chair next to Mona– joining the ladies in the round table where a simple breakfast was spread. “She’s only thirteen years old. I know it’s rich coming from me who was already dating Mona at that age. However, my opinion won’t change.”

“While I agree with you in that matter, I still don’t like how you terrorize the poor young men who admire our beautiful daughter,” Mona said while shaking her head. “You’re especially mean to Ruto, my love.”

“It’s because Neoma likes him the most.”

“And how did you know that our daughter likes Ruto the best?”

.....

“Because Ruston Stroganoff looks the plainest out of all the boys around Neoma,” Nikolai said. “And yet, Neoma who’s obsessed with pretty faces, chose him.”

It wasn’t that Ruston Stroganoff was seriously ‘plain.’

In fact, the young chef was considered handsome by normal standards.

However, the boys around Neoma were all ridiculously handsome.

Lewis.

Trevor.

Jasper Hawthorne.

And of course, the so-called “most handsome boy on the entire continent”– Rubin Drayton. Many people had been singing praises about how that punk’s face that it even reached his ears. Him, the emperor.

[That’s how famous Rubin Drayton is for his handsome face.]

“You know, my love,” Mona said while putting a hand over his. “The more you pick on Ruto, the more protective Neoma will get with him.”

Juliet nodded in agreement. “You’re practically announcing Ruto as your son-in-law by paying attention to him, you know?”

“That’s not true,” Nikolai insisted. “I hate all the boys around Neoma EQUALLY.”

Juliet just shook her head, obviously frustrated with his stubbornness.

“Let’s talk about Neoma and her suitors later,” Mona said, fortunately changing the topic as she turned more serious. “I have news to share with you. First, Lord Manu and Delwyn are done locating where two of Prince Skylus’ scattered divine powers landed.”

That was some good news.

“The crows know that the new saint’s divine power was scattered, so they must be looking for it as well,” Nikolai said in an impatient tone. “We must collect the new saint’s divine power first and return it to the young prince.”

“That’s what I’d like to talk to you about with our children,” Mona said, nodding. “The Rose Petals that I attached to Calyx Dalton and Callisto de Luca have been activated.”

“That means the targets have settled down,” Nikolai said. “Where are they hiding?”

***

“THE BLOOD Sea?” Nero asked, knitting his eyebrows while looking at the map spread on the table. “It’s Dahlia’s home.”

Right now, Nero was in the study in his father’s palace.

His parents were with him.

The former empress Lady Juliet Sloane (in her baby form) was also with them. But the former empress was sleeping on the sofa.

[Anyway…]

The Blood Sea was a hidden island surrounded by sea dyed with an Ancient Spirit’s blood.

“That’s right, son,” his mother said while looking at the map, too. “A portion of the new saint’s divine power landed in the Blood Sea.”

Nero clenched his hands tight. “All the more reason why we must rescue Dahlia. If she was with us, we can easily retrieve the divine power that fell on the Blood Sea.”

“Son, we know that you’re desperate to save Dahlia. But listen to us first,” his father said. Then the emperor pointed at one of the “forbidden zones” of the continent. To be precise, his father pointed at the Saanya Desert. “This is where your mother located Calyx Dalton and Callisto de Luca. There’s a high chance that Dahlia is there, too.”

“The Blood Sea and the Saanya Desert are literally oceans apart.”

“That’s not the only problem, Nero,” his father said sternly. “The second portion of the new saint’s divine power landed on the Saanya Desert.”

His eyes widened a bit from surprise. “That’s not an ideal situation.”

Because if the crows had a hide-out in the Saanya Desert, then it wouldn’t be easy for them to retrieve it.

“As expected, I must go,” Nero said firmly. “Mother, Father, we must divide our forces. I volunteer to rescue Dahlia and retrieve the divine power that landed on the Saanya Desert. And I’m doing this not only because I wanted to save Dahlia.”

His father frowned. “Then what’s the other reason?”

“The knights that I recruited to be a part of my future Knight Order are finally completed,” Nero informed his parents. “They’ve been staying in the Royal Capital for quite some time now.”

His father’s frown turned into a smirk. “Nero, do you think I’ll allow you to raid the enemies’ base with a group of newly-recruited knights who haven’t even worked together before? I hope you’re not underestimating the crows.”

