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“That’s correct, Prince Nero,” Duke Quinzel said, nodding. “I don’t know what it means, though. Does Your Royal Highness know the Pirates of the South?”

Right now, Nero was having a meeting with Duke Quinzel in the drawing room of his palace.

The duke left the rescue team in Duchess Amber’s hands to talk to him.

Nero sipped his tea before he commented. “If I knew their identity, I would have arrested them a long time ago.”

Calyx and the Empress Dowager had tried to start a trading business with the South since the territory owned by the Quinzels was the richest region in the empire. However, those damned pirated would always attack and loot the royal ships.

[Come to think of it, the pirates only attacked the royal fleet.]

“The pirate seemed to resent Your Royal Highness,” Duke Quinzel said. “Moreover, he said three strange things that bothered me.”

“What did he say?”

.....

“Could Your Royal Highness clear the room first?”

Nero raised his hand– a signal telling Raku, Sandford, and the servants to leave the room.

Everyone bowed politely before leaving quietly.

“We’re alone now,” Nero said, putting the teacup down on the saucer quietly. “Speak, Your Grace.”

Duke Quinzel sipped his tea first before speaking. “First, the pirate called the Empress Dowager an “insignificant puppet.””

He frowned.

To be honest, he wasn’t that attached to the Empress Dowager. But he respected Her Majesty, especially as Calyx’s mother. Hence, he didn’t like that a mere pirate insulted the Empress Dowager.

“I’ll kill that impudent scoundrel as soon as I get my hands on him for insulting Her Majesty,” Nero said sternly. “What else did he say?”

The duke hesitated before speaking his mind. “The pirate asked me to protect Your Royal Highness from Prince Calyx.”

He knitted his eyebrows. “To protect me from Calyx?”

That came as a surprise.

Everyone knew that Nero and Calyx had a good sibling relationship.

The First Prince willingly gave up his right to the throne for Nero even though Calyx was the first-born son. Moreover, even the Empress Dowager supported him.

[Her Majesty has the right to control the empire the way she wants as the elder of the Royal Family. However, the Empress Dowager has never overstepped her boundaries. She puts me in charge of all the important matters in the empire.]

Hence, he never saw Calyx and the Empress Dowager as competition for the throne.

Having said that, he heard a small voice in his head.

[Can I really trust Calyx? He tried to kidnap Prince Skylus and when the king and queen of Hazelden refused, he tried to assassinate the entire family. And he did everything behind my back.]

He also clearly remembered hearing Calyx say that he didn’t want Nero to find out that he was already back in the empire.

[Why is Calyx doing questionable things behind my back? And why did he attempt to harm the Griffiths? The Hazelden Kingdom may be a small kingdom, but it’s rich and powerful– especially its military force.]

“Prince Nero?”

“It’s nothing,” Nero said while shaking his head, putting on his mental note to confront Calyx later. “What else did the pirate say?”

“The last thing he said was what bothered me the most, Your Royal Highness.”

That made him even more curious.

[If it bothered Duke Quinzel, then it only means it’s something important.]

“The pirate said we should be ready for the return of the future empress.”

He knitted his eyebrows. “Was he talking about the time he would return Hanna to us?”

After all, Hanna would be his empress once he ascended the throne.

“No, Your Royal Highness,” Duke Quinzel said while shaking his head. “Based on the pirate’s tone and manner of speech, I think he was talking about an empress regnant.”

Nero scoffed after hearing that. “An empress regnant? I don’t even have a sister to compete with for the throne…”

He trailed off.

For some reason, he felt gutted after saying that he didn’t have a sister. Then he suddenly remembered the foul-mouthed girl that he couldn’t forget.

[That girl has white hair, too…]

And although she couldn’t remember her face well, he could imagine her having ash-gray eyes like he did.

What was her name again?

It was on the tip of his tongue, but his brain wasn’t cooperating with him.

“Your Royal Highness?”

“Duke Quinzel, aren’t you the closest person to my father?”

The duke was the only person who never stopped looking for his father and mother. And every time the duke would hear people talk ill about his parents, His Grace would defend them.

