Chapter 356 - DREAM AWAY (5)

WHEN SIENNA arrived at Neoma de Moonasterio's soul dimension, everything was over.

The malignant presence that disrupted the little princess's soul already disappeared. Moreover, the Darkness that had been eating at her soul had also been purified. She didn't expect that someone other than her could cleanse Neoma de Moonasterio's soul this fast.

"I suppose I'm still lacking."

She turned around and found a young lady holding a closed parasol.

[A Light mage?]

"I'm creating a spell that would protect Princess Neoma's soul from being invaded," the young mage said. "But I guess I should create a more powerful spell if I want to drive away someone on your level, Sun Priestess."

She was surprised when the mage recognized her as the Sun Priestess, even though she was in her peacock form.

"Ah, please excuse my rudeness," the young mage said, then she elegantly did a curt as a greeting while hiding her hands that held the white parasol behind her back. "I'm Princess Neoma's mage, and my name is Paige Avery."

"Paige Avery?" Sienna asked, shocked. "The child who stole the last Pope's Divine Items over sixty years ago?"

"Oh, did I do that?" Paige Avery asked, obviously feigning innocence. "I apologize, but I've been trapped inside the Hisa Tree for fifty years. I don't remember my childhood clearly."

She laughed, amused by the mage's guts to lie in front of her even though she clearly knew that she was the Sun Priestess. "For a liar, you're quite eloquent."

"Ah, my lady is making me blush."

She laughed again. "Paige Avery, I like your eloquence," she said. "You should teach Neoma de Moonasterio some manners. That little bitch is rude as hell."

Paige Avery smiled, but her smile looked a little scary. "If my lady promises to only use pretty words when talking to our Princess Neoma, then I'll think about it," she said gently. "But if my lady asks me, Princess Neoma is fine the way she is right now."

She wanted to say that Neoma de Moonasterio was problematic as hell.

But she had a feeling Paige Avery's "kind" façade would slip away if she badmouthed the little princess again, so she held back. It wasn't like she was afraid of the mage. She was also confident that as the Sun Priestess, she was stronger than her.

Still…

[It seems like Paige Avery is the type of person you wouldn't want as an enemy.]

"Neoma de Moonasterio is surrounded by amazing people, huh?" she said, acknowledging the fact that the little princess had a good eye for people and talent. "What made you serve Princess Neoma?"

"Ah, I apologize, but I cannot answer my lady's question," Paige Avery said, and she sounded sincere with her apology. "To be honest, I haven't officially accepted Princess Neoma's offer to be her mage yet. I'm sure she'd ask me why I accepted her offer despite my initial hesitation. Therefore, I want her to be the first person to hear my reason."

"I see," she said, then she changed the topic to respect Paige Avery's wish. "What happened here? I sensed something evil disrupting Neoma de Moonasterio's soul. But it disappeared."

"It was a Dark Elf eating at Princess Neoma's soul," the young mage explained to her. "To be precise, he was eating Princess Neoma's negative emotions. I believe he's trying to copy Her Royal Highness's abilities by consuming her negative emotions that have turned into Darkness."

"Neoma de Moonasterio's negative emotions have turned into Darkness attribute?"

"I can't be certain yet, but I experienced it first-hand," Paige Avery said. "You look shocked, my lady. Is my hypothesis that hard to believe?"

"No, I'm not shocked because of that," she said while shaking her head. "I'm shocked because something like that shouldn't have happened again. When the gods with the Light attribute defeated the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period, they also created a powerful spell to protect the human race. That spell prevented the humans' negative emotions from turning into Darkness."

"Does my lady suppose the spell has been broken?"

"The Sun Goddess, the Moon God, and the Sky God, with the help of every god with Light attribute, created the spell," she said worriedly. "It's a spell that's impossible to break."

"It wouldn't hurt to look into it, my lady," the young mage said encouragingly. "I don't know if it's still the same, but when I was younger, I heard the Sun Priestess is adored by the Sun Goddess. If it's my lady, I'm sure you can ask the Sun Goddess for guidance."

She couldn't help but laugh again because of amusement. "Paige Avery, you talk smooth. I can't believe you're bossing me around so gently."

"A mere mage like me wouldn't dare boss around my lady," the young mage said "meekly" even though it was obviously an act. "If I crossed the line, then I apologize."

