665 I’M LOOKING RESPECTFULLY
“AREN’T you coming in?”
Neoma clenched her hands when Ruto opened the door a little wider while inviting her to co in. “Are you sure?”
Ruto knitted his eyebrows as if he was confused. “Yes? You’re here to talk about sothing important, aren’t you?”
[Not really, but…]
“Ruto, are you really sure you want inside?”
“I an, I’m not forcing you. If you’re not comfortable, then let’s just et in the restaurant–”
“Gosh, I’m already here, so why are you kicking out?”
“You’re the one who doesn’t want to co in, though?”
She flipped her hair before she walked past Ruto when she entered the room. “Ruto, I’m saying this now. If I suddenly lose control, you’re free to push away,” she warned him before she turned around in ti to see Ruto closing the door. Dayum, his back muscles looked delicious. “Gosh. Why did you open the door when you’re half-naked? Are you seducing ?”
.....
[Lord Yule, my dear grandpa, are you testing my patience? Or is this you giving the sign that it’s ti for to continue our bloodline with Ruto???]
“You were standing still in front of my room for a few minutes already. I thought sothing bad happened, so I hurried to open the door,” Ruto explained “innocently,” then he turned around to face her. Gosh, look at this punk stand there as if he was a (very gorgeous) model. “Moreover, I thought you were here to seduce and not the other way around?”
Gosh.
Look at her man getting chatty when talking back to her.
[But those abs are really distracting! Who wouldn’t get seduced?!]
“I’m just a girl, standing in front of a half-naked boy, looking respectfully.”
“Right,” Ruto said as if he was just going along with whatever she was up to at the mont. “Give a minute to get dressed.”
“Why?”
“Huh?” He knitted his eyebrows, confused. “Would you like us to talk while I’m half-naked?”
“…”
Ruto cleared his throat when Neoma considered it for a mont. “You’re a princess, Neoma. To be precise, you’re the one and only royal princess of the empire.”
“Gosh, what a roundabout way to tell to maintain my dignity as a princess.”
“YOU said that, not .”
“I know how to read between the lines.”
“…”
“I know I’m being shaless, but it’s not like we’re doing sothing inappropriate for our age,” she said defensively, putting a hand over her chest. “If we combine all my ages from my first life up to now, then I’m already over sixty years old. And you’d be older than , of course. So, if we add our ages together, then we’d already be over a hundred years old.”
“And…?”
“That’s why it’s totally okay for us to change the genre of our love story from fluff to smut.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing,” Neoma said, gently slapping her dirty mouth with her hand. “Go and get dressed already.”
Ruto shook his head while holding back his laughter. “Yes, ma’am.”
***
NERO had never felt so humiliated until that mont.
He lost to the girl who claid to be his older twin sister.
Even Zeru, his main Soul Beast, lost to a re Elental Guardian.
Worse, he was knocked out. When he woke up, he found himself on his bed– in his room. Instead of his people, he found Calyx sitting on the chair next to the bed.
[Does he already know about what happened?]
“You’re awake,” Calyx said, closing the book in his hand. “Are you feeling better? Should I call the royal physician?”
“No. I’m fine,” Nero said grumpily. “How much do you know about what happened?”
“I t her.”
“What?”
“The girl claiming to be your older twin sister.”
He just frowned. [So, he knows everything already.]
“Nero, do you believe her?”
“I don’t care whether she’s my real twin sister or not,” Nero said in almost a growl. He still felt humiliated that both he and Zeru lost. “But if she’s here to compete for the throne now that won have the right to inherit titles, then she’s nothing but an enemy.”
Calyx looked satisfied by his reaction.
[You’re also a competition to the throne, Calyx.]
Even though his older brother already publicly declared that he wouldn’t compete for the throne, Nero couldn’t trust him fully.
[Perhaps my greed for the throne runs deeper than I thought.]
Also…
[“Calyx isn’t our brother. He may be a de Moonasterio, but he’s not related to us.”]
[“Calyx belongs to a cult that kills all the royal princesses in the Royal Family in order to crown the next emperor that they chose. They wanted you to beco the next emperor, but I’m the one destined to beco the first empress regnant.”]
[“Because of that prophecy, the crows are trying to get rid of . The crows wanted you to take the throne. But you love so much that you didn’t mind handing the throne to without a fight.”]
Those were the accusations that the girl who introduced herself as ‘Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio’ threw at Calyx.
The accusations were heavy, but Nero felt like he shouldn’t confront his older brother.
Not directly, at least.
[I’ll ask lvin to investigate the cult later.]
“I was worried you’d believe everything she said to you, Nero,” Calyx said while smiling warmly at her. “After all, she looks like you.”
That was true.
Moreover…
[“I “brainwashed” you since we were three years old so you’d love to death.”]
Hah!
That brazen girl declared that Nero loved her to death. It sounded ridiculous. However…
[Why can’t I refute it?]
There was sothing else that bothered him, though.
[“You love more than you love our parents. But Calyx erased from your mories. In fact, he put a very powerful curse that erased from everyone’s mories.”]
Calyx erased his mories?
Was there such a powerful curse in existence?
[And it worked on ?]
He couldn’t believe that because William and the Queen of the Spirit World had been by his side all this ti.
[I’m sure they would have protected if I was cursed.]
“Nero?”
