"TO BE honest, it has been on my mind for a long time now," Neoma confessed. "I try not to use my premium air purifier ability if I could help it to keep a low profile, so I put it at the back of my mind. But when the citizens were almost hurt by the Impure Mana that Regina Crowell released, I felt helpless."
That was why she asked Trevor to store the Impure Mana for her.
She was once again struck by guilt.
[I shouldn't have asked Trevor to do that for me. But it's okay. I won't let my chingu die.]
"Princess Neoma, to be honest with you, I'm not sure if that will work," Charlotte said worriedly. "Master Novak indeed asked me to look for you as you are the Goddess of Life's successor. I figured the blessing Your Royal Highness received had something to do with cleansing Impure Mana. But I don't know what kind of blessing you have, Princess Neoma."
"Do you know what an Aether is?"
"The Aether is the tree that provides clean air in the Upper World…" Charlotte trailed off, then her eyes widened. "Huh? The previous Aether was a female de Moonasterio…"
"That means I wasn't the first de Moonasterio that the Goddess of Life chose as her successor," Neoma deducted. "The Goddess of Life has probably chosen several de Moonasterios to become her successor. But, ultimately, the gods who was greedy for clean and pure air probably caught them."
Now the baby unicorn looked even more nervous. "Princess Neoma, it's blasphemous to accuse gods of something like that."
She just shrugged and changed the topic. "Anyway, I noticed that having contact with your blood makes Impure Mana less poisonous. I'm sorry this ask this unethical question, but can we turn your blood into antidote?"
Charlotte shook her head, obviously disappointed. "We already tried making antidotes with our blood, but it doesn't work. Our blood only minimizes the poison through physical contact. In fact, when I was swallowed by the Kraken, I had to cut myself all over so that I'd bleed from head to toe. If hadn't done that, I would have died."
She was shocked to hear that. "That was an extreme method."
"Fortunately, I heal fast if it was only shallow wounds. That's why you didn't see the cuts all over my body earlier," the baby unicorn explained, then she paused for a moment. "There was a de Moonasterio in the past who discovered that the blood of unicorns could be used as a shield against Impure Mana. Hence, he hunted them down for their blood. And that's the reason why unicorns are extremely rare now."
"Fucking bastards. I hope they're suffering in hell."
Charlotte looked surprised. "P-Princess Neoma, is it okay to curse your ancestors…?"
"Why not? They lost their rights as a human being the moment they killed innocent lives for their greed," she said, huffing. "Not all dead deserves respect."
"What if your future descendants talk bad about you in the future?"
"Well, if they did that, then that must mean I have a failed as a human being," she said casually. "I'll write a will that says my descendants are allowed to talk shit about me if I died a horrible person."
Charlotte was rendered speechless.
"Anyway, I want to test my hypothesis," Neoma said, snapping her fingers. The Dome– now a Sphere– that she used to contain the Impure Mana released by the Kraken earlier. Fortunately, unlike what happened to Trevor, she didn't get poisoned even though her Mana and divine power touched it. "Let's see if I could unalive this dead Mana with my breath."
***
"YOU don't need my permission," Nikolai said after hearing Nero's request. "You're the Crown Prince, Nero. The Moonlight Rings belong to you."
Nero came to his office after breakfast.
According to his son, he didn't have to attend the academy now that he dropped out.
[It's not yet official, but Nero refuses to go to school.]
"The 'Moonlight Rings' are the official engagement rings used by the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess," Nikolai added. "Those were also the rings that Juliet and I used when we got engaged in the past."
Of course, he proposed to Mona using a different ring.
[Mona doesn't want to be the empress, after all.]
"Now that you and Hanna will be engaged officially, you have the right to bring out the rings from the Royal Treasury."
Fortunately, Neoma already extinguished the fire she started in the Royal Treasury.
"You're still the emperor, Father," Nero said formally. "Hence, you still have the authority over the Royal Treasury."
It was easy for Nikolai to reclaim the throne because aside from what happened during the trial, Nero also supported him.
Of course, it wasn't because they were family.
Nero was just being smart by sticking to him after he shut down the nobles who tried to oust him despite what happened during the trial.
"Alright," Nikolai said, nodding. "Then I give you the authority to take the Moonlight Rings from the Royal Treasury."
"Thank you, Father."
"As soon as Mona and Neoma return, we'll have an official talk with the Quinzels regarding your engagement with Hanna."
Of course, Hanna already informed her parents about the engagement.
But Nikolai didn't want to discuss it with the Quinzels without Mona and Neoma.
[I can't give Mona the empress' seat that she didn't want in the first place, but she's still Nero's mother. Nobody would complain if she was involved in the discussion. And Neoma has to attend official gatherings now that she's recognized as the Imperial Princess.]
"Nero, are you sure about marrying Hanna?"
"Hanna is the best candidate to be the future empress. I'm sure you know that, Father."
"That's not the answer I was hoping to hear."