"You don't look sorry, though."

Paige Avery acted like she was on the verge of crying. "Is this enough, my lady?"

"You're really amusing, Paige Avery," she said while laughing. "From now on, we need to work together. But I don't mesh well with Neoma de Moonasterio. I'd like it if you become her representative when it's time for us to cooperate with each other."

The young mage smiled apologetically at her. "I'm afraid that's for Princess Neoma to decide, my lady."

"I will help you strengthen the protection of Neoma de Moonasterio's soul," Sienna said while smiling. She really liked Paige Avery. It was a shame the mage decided to work for the little princess and not her. "Consider this as me sucking up to you, Paige Avery."

Paige Avery laughed softly. "I will graciously accept my lady's help."

***

GREKO smiled when he saw Princess Neoma.

Paige noona told him to heal the princess's external wound. But when he followed the cause of why Princess Neoma was crying blood, he was led to the part of her consciousness where the princess was currently trapped.

[Eomma's soul is amazing.]

It was like an extra dimension.

Right now, he was in a beautiful garden. Princess Neoma was sitting under the shade of an immense tree. His eomma was looking up at the sky where a fragment of memory was being played.

[Why is eomma a grown-up in that memory?] Greko asked himself while watching the same scene play again and again. The scene in question was the moment Princess Neoma woke up, and five people greeted her. [I recognize some of them.]

Aside from Princess Neoma, the first adult that he recognized was the one with silver hair and golden eyes.

[That's Lewis hyung.]

There was also a young man who looked like Princess Neoma's male version.

[Is he eomma's twin brother?]

He also recognized Trevor, the demon who claimed to be his "father."

[But unfortunately, I don't recognize the other lady and the man wearing a knight's uniform…]

"The lady with black hair and green eyes is my cousin, Hanna Quinzel."

Greko turned to Princess Neoma who was looking at him with a sad smile on her face. His heart hurt for his "mother." "Eomma…"

Princess Neoma patted the space next to her. "Come here, Greko."

He smiled and nodded, then he sat beside the princess. "Eomma, is that the memory that's making you cry blood?"

"I suppose so," she said casually. "It's the only fragment of memory I retrieved using Lord Redgrave's eye." The princess pointed to the man in a knight's uniform. "That's my Ruto. He's a royal chef who dumped– I mean, who left to study abroad. I'll introduce him to you once he returns to the palace."

"Okay, eomma," he said, then he knitted his eyebrows. "But why are you an adult in your past memory, eomma?"

The princess looked up at the sky while thinking, then she turned to him and patted his head. "I guess it's time for you and your siblings to know the truth. You'll be working closely with me from now on, so you need to know my circumstances. It will be too much for Lewis if he's the only one who knows."

He just looked at the princess because he didn't really understand what's she was saying.

"I should call everyone here," Princess Neoma said, then she stood up and turned to him. "Greko, my eyes hurt. Could you heal it for me first?"

Greko smiled and nodded. "Of course, Princess Neoma."

***

NIKOLAI beamed when Neoma finally stopped crying blood.

But at the same time, Greko suddenly fell to the floor, unconscious. And Lewis, who was just standing fine a while ago, fell to his knees as well.

"Lewis," Nikolai called the fox boy firmly. "What's happening to you?"

"Princess Neoma…" Lewis said, then his body collapsed to the floor. "Calling…"

And the fox boy lost consciousness.

"I guess they've been summoned by Princess Neoma," Center said casually, then he pointed to Paige Avery. "That one was also summoned."

"The little princess probably summoned her people," North, the Black Tortoise, said. "It's amazing how Princess Neoma could use her Moonglow when no one taught her properly how to do it." He turned to Nikolai. "Perhaps, it's natural for the de Moonasterios to use their Moonglow anyway they want."

"Neoma could use her abilities unorthodoxly," Nikolai said, then he turned to his daughter worriedly. "But I wonder what caused her to summon her people."

***

TREVOR, who was pulling the unconscious William by the leg while dragging him to the exit of the Spirit World, suddenly stopped.

"Did you feel it, too?"

"Yes, I did," Trevor said, then he turned to Prince Nero who helped him land a surprise attack on William earlier. "Princess Neoma is calling for us." He pointed to William with his lips. "What should we do to William, though? Princess Neoma asked me to drag him to her."