“I’m going to check the Royal Treasury,” Nero said as he got up. “I need to see if anything was stolen.”
“Take with you,” Calyx said, tilting his head to one side. “Please?”
***
CALYX smiled at Sanford Devon, Raku, and lvin Luchessi who were all waiting outside Nero’s room. “Nero is already awake.”
His brother’s knights looked relieved.
[It worked.]
He had to borrow the power of the new saint to erase the mories of Sanford Devon, Raku, and lvin Luchessi because the three heard his conversation with Neoma de Moonasterio.
[These people shouldn’t know that Neoma de Moonasterio is Nero’s real twin sister.]
.....
“Thank you for coming to save us, Prince Calyx,” Sanford said while scratching his cheek. “Sorry, we’re not yet strong enough to protect Prince Nero from another… uh, was the lady earlier a de Moonasterio?”
“We don’t know that yet,” Calyx said, smiling. “As you know, it’s easy to dye one’s hair and eye color. And there’s also a type of magic that could change your appearance.”
Sanford said, nodding. “I see. That makes sense. It’s hard to believe that Prince Nero has a twin sister anyway.”
Calyx smiled wider. “Right? I’m the only sibling Nero has.”
***
[WE’RE BACK as a wholeso couple.]
Neoma was now having tea with a well-dressed Ruto, and they were still in his hotel room.
“Why did you want to talk to ?” Ruto asked while putting the teacup down on the table between them. “You won’t be here if it’s not for sothing important.”
“I’m here because I was worried about you.”
“Huh?”
“Ouch. Why do you look so surprised? I’m offended.”
“I guess I didn’t expect that you’d personally visit as soon as you got back just because you’re worried about ?” he said, shrugging. “I thought you’d hear the report from your “children” first.”
“Of course, I already did that,” she said. “Paige is a good aide, you know? Her reports are short but informative.”
“I see.”
“Paige and Hanna succeeded in making Regina Crowell talk about her power,” she said. “Apparently, Regina Crowell can turn back ti in one’s body. That’s how she was able to turn into a child before, and how she managed to turn Hanna’s body to the ti that she wasn’t immune to poison yet.”
Ruto drank his tea. “I see.”
“As expected, you’re no longer surprised,” Neoma said, then she sipped her tea before she asked. “Did you use Regina Crowell’s power to revive during the first tiline?”
“…”
“Is that why you haven’t killed Regina Crowell yet even though you could have killed her easily if you really wanted to?”
“…”
Ruto didn’t have to answer verbally because Neoma could tell that her hypothesis was correct.
[It’s probably why the old Neoma told not to kill Regina yet.]
However…
“It seems like both you and the old Neoma aren’t allowed to talk about Regina Crowell’s power,” Neoma said, observing Ruto who hadn’t made a comnt yet regarding the issue. “It’s alright if you’re not allowed to talk about it, Ruto. I’ll just figure it out on my own.”
“Regina Crowell’s power isn’t sothing you should handle carelessly,” Ruto said in a serious tone. “And even if I sacrifice my life to revive you using that power, it won’t be enough.”
She almost dropped the teacup in her hand.
As she said earlier, she knew how to read between the lines.
Hence, she easily understood what Ruto was trying to say.
[To revive during the first tiline, several people were sacrificed…]
The teacup in Neoma’s hand broke into tiny pieces.
Although the tea was still hot, it didn’t burn her.
In fact, the tea didn’t even touch her skin since Ruto moved his hand, causing the tea to suddenly disappear into thin air.
On the other hand, the broken pieces didn’t even scratch her.
After all, the de Moonasterio had thick skins– literally. They had a sturdy body, rember? People often said that the Royal Family had bodies as sturdy as a dragon’s.
“This is why the old didn’t want you to rember the past,” Ruto said while looking at her indifferently. “And I can’t say more than I already had. This cursed body of mine gets weaker each ti you rember sothing important from the first tiline.”
“I know that, that’s why I’m not asking anything anymore,” Neoma said, then she stood up. “Now that I see that you’re fine, I’ll take my leave then. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about our deal. If you need my help later, I’ll co running to you.”
“Wait.”
“Hmm?”
Ruto stood up in front of her. “Is that really all you need from ?”
“What are you going to ask in return if I say what I really want from you?”
“Nothing,” he said. “You’re in a bad mood, and I feel like you’re going to destroy a building or two if I let you leave just like this.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “So, you want to appease ?”
He just shrugged.
“You SHOW what you think I need from you,” she challenged him. “I won’t sue you if you do.”
Ruto just looked at her…
… then he gently grabbed her wrist and hugged her tight.
“Is this the correct answer?”
Neoma closed her eyes and nodded as she wrapped her arms around Ruto’s waist. “The only correct answer.”
[Gosh, my man slls so good.]
Ruto’s body was also warm and solid.
[I can totally fall asleep in this position.]
If she could get a hug from Ruto after working all day, then she’d reconsider living a lazy life.
[I’d beco a workaholic FOR THIS.]
Neoma pouted and grumbled when she rembered sothing important.”You should have done this earlier.”
“When I was half-naked?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t let anyone know that the empire’s one and only royal princess is a pervert,” Ruto said, sighing. “And I’m only hugging you to appease you, Neoma. Don’t get your hopes up.”
Neoma just smiled and hugged Ruto tighter. “Sorry, but I do what I want, babe.”
***
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