"Do you want me to marry out of love, Father?"
"Of course," he said to his son. "I don't want you to make the same mistake I've done in the past."
Although the contract marriage was Juliet's idea, he knew that it still ruined her life.
"I don't want you to ruin Hanna's life, Nero," Nikolai said in a serious tone. "To be honest, I didn't expect the two of you to push through the engagement."
If Nikolai remembered correctly, Neoma mentioned in passing that Hanna and Nero agreed to break up before.
His daughter didn't mention the reason, though.
[But that was five years ago. Nero's memories right now are a mess, and Hanna might have had a change of heart.]
Nikolai could clearly see that Hanna had feelings for Nero, after all.
"Father, I will cut off my ties with Dahlia completely, so don't worry about it," Nero assured him. "Even though emperors are allowed to have concubines, I wouldn't do it. Hanna is the only perfect spouse for me. I'm sure she'll be a great empress. I wouldn't want to lose the partner who could help me run the empire in prosperity."
Nikolai flinched because Nero reminded him of his old self.
[That was also the excuse I made when I married Juliet before.]
"Nero, I'm not sure if you remember. But we've had this kind of conversation several times already," Nikolai said, sighing. "I hope this would be the last time I'd ask if you were really sure about marrying Hanna. You don't want the Quinzels as your enemies, son."
"I know that, Father," Nero said, frowning. "Duke Quinzel is kind, but he becomes ruthless when it comes to his one and only daughter."
"You should fear Hanna more than Rufus," he said, giving his son a bit of sound advice. "The Quinzels have everything– power, wealth, influence. What separates them from other noble households is the fact that they aren't greedy. They maintained a good relationship with the Royal Family all this time because they were already contented with their current status. That's the same with Rufus. He doesn't wish for House Quinzel to grow more power and influence. But Hanna seems to think otherwise."
"Hanna is ambitious," his son said proudly. "That's what I like about her."
"She'll kill you if you hurt her in any way."
Nero just shrugged, obviously taking the matter too lightly.
[We also had this kind of conversation before.]
Nikolai was about to scold Nero when a sudden shift in the air made him and his son stand up at the same time.
Geoffrey Kinsley and Jeanne Audley– two of his Paladins who had already returned– entered the room in a hurry. The two Paladins were followed by Nero's secretary and four knights.
Everyone looked nervous aside from Nikolai and Nero who both kept a straight face.
But he understood why the Paladins and his son's knights looked scared at the moment.
There were four sets of red orbs floating in the room, staring directly at Nikolai and Nero. But the four sets of red eyes seemed to be disappointed.
[Minor gods, huh?]
<"Not the de Moonasterio we're looking for.">
<"We need the female de Moonasterio.">
<"That boy looks like the one we're looking for, though.">
<"Stupid. The de Moonasterio we need is Neoma de Moonaste– argh!">
Nikolai and Nero both stabbed the pair of red eyes that mentioned Neoma's name.
He stabbed the left eye with his Holy Sword that he quickly unsheathed before anyone in the room could react, while his son stabbed the right eye with an ice dagger.
The Paladins and the young knights looked scared and confused.
[Right, they don't understand the language that only gods speak. But the de Moonasterios are all born with the natural ability to understand the divine language.]
To simply put, only Nikolai and Nero understood what the minor gods said.
<"What have you done, you arrogant de Moonasterios?!">
<"How dare you attack a god!">
<"This is blasphemy!">
"Shut up," Nikolai and Nero said at the same time in a very cold voice.
And that was enough to shut down the gods.
"Why are you looking for my daughter?" Nikolai asked sternly. "You better choose your words carefully."
The minor gods were inferior to him.
But he was worried that if the minor gods came in a group like this and attacked Neoma at the same time, his daughter might be put in a dangerous situation.
[What do these bastards want from Neoma this time?]
<"Pollution… we heard the de Moonasterion Imperial Princess could clean the pollution in our domain…">
Nikolai clenched his jaw tight.
[They found out already.]
"I don't understand, but how dare you?" Nero said coldly, his eyes turned glowing red. "How dare you make my twin sister do a trivial task for you?"
Nikolai was pleasantly surprised.
[Why is Nero suddenly concerned with Neoma's business?]
***
TSK.
Trevor clicked his tongue while watching the semi-transparent red orbs passing through the walls.
[Those minor gods have the guts to roam around while Emperor Nikolai is here, huh?]
Those puny gods must be desperate.
But he also knew that this was only the beginning.
"They will bother my Moon Princess from now on," Trevor whispered to himself, sighing. "Should I make a deal with the Ancient Devil?"
***
Hi! I posted a new 4-panel comic featuring SAINT DOMINIC and PRINCESS NICHOLE. And they just received some good news. Go to my k/o-fi page (ko-fi. com/sola_cola) to find out what it is.
Lastly, the May Challenge would end tomorrow and I haven't reached my target yet. I really want to win it. Please donate/buy a coffee if you can. Thank you. TT
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