“I can’t say I’m the closest to His Majesty, but I guess I’m one of the closest to him.”

[He’s really humble like Hanna.]

“Then does Your Grace know if my father had a daughter with someone else?”

“That’s preposterous, Prince Nero,” the duke said while shaking his head. “His Majesty had only one wife and one lover.”

The wife was obviously the Empress Dowager while the lover was his mother.

“Then… was I born alone?”

“What does Your Royal Highness mean…” Duke Quinzel trailed off, then he knitted his eyebrows when he probably realized what Nero was trying to say. “Oh, a twin?”

Nero’s heart beat like crazy for some reason. “That’s right– a twin.”

The duke fell silent for quite a while. “I’d like to say it’s impossible for Your Royal Highness to have a twin. However, Lady Roseheart gave birth outside the palace. Moreover, there wasn’t a witness because according to what I remember from His Majesty’s story, it was Lady Roseheart’s Spirits who helped her give birth. When His Majesty and his Paladins found her, Lady Roseheart apparently handed Your Royal Highness to your father.”

For some reason, he felt nervous. “Does it mean there’s a possibility that I have a twin sister?”

“We can say that,” Duke Quinzel said hesitantly. “But is there a reason why you believe you have a twin sister, Prince Nero?”

“I don’t know. It’s just a gut feeling,” Nero confessed, sighing. “I guess I need to summon William.”

[After all, William knows everything about my mother.]

***

“LADY HANNA, here’s your dinner.”

Hanna smiled at Juri Wisteria who served her a plate of steak. “Thank you, Lady Juri.”

Right now, the two of them were on the balcony of the small villa by the beach.

Jeno Dankworth was busy mooring the pirate ship, while Lewis was inside the villa.

“Is this villa already here when you got to this island?” Hanna asked curiously. “The design looked pretty old, but classy.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Juri agreed while nodding. “We just had to clean it when we got here. But other than cleaning, we didn’t do anything else. Since we’re only borrowing the place for a while, we thought it would be rude to renovate it.”

“I can feel how much you respected this place,” she said after observing how clean the villa and the entire beach were. “I’m sure Neoma will be pleased once she gets here.”

“I hope so,” Juri said, and it was obvious that she was excited by the idea of finally reuniting with Neoma. “Lady Hanna, we owe you an apology.”

“For what, Lady Juri?”

“According to imperial law, this part of the South Sea is a part of your Territorial Waters,” Juri explained. “But we’re here illegally.”

Hanna laughed softly while shaking her head. “It’s alright, Lady Juri. Moreover, this island belongs to Lady Roxana. The Quinzels wouldn’t dare to claim the land owned by the Light Goddess as a part of our territory. So please don’t worry about it.” She put a hand over her chest. “As the legitimate successor of House Quinzel, I welcome you to Edevane with open arms.”

Evedane was the name of the Quinzels’ duchy.

Juri looked relieved by what she said. “Thank you, Princess Quinzel.”

She just laughed when Juri addressed her by her title. “By the way, where are the others?”

“Paige and Xion are in the Royal Capital. They brought the floating island with them to rescue the Griffiths,” Juri explained. “But they’ll be here later.”

Hanna let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Their conversation was interrupted when Lewis came out and joined them. And the fox boy wasn’t alone.

“Greetings, Hanna noona.”

Huh?

Hanna’s eyes widened a bit while looking at the tall teenage boy in front of her. “Is that you, Greko?”

.....

Greko used to be a cute, bald, and plump child.

Now, he was a big-boned boy who had a face that could heal anyone with its brightness. Moreover, he had grown out his hair.

[Our Greko is a brunette.]

And their youngest was like a very adorable teddy bear.

“You’re almost as tall as Lewis now,” Hanna gushed. “Aren’t you only, like, fifteen?”

“I’ll be turning fifteen in a few days, noona,” Greko said politely while smiling at her. “I grew up well because eomma and my noonas and hyungs took really good care of me.”

“Aww, that’s good to hear.”