"Forget about William for now," Prince Nero said casually. "We can't ignore Neoma's call. She's not the type to do this on a whim."

"You're right, Prince Nero," Trevor agreed, then he dropped William's leg. "Let's go to Princess Neoma– I'll cover our tracks."

***

RUFUS Quinzel caught Hanna before his daughter fell to the floor. "Sweetheart, what's happening?" he asked worriedly while checking Hanna for injuries. "Are you hurt somewhere?"

"Father, Neoma…" Hanna said weakly, then she slowly closed her eyes. "Neoma is calling me…"

***

JEANNE Audley was surprised when all of a sudden, Xion, Juri Wisteria, and Jeno Dankworth collapsed to the floor at the same time.

Juri and Jeno went to the prison cell with her to check on Xion.

But the three children suddenly fell to the ground.

"Dion, what should we do?" Jeanne asked, then she turned to Dion Skelton who was standing beside her. "We should report this to…"

She trailed off when she saw Dion covering his eyes with his hand.

But even though Dion's hand was covering his eyes, he couldn't hide the fact that his eyes were glowing at the moment.

[His real eyes…?]

"The children are fine," Dion said in a pained voice. "Their souls are sucked in by Princess Neoma's Moonglow– they've been summoned by Her Royal Highness."

She finally understood what was happening to him.

"Ah, I see," Jeanne Audley said. "I was wondering what triggered your real eyes to activate on their own– it must be the Moonglow."

***

NEOMA smiled as she welcomed Nero, Lewis, Trevor, and Hanna to the part of her soul that looked like the Han River.

She realized she could change the "setting" to anything she could imagine. So, she visualized the Han River that she missed so much. She wanted to show it to her friends. Thus, she chose that place to meet them.

[Anyway… I'm going to talk to them first before I introduce them to my other "children."]

Greko was waiting for his "siblings" in another place.

She would summon the "kids" later after her talk with Nero, Lewis, Trevor, and Hanna.

"Neoma," Hanna said as she walked towards her. "I missed you!"

Neoma smiled and hugged Hanna. "I missed you, too, Hanna."

Hanna squeezed her before she pulled away with a worried look on her face. "What happened? You wouldn't summon us here without a reason."

"Hanna is right," Nero said, then she held her hand and pulled her away from their cousin. "Neoma, what's going on?"

Lewis also approached her, and remained by her side with a worried look on his face.

"It's safe to talk here, Princess Neoma," Trevor said while stretching his arms. "I covered us with my Darkness attribute. I was worried that my power wouldn't be enough to conceal us since we're seriously powerful when gathered together like this. But thankfully…" He turned to Hanna. "Our future Crown Princess is helping me cover our tracks with her shadows."

Hanna smiled proudly. "I've been practicing hard to improve my Shadow Manipulation Technique."

"I'm glad everyone is doing well," Neoma said while smiling at them. "But before I give my speech, can we wait a bit?"

"Who?" Lewis asked while tilting his head to one side. "Who are you waiting for, Princess Neoma?"

Nero, Hanna, and Trevor also looked serious.

[Gosh, this is making me blush.]

"Ruto," Neoma said shyly, hoping her friends didn't notice her cheeks rosier than usual. "Let's wait for Ruto."

***

"I MANAGED to seal Neoma de Moonasterio's memories of you before she remembers more things about you," Sienna said, now in her child form, as she sat on Yoan's bed. "Are you alright?"

Yoan went out of the bathroom while wiping his now blood-free face with a towel. "Yeah," he said. "My memories are still intact, so I'm guessing the memory Neoma retrieved isn't directly related to me."

"We won't worry about the little princess's memories again," she said cheerfully. "She found an amazing Light mage."

He smiled faintly.

It was a smile that he rarely showed to anyone, and it annoyed her that Neoma de Moonasterio was the reason behind Yoan's smile.

[He doesn't smile like that at me.]

"Neoma probably "adopted" the Light mage," Yoan said while chuckling. "How cute."

She just pouted at his reaction. Then she noticed the soft Moonglow that surrounded him. "Oh, your princess is summoning you, Yoan."

"I know," Yoan said, then he looked at her coldly. "And stop calling me by that name."

"Don't go," Sienna said seriously, ignoring his complaint. "Don't go to her, Yoan."

***

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