BY THE time Neoma had returned to the Imperial Palace, it was already time for dinner.

No wonder Nero greeted her with a frown.

Right— I was supposed to have lunch with him.

"Hey, we can still have dinner together, so don’t get upset," Nero said in a tired voice. "Should we eat with Mama Boss and Papa Boss?"

"Mother and Father are having a serious meeting with Hanna and Lord Rufus Quinzel."

"Hey, Hanna isn’t your friend. Address her as Duchess Quinzel."

"You don’t have the right to scold me about using proper titles when you just called the emperor ’hey.’"

Touché.

This punk is getting smarter.

"Where are the guests from the Eastern Continent?"

She was talking about Ruto’s subordinates, of course.

"I offered them a place here in the Imperial Palace, but they politely declined," Nero said, shrugging. It seemed like this punk only offered it once as a courtesy, and then immediately accepted it when the guests turned down the invitation to stay in the palace. "Anyway, let’s have dinner together. You look exhausted."

"Okay," Neoma said, and then she looked over her shoulder. "Join us, Lewis."

"Can I decline, Princess Neoma?" Lewis asked politely. "I’d like to visit my fellow Silver Foxes and have a meal with them, if they allow me."

Ah, right.

"They’ll probably talk to you properly now," Nero said, crossing his arms over his chest while looking at Lewis as if Lewis were nothing but a bug. "The Silver Foxes have finally come to their senses."

Lewis didn’t say anything, but his eyes showed relief.

I’m happy for my ’son.’

"Then maybe I should also pay the Silver Foxes a visit..."

Neoma trailed off when Nero glared at her.

"... Later, much later. I’ll have dinner with you, so stop glaring at me, you punk."

"Good," Nero said, satisfied, before looking at Lewis as if he were looking at something disgusting. "Scram, Lewis Crevan."

"Yah. Don’t talk to my ’son’ like that," Neoma scolded Nero, even hitting her twin brother’s arm lightly. And then she turned to Lewis, who was looking at Nero in a very disrespectful manner. She thought she needed to console Lewis after Nero treated him like shit, but there was no need for that. "Ah, that’s my son."

***

WHILE HAVING dinner with Nero, Neoma spilled all the beans.

From Ruto’s message, to the fact that she visited the Exton Mansion to apologize to Uncle Glenn and Aunt Brigitte.

Her twin brother frowned deeply at that.

"Why did you apologize? You didn’t have to do that," Nero scolded Neoma. "In times of war, even women and children are expected to fight."

"Hey, Uncle Glenn and Aunt Brigitte’s children are all very young."

"Are they ordinary children?"

"No, but..."

"This is why Helstor is pushing for children to join the war."

"Huh?"

"Helstor knows that you’re not capable of hurting or killing children, even if those children are aiming to kill you," Nero said sternly. "If Helstor is insisting that you bring Prince Skylus and Princess Monik to the Upper World, then that means he’s also planning to bring children to fight for him."

Ah.

Neoma was so shaken by the fact that Skylus and Monik might have to join the war that she failed to see the bigger picture.

It was unfortunate that it was her twin brother who made her face reality so harshly.

This ruthless punk...

"Neoma, I can already see you losing the war."

"Are you jinxing me?"

"Can you kill children?"

"..."

"Can your ’children’ kill other children?"

"..."

"See? You and your ’children’ are bound to lose."

"Why are you acting nonchalant? If we lose the war, it’s literally the end of the world."

"I have a solution."

"What is it?"

"Recruit people who are capable of killing children," Nero said bluntly, not an ounce of conscience in his voice. Even his eyes remained cold and empty, as if he weren’t talking about something horrendous as killing children. "I’ll lend you my knights, if you want. Unlike your ’children,’ my knights won’t hesitate to kill anyone if it means winning the war."

"How can an emperor talk about killing children? Are you insane... yes, you are."

"I can talk like this because I’m the emperor. I’m always ready to sacrifice anything and anyone for the sake of winning the war."

"Including me—"

"Except you, Neoma."

Aigoo.

"Don’t speak of killing children so easily, Nero."

"Even children from the enemy side?"

"Yes."

"What if those children threaten to kill your ’children?’"

"No one is dying under my watch."

"You know that not everything in your plan will go well, don’t you?"

"If it’s me, it’s possible," Neoma said confidently, and then she changed the topic because talking about children dying was making her lose her appetite. "Anyway, you’ve probably heard about what happened to the Royal Mage Tower. Just put the renovation expenses under my tab."

"I’ve already taken care of it. Lucien Attewell was the one who bombed the tower anyway, so that falls under my juridiction."

"But I was the one who asked Lucien Attewell to bomb the tower."

"So what? Your words are my words."

Aigoo, this punk.

"If you have money to burn, then I suggest you invest in procuring weapons with divine power," Neoma said. "Or have Lord Manu bless weapons and distribute them to the Imperial Knights. The fake minor gods could be killed with divine power, so we should arm the knights with weapons with divine power. Sadly, we can’t just hand out divine items since those things are rare."

They raided a fallen church before and procured some divine items.

But those are the types of things that can be used as a weapon against the Imperial Family if they fall into the wrong hands, so we have to keep them hidden.

"Lord Manu is still resting to regain his strength and power after he pulled us back from the Dead World, though," Neoma said, remembering that Lord Manu was currently out of commission because of that. "So, I’m not sure if he’ll answer our call."

"Neoma, Lord Manu is the Moon Priest. In the first place, he’s not someone you can simply call over to bless weapons with his divine power. You must have forgotten since you boss him around, but Lord Manu is the Moon God’s messenger— not the Imperial Family