NERO was actually quite surprised when he first realized that most of his achievements as a Crown Prince belonged to Neoma– his twin sister who took his place for many years.
Fortunately, he realized it before facing the people.
Hence, he was able to formulate a plan that could salvage his reputation.
"I'll quit," Nero announced remorsefully. Of course, even his facial expression was calculated. He had to appear regretful, after all. "I will drop out of the Royal Moon Academy as soon as this ordeal is over."
That was the best solution he could offer to the issue regarding the entrance exam.
[I don't need to finish my education in the academy anyway. As the Crown Prince, I can just summon the best professors on the continent to the palace. The only reason I opted in attending the academy in the first place is to form connections with the future leaders of the empire.]
And he had already achieved that.
Hence, he didn't mind cutting off the Royal Moon Academy from his network.
"The competition to pass Royal Moon Academy's entrance exam is known to be cut-throat," Nero continued with his speech. "Although I'm already five years late, I would still like to repent by dropping out of school."
Of course, he knew that it wouldn't be enough to appease the public.
But he had to say something at the moment, hence he chose to announce that he would leave the academy.
[Is this the part where I should apologize verbally?]
He didn't really want to do it, but he also didn't want to lose his position as the Crown Prince.
"Nero was already awake when the entrance exam began, but he was in a poor condition to take the exam himself."
Nero turned to Neoma, confused.
[Why is she suddenly butting in?]
***
NEOMA knew what Nero was thinking.
[He's doing damage control.]
But her twin brother was being too obvious about it!
[He's just apologizing because we got caught!]
While leaving as Kim Neoma, she had seen plenty of her fellow vloggers try to avoid getting canceled by giving out half-assed apologies.
[And Nero sounds like them!]
Hence, she decided to help her twin brother.
"Nero was already awake when the entrance exam began, but he was in a poor condition to take the exam himself," Neoma said in a solemn voice. "That's why I took the entrance exam in his place. I know that what we did was very wrong, but allow me to explain from the beginning. We need you to understand why the Imperial Family had to deceive you."
Fortunately, no one complained.
Hence, she began with her explanation.
[I have to explain everything while Goddess Alethea's power is still in effect.]
The power of the Goddess of Truth was stronger inside the courtroom, but the courtroom was almost destroyed by the recent fight. Hence, they needed to come out of the building.
Fortunately, she didn't lose Goddess Alethea's power.
Not yet, at least.
[It weakened a bit, though. So, I figured we couldn't get too far from the courtroom.]
That was why she decided to greet the crowd in front of the courthouse.
"I'm sure most of you have seen and heard what Calyx Dalton said in the courtroom earlier," Neoma continued, her voice and facial expression both calm. "Calyx belongs to the cult whose goal has always been to eliminate the royal princesses born in the de Moonasterion clan. We call them 'crows.' They're delusional and they think they have the right to choose who gets to sit on the throne. Hence, they kill all the royal princesses before they could even give birth to a child. They do that horrible thing just to get rid of the male heirs' competition."
"This is shameful to admit, but the previous emperors had benefitted from the crows– including my own father," Papa Boss added. "However, it ended in my generation. Although I'm aware of their existence, I never accepted the hand they offered me. In fact, I tried to eliminate the entire cult before I even ascended the throne. Unfortunately, I failed."
A collective gasp erupted from the crowd once again.
"The emperor lost?"
"How come? His Majesty is the strongest man in the empire…"
"That only means this cult is also strong– strong enough to rival our emperor."
[Unfortunately, being strong doesn't guarantee you'd win a fight against the enemies that use dirty tricks.]
"The crows are actually led by Callisto de Luca– the Moon God's half-brother. They want a puppet emperor to rule the Great Moonasterion Empire," Papa Boss announced, shocking the people. "Hence, from this day onwards, Callisto de Luca and the cult that he leads are the empire's public enemy. Anyone related to Callisto de Luca and the crows is also considered an enemy, whether they're humans or not. We will actively hunt them down for the crime of harming the Imperial Family."
[Way to go, Papa Boss! Go and declare war on those crow bastards.]