“It’s not like that, Father,” Nero insisted. “This won’t be the first time that I will command those people, so it will be fine. I know how to use each of them to the fullest.”

His parents looked confused, hence he explained.

“The people that I asked the Fletcher Twins to gather for me are the members of my Knight Order in my previous life.”

Now his parents looked shocked.

“I don’t remember my previous life the way Neoma does,” Nero said carefully. “I only saw some fragments of the past through many long dreams. And in some of those dreams, I saw the people who served me faithfully back then. Hence, I recruited them to be my people in this timeline.”

“But even if that’s true, they haven’t met you yet, Nero,” his mother said worriedly. “How do you know if they’ll also become loyal to you this time?”

“Don’t worry, Mother,” Nero assured her. “I didn’t laze around while I was still in a comatose state before. I regularly met my knights in my Spirit form in order to train them in secret. Hence, I’m confident that I can command them well.”

“Nero, it’s still too dangerous for you to face the crows head-on,” his father said, sighing.

“I don’t need to fight the crows to death,” Nero said. “My objective is to rescue Dahlia and retrieve the divine power in the Saanya Desert.” He looked at the emperor straight in the eye. “Your Majesty, please have faith in me. I am the Crown Prince of the empire. Hence, I won’t fight a battle that I know I can’t win.”

A glint of pride sparkled in his father’s eyes as if he was proud of him.

Nero already knew by then that he had already won the argument.

[Father, Mother, you love your children a little too much.]

***

NEOMA was enraged.

She felt like going crazy from too much anger after she heard Ruto’s story about the poor Aether that the gods in the Upper World were trying to kill just because it was too weak and too old to perform its job.

“If they’re so crazy about breathing clean air, then why don’t they fucking find the source of pollution in their goddamned world instead of finding a new Aether?” Neoma said, her tiny fists clenched hard. “Bringing in a new Aether is like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound– it’s stupid and useless just like their freaking worthless asses!”

[AAARRRGGGHHH!!!]

Neoma screamed internally while Ruto just sipped his tea calmly.

Okay, that did the trick.

Looking at Ruto’s serene face also soothed her raging heart. There was something about his calm demeanor that never failed to heal her.

[Yep, looking at Ruto is healing.]

“Are you done being angry?” Ruto asked politely as he quietly put the teacup down on the saucer. “Would you like some more chicken?”

Neoma nodded calmly. “Yes, please.”

Ruto made pancakes and fried chicken for breakfast.

But she was already done with her pancake.

Hence, she was focused on the fried chicken this time. And since only the two of them were in the room, she used her hands to eat the chicken drumstick that Ruto handed to her.

[This is how you eat a fried chicken anyway.]

She wasn’t conscious to eat like that in front of Ruto since she knew she was still pretty even if she ate with her hands.

[And Ruto likes whatever I do.]

Thankfully, Hanna allowed Neoma and Ruto to stay in the same room.

According to her cousin, she trusted that the young lord wouldn’t make a move on a baby. Hence, Hanna graciously excused herself to give Neoma and Ruto some private time.

“Okay, I’m calm now,” Neoma said after she ate two more chicken drumsticks. “I’m full.”

“Very well,” Ruto said, then he stood up and walked towards her. Then he used a wet handkerchief to clean her face and hands. “Should I pour you some milk?”

“Yes, please.”

He just nodded, then she poured milk onto her teacup.

Only then did Ruto return to his seat.

.....

[Hehe. Ruto is treating me like a princess. Well, I am HIS princess.]

Anyway, it was time to get serious.

“Ruto, as I said earlier, Lewis was kidnapped,” Neoma said solemnly. “I know that it’s a trap set up by the Devil to kidnap me. But I still want to save my “son” first.”

“Then let’s do it,” Ruto said. “Let’s save Lewis.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “You’re going with me?”

“If you allow me, then I’d like to go with you this time.”

She nodded eagerly, but her shoulders slumped quickly when she remembered her biggest worry at the moment. “But I’m being selfish, Ruto. Dahlia was kidnapped, and the new saint was already born. We have to save Dahlia and collect the scattered divine power. But, here I am, prioritizing Lewis just because he’s my “son.””

