Chapter 52 - LIKE MOTHER, LIKE SON

NIKOLAI snapped out of his trance when he saw the foxy boy run towards Neoma. "Glenn, apprehend the strange boy."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn answered and in just the blink of an eye, the knight was already putting the strange boy's hands behind his back.

And Neoma was now in the arms of the foxy boy.

Still, he felt pissed for some reason.

Thankfully, he was distracted when South, the phoenix, flew towards him. The nearer it got, the more it reduced in size. When the Vermillion Bird finally landed on his shoulder, it was already just the size of an average eagle.

The phoenix was still engulfed in red flame, but the flame didn't burn him. His Soul Beasts couldn't hurt him because he had already mastered controlling them.

"You did well, South," Nikolai said while touching the head of the Vermillion Bird until it disappeared to return to his soul. When the phoenix was gone, he turned around to face Count Thompson and Marquis Alberts. "I'll give you time to finalize your last will and testament, Lord Thompson and Lord Alberts."

***

"YOUR MAJESTY, we're begging you," Marquis Alberts said. "Please forgive us."

"We will cooperate with you, Your Majesty," Count Thompson said. "Just please spare our lives."

Nikolai raised a brow at the two lords.

Right now, he was in his throne room with Kyle Sprouse standing beside him.

This time, the usually empty throne room was surrounded by the White Lion Knights– his private army.

Glenn, the army's vice-commander, was currently escorting Nero and Rufus to Neoma's palace in secret. The royal prince arrived with his cousin in his palace using the portal from Astello Temple. He then sent Glenn to them and asked the knight to bring them to the royal princess's chamber.

Neoma, who was still unconscious, was being guarded by the foxy boy.

On the other hand, the "strange boy" that they apprehended was currently locked up in the Royal Tower. He was being guarded by the Royal Mages. It looked like the boy didn't have any plans of escaping because he had the audacity to tell him they needed to talk later.

[Kids these days are very cheeky.]

Anyway…

"You're begging me to spare your lives," Nikolai said in his usual monotone voice. "But tell me. What crime have you committed against me and the royal family?"

The two lords fell completely silent.

"I don't have all the time in the world, Lord Thompson and Lord Alberts," he reminded them. "If you have nothing more to say, then shall I end your lives right here, right now?"

To make sure that they wouldn't think that it was just an empty threat, he released his bloodl.u.s.t that made the air in the room heavy.

His ash gray eyes turned red and glowed menacingly.

If ordinary people and weak Mana-users had been in the throne room right now, they would have probably collapsed by now. After all, his bloodl.u.s.t was the kind of pressure that could make it difficult for a person to breathe.

In fact, the two lords were panting heavily now.

"Y-Your Majesty," Marquis Alberts said in a weak voice while scratching his neck. "W-We k-kept the Devil's G-Grimoire from the r-royal family…"

Now that the two lords seemed like they were in the mood to talk, he blinked to turn his eye color back to normal. As soon as his orbs were ash gray again, the bloodl.u.s.t in the air also disappeared.

Even though the two lords were still catching their breath, they started to talk as if they were afraid of the repercussions if they made him wait any longer.

"W-We lied and said that our families didn't have the Devil's Grimoire," the marquis continued. "But Your Majesty, we were left with no choice. We made a pact with the Devil."

[Now, things are getting interesting.]

"What kind of pact was it?" he asked with a raised brow.

"As long as we keep the existence of the Devil's Grimoire a secret, the Devil promised us that they would give us the… the b-book that every scholar in the empire wish to obtain."

Nikolai didn't miss the use of pronoun that hid the gender of the "Devil." But his attention was more caught by what the marquis revealed.

"The book that every scholar in the empire wish to obtain?" he asked, now getting irked again. "Are you talking about the Book of Yule?"

The Book of Yule was a myth.

According to the legends, that book contained the true history of the Moon God and the de Moonasterios. Rumors also said that the Book of Yule tells the darkest secrets of the royal family. But even he hadn't seen it.

For a mere marquis and count to be greedy and wish to acquire the Book of Yule…

"Unforgivable," Nikolai said in a cold voice. The bloodl.u.s.t that he released this time was stronger. When his eyes turned red and glowed again, the ground started to shake hard. "How dare you try to uncover the history of the royal family's tie to the Moon God?"

***

NERO was finally back to the Royal Capital.

To be precise, he was now on his way to Blanco Palace– Neoma's new residence.

When he and Duke Quinzel arrived at Yule Palace (the emperor's residence), Sir Glenn was already waiting for them. The night gave him a cloak that was big enough to cover his face and body. Then, he led them to a secret pathway in the palace's underground.

While they were in the underground, Sir Glenn told him everything that had happened to his precious twin sister.

[I'm glad that my Neoma is safe.]

A few moments later, they climbed a long stair that led to a vacant room inside Blanco Palace.

Now they were walking in the well-lit hallway. Neoma's room was at the end of the corridor. He was a little pissed to see that only Stephanie and Alphen were guarding outside her chamber. And he was even more annoyed when he felt two strong auras inside the room with his twin sister.

[How dare them share a room with the royal princess?]

After Stephanie and Alphen greeted him, Sir Glenn opened the door.

He was instantly annoyed to see the little red dragon and the "fox boy." He couldn't forget the face of his twin sister's "butler." After all, he had a mental note in his head that had names of the people he wanted to get rid of once he returned as the royal prince.

First was Emperor Nikolai.

And second, the fox boy.

"Ah, my precious Neoma's two Soul Beasts are here," Nero said with a smile. He could see his precious twin sister sleeping on the bed, so he didn't hold back. After his "polite" smile faded, he gave a cold glare at the red dragon and the fox boy. "Get out of here, you useless animals."

Duke Quinzel and Sir Glenn seemed to be shocked by his words because the two a.d.u.l.ts turned to him with widened eyes.

He didn't care though.

"Your only purpose is to protect my Neoma and you can't even do that?" Nero continued in a mocking tone. "If you can't do your job properly, then just kill yourselves."

After saying a piece of his mind, he then walked past the red dragon and the butler…

… but the fox boy, who towered over him, blocked his way with a blank look on his face.

"What are you doing?" Nero asked the fox boy in an annoyed tone. "Do you want to die?"

Lewis, if he remembered the fox boy's name correct, tilted his head to one side and gave him a cold look. "F*ck off."

***

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