"Aside from killing the royal princesses of the past after performing inhuman experiments on them– with the former Princess Royal Nichole de Moonasterio as the last victim– the crows are also guilty of many recent crimes," Papa Boss said. "One of them is attempting to kill Lady Hanna Quinzel, the future Crown Princess, on several occasions."
Of course, they already discussed it with the Quinzels earlier.
[Hanna agreed to reveal it to the public.]
"Do you remember the bombing incident in the plaza before?" Hanna asked the public softly. "I almost died because of that incident, and I was also forced to leave the empire and move to another country for my recovery."
Fortunately, it was a well-known story in the empire.
[Even if Hanna wasn't the Crown Princess, she'd still be popular as the Quinzel Princess.]
But there was someone who had forgotten about that incident.
Neoma turned to Nero, and she got a little sad for her twin brother who looked confused at the moment.
[Even his memories about the crows have been wiped clean, huh?]
"That was only the first attempt on my life," Hanna continued with her story. "I didn't want to reveal this at first because I don't want you to worry about me. However, you have the right to know about the atrocities the crows have committed. To be honest with you, the crows have been mixing poison in my drinks for more than a year now."
This time, it wasn't only a collective gasp that was heard from the crowd.
Angry voices erupted from it, too.
"How dare those lowlives poison our future Crown Princess!"
"I'm glad those crows have been sent away!"
"They'd be dead if they return here!"
Neoma was pleased with the crowd's reaction.
[But my girl isn't done yet.]
"You saw the culprit who put poison in my drinks," Hanna continued. This time, she looked and sounded pitiful. No wonder the crowd hadn't calmed down yet. "It was Regina Crowell."
Again, loud gasps were heard everywhere.
"I knew I wasn't seeing it wrong earlier– it was really Lady Regina Quinzel."
"Quinzel? Oh, right. She was supposed to be Lady Hanna's cousin…?"
"That's what I thought, too. Wasn't the young lady supposed to be the late Commander Gavin Quinzel's daughter?"
Neoma almost frowned, but luckily, she caught herself.
[Argh, that gave me goosebumps.]
"Regina Crowell claimed that she was my Uncle Gavin's daughter," Hanna said calmly. "It was true that she has Quinzel blood flowing in her veins. But, to be honest, we have no way of knowing if Uncle Gavin was truly her father."
Hanna didn't receive the Divine Punishment.
After all, they really had no way of confirming whether Hanna was truly Gavin Quinzel's daughter.
"I mentioned it before, and you've heard Calyx confirm it earlier," Neoma said, taking the floor this time. "The crows have been stealing Beads and Seeds from important families all this time in order to conceive children that they would raise as their little army. That's how Regina Crowell got her Quinzel blood, and how Calyx was born a de Moonasterio."
As expected, the people were confused and curious.
"I can't wrap my head around that concept."
"Me neither. But all I understand is there were children "created" from the stolen Beads and Seeds of members of prominent families…"
"Those crows sound crazy!"
Neoma made a mental note to clear up the misunderstanding later.
[That method will help women who are having problems getting pregnant have children. It's not necessarily an evil thing. But the problem was the crows have been stealing egg and sperm cells. They even steal from the dead.]
But for now, the Imperial Family had to establish the fact that the crows were evil.
"Your Majesty, a question, if I may."
Ohh.
It was Sera Wisteria– Juri's cool aunt and Gavin appa's almost fiancée.
The nobles were standing near the Imperial Family. Plus, Lady Wisteria's voice was loud and clear enough for them to hear.
[It's thanks to the Mana Stone that amplifies our voices.]
It was prepared by Hanna, of course.
[Anyway…]
Papa Boss nodded at Sera Wisteria. "Go ahead, Lady Wisteria."
"I understand that Callisto de Luca and the crows are the scum of the world."
Neoma HAD to hide her laughter by faking a cough.
[Gosh, I almost forgot that Lady Sera Wisteria was just as foul-mouthed as me. No wonder Juri is afraid of her aunt.]
"But I haven't forgotten about the supposed prophecy from Lord Yule about the two saints," Sera Wisteria said sternly. "The first prophecy says that the First Star would bring the new saint. But during that fraud prince's birthday banquet, the prophecy suddenly changed. Hence, we have two saints now."