“What’s wrong with that?” he asked calmly. “Saving the Black Witch and collecting the new saint’s divine power aren’t your sole responsibilities, Neoma.”

“But Dahlia is a friend,” she reason. “And I promised the baby saint that I will return his divine power to him.”

“You’re too soft-hearted, Neoma.”

“I don’t want to hear that from the person who chose the world over the love of his life in the first timeline.”

“That’s why I “killed” Commander Yoan Solfrid.”

Ah, so that was it.

Ruto was saying that he changed his name this time in order to forget the fool that he was in his past life.

“Well, I love myself too much to kill even a less pretty part of me,” Neoma said, shrugging even though the movement made her look like she was dancing. “But is it really okay for me to be this selfish, Ruto? The entire world is in danger. But I want to save my family first.”

And that family was Lewis, of course.

“It’s okay for you to be selfish, Neoma,” Ruto said seriously. “If someone says otherwise, I’ll deal with them.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at what he said. “It sounds like we’re two villains talking about how we’ll destroy the world.”

“Well, we have the power to do so…”

She just laughed it off.

Then she noticed that even though they were talking, Ruto wasn’t looking at her face. He wasn’t even meeting her gaze.

[It’s quite rude to do that.]

But she knew that Ruto wouldn’t do that just to be rude to her.

Plus, her gut feeling was telling her something was off.

“Ruto?”

“Hmm?”

“Why aren’t you looking at me properly?” Neoma asked carefully. “Do you feel awkward because I’m in a baby form?”

“Yeah,” he said, but it sounded like he was lying. Moreover, he changed the topic right away. “Speaking of your baby form, I believe you’ll return to normal even if we don’t do anything.”

He succeeded in distracting her because he mentioned a very important discussion.

[But I’ll get you later, Ruto.]

“Really?” she asked. “I’ll return to normal on my own?”

“Your divine power is stronger now than it was when I checked on you earlier,” Ruto explained. “The stronger your divine power is, the bigger ‘vessel’ is needed. And by ‘vessel,’ I mean your physical body.”

She looked at her tiny hands. “But I didn’t grow an inch.” She looked up at Ruto with a pout. “What will happen if my divine power gets stronger but the vessel remains the same? Am I going to combust or something?”

“I can see why you think you’d combust,” he said. “But don’t worry, I assure you that it won’t happen. The blessing that you have is stronger than the spell that turned you into a baby. It will break the spell before it harms you.”

“So, all I have to do now is wait?”

“Yes.”

“Will Tteokbokki and my baby Spirits come back once I return to normal?”

“That’s right,” Ruto said while nodding. “Your Soul Beast and Spirits disappeared because your vessel can’t handle their presence.”

“Then where did they go?”

“They’re somewhere inside your soul,” he said. “It’s hard to explain because you don’t remember, but there’s a space in your soul that only you can access. And it’s also connected to the reason why you’re not allowed to learn teleportation spells.”

“You can’t tell me what it is?”

“Not yet, at least,” Ruto said apologetically. “But please trust me on this, Neoma.”

“I trust you, Ruto,” she said softly. “Hence, I’ll wait until you’re ready to tell me why you can’t look at my face properly.”

He looked surprised by what she said.

“I know it’s not just because I look like a baby right now,” she said. “There must be a reason why you can’t look at me. I know that you can’t see my face clearly since I’m weak as hell at the moment. But I don’t understand why you look guilty every time our eyes meet briefly.”

He laughed but it sounded like a nervous laugh. “I really can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

“You can’t, so don’t even think about keeping things from me for too long,” she warned Ruto lightly. “You know what’s worse than miscommunication? It’s hiding things from your partner that they ought to know.” She sipped her tea before she continued. “If we want to be endgame, we should be honest to each other as much as we could.”

Ruto smiled playfully at her. “Are we endgame, Neoma?”

She knew that it was way too early to talk about that.

Moreover, even though she was usually (over)confident of herself, she hadn’t forgotten that Ruto once chose the entire world over her.

Whether she’d like to admit it or not, that did a number on her confidence.

[I mean, I haven’t done anything for Ruto yet. It’s always me who receives wonderful things from him.]

“That depends on you, Ruto,” Neoma said cheekily. “I won’t ask you to choose me over the world. You’re an adult, so it’s up to you how we’ll end up this time.”