Hanna couldn’t stop smiling, and so did Juri.

[Greko is like a big baby that everyone loves to spoil.]

“It’s my turn to take care of everyone now that I’m already this big,” Greko said cheerfully, then he got down on one knee and extended his hand to her. “Noona, can I check on your condition? You’ve been consuming poison lately, aren’t you?”

“That’s right. Thank you,” Hanna said. She was pretty sure that she was alright, but it wouldn’t hurt if a great Healer like Greko would check on her condition. “You don’t have to kneel, Greko. I don’t want you to bruise your knees.”

“It’s okay, noona. Lewis hyung told me to bend my knees when talking to you.”

“Huh?”

Greko smiled innocently. “Lewis hyung said Hanna noona is really, really, really tiny.”

Haaah.

Hanna glared at Lewis who nervously avoided her gaze, while Juri burst out laughing.

[I am not THAT small, Lewis Crevan!]

***

[PRINCESS NEOMA really picked up a fight with a goddess, huh?]

As expected of his Moon Princess.

Trevor was impressed.

However, he didn’t like what he saw when he arrived at the “scene.” He arrived the exact moment Princess Neoma suddenly lost her powers. It was hard to see something like that, but he had the Bookworm who could absorb information around it.

Hence, he could tell that Princess Neoma had lost her powers for a moment.

He ran to catch his Moon Princess, but Ruston Stroganoff ran past him.

Trevor thought the damned chef would catch Princess Neoma. But to his relief, Ruston Stroganoff actually caught the brat named Phoebe Willows.

However, Ruston Stroganoff summoned his Elemental Guardian to catch Princess Neoma.

[Hmp!]

Trevor pushed Veton, the Thunderbird, with just a snap of his fingers. Then he caught Princess Neoma in his arms before she hit the floor. He was proud of his achievement.

Until that moment.

A ‘Gap’ appeared.

The Bookworm was called the Devil’s Grimoire because it knew everything since it could absorb information around it. It was the reason why Trevor found out about Princess Neoma’s multiple lives the first time they met.

However, the Bookworm wasn’t an omnipotent being– it had restrictions, too. For once, the Bookworm couldn’t absorb information from strong people who could protect themselves well. He hated to say this, but the Bookworm had never succeeded in absorbing information from Ruston Stroganoff from the start.

[That damned chef is THAT strong.]

It was the same thing for his Moon Princess.

After Princess Neoma grew stronger, the Bookworm was unable to absorb any information from her anymore…

… not until this moment.

When the Gap appeared– the exact moment where Princess Neoma’s guard dropped– the Bookworm was able to absorb information about her.

<Neoma 5 de Moonasterio, Remaining Lifespan: years.>

That was the information the Bookworm obtained before Princess Neoma recovered her strength.

But he had already seen it.

“What the hell, Princess Neoma?” Trevor said in disbelief while looking at her straight in the eye. “Five years…?”

Princess Neoma frowned at him. “I know what you’re thinking, but let’s not talk about it here.”

Right.

Trevor also wouldn’t want Ruston Stroganoff to know about Princess Neoma’s current condition.

[He doesn’t care about my Moon Princess anyway.]

“Put me down for now,” Princess Neoma ordered him sternly. “I need to talk to Ruto.”

Trevor could only sigh and follow his Moon Princess’ order. However, that didn’t mean he would set the issue aside. He’d bring it up again later.

[Princess Neoma, I won’t let you die early.]

***

NEOMA IMMEDIATELY confronted Ruto as soon as Trevor put her down. “Ruto, do you know that the Goddess of Beauty is absorbing Lady Phoebe’s vitality?”

If she could see that, there was no way Ruto couldn’t.

[I mean, we’re equals in terms of strength. Well, Ruto might just be a LITTLE bit stronger than me. But it’s only because I’m not obsessed with getting strong, okay?]

Ruto’s face remained passive. “Do I have to answer your question, Princess Neoma?”

[Oh, he knows.]

Neoma, for the first time in her life, was let down by her man. “I’m disappointed with you, Ruto.”

***

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