The crowd agreed with Sera Wisteria.
Since the majority of the citizens of the Great Moonasterion Empire worshipped Yule, the Moon God, everyone was invested in the issue regarding the new saint.
"What's the truth?" Sera Wisteria demanded. "That's the thing that confuses me most."
"The first prophecy was the true prophecy that Lord Yule sent to this world on his own accord," Papa Boss said. "The second prophecy was a prophecy manipulated by the crows because they wanted someone from their side to become the next saint."
"While Calyx and I were fighting earlier, I asked how he managed to squeeze out a fake prophecy from Lord Yule. He practically confirmed that they got the second prophecy by threatening the Moon God," Neoma said. It was true that she and Calyx had that conversation before. "It's possible since Callisto de Luca and the crows are being backed up by other gods."
[Yep, let's drag the gods into this mess.]
There was one downside, though.
"The Moon God… is His Lordship in danger?"
"That can't be. The Moon God is a major god…"
"But the crows managed to force Lord Yule to create a new prophecy for their selfish goals…"
[The people's belief is shaken.]
"Everyone, you have nothing to worry about," Papa Boss said in a clear, loud, and confident voice. "The de Moonasterios are here. Even if it's the other gods, we won't forgive them if they touched Lord Yule."
"We will save the Moon God," Neoma added. Gosh, Papa Boss was really cool. "So please trust us, and keep your faith in Lord Yule. We're all in this together, everyone."
She almost sang the last line, but she was being serious.
Fortunately, their feelings reached the people.
"His Majesty and Her Imperial Highness are correct. The de Moonasterios are the strongest bloodline in the human story."
"The de Moonasterios are the gods among men, so I'm not worried."
"Lord Yule will be fine. This won't shake my faith in our god."
"Now I'm starting to hate the crows even more."
"Not only did they bring so much harm to the Imperial Family, but they also had the nerve to lay a hand on our Lord Yule!"
"Lady Wisteria is right– those crows are scums!"
Neoma was relieved to hear that the faith of the people hadn't been shaken while their hatred for the crows grew bigger.
However, not everyone was pleased, of course.
"Prince Nero, why are you being silent now?"
The loud voice came from an old man in the crowd.
"You were with the fake prince and the fake Empress Dowager all this time! Were you really not aware that they were fakes?"
More and more people voiced out their suspicions soon.
"The crows help male heirs ascend the throne, don't they?"
"Do you suppose the Crown Prince accepted the crows' help to seize the throne? After all, he has a twin sister and women are allowed to inherit titles now…"
"I also remember the Crown Prince saying that Princess Neoma would meet her downfall soon…"
Nero's Mana suddenly fluctuated.
When Neoma turned to Nero, she got worried after seeing his eyes turned glowing red.
[Fuck, he's pissed.]
Fortunately, Mama Boss held Nero's hand firmly.
Nero suddenly looked distracted as he turned to their mother.
"We're here, Nero," Mama Boss whispered to Nero. "Don't be afraid."
Nero just frowned, but at least, he was calm now and his eyes had returned to their normal color.
"Nero actually loves me to death, so please don't criticize my twin brother too much."
Neoma's declaration shut the people up.
She understood where the citizens were coming from, so she had to clear the misunderstanding quickly.
"Nero doesn't remember me and the awful things that the crows have committed against our family," Neoma said in a calm yet firm manner. "Five years ago, Calyx and the crows created a powerful curse that made people forget about my existence while manipulating their memories."
***
NOTE: Hi! I joined a challenge in ko-fi. If I achieve my target amount, I'll get a chance to win a prize. I just posted a 4-PANEL COMIC featuring Neoma and Papa Boss on my ko-fi account (ko-fi.com/sola_cola or simply g00gle ko-fi sola_cola). Check it out~
Please donate if you can. You can consider this as your birthday present for my 30th birthday soon. I hope to complete the challenge by May 11th. If I achieve my target amount (hopefully on my target date), I'll release five chapters of RS.
Thank you. <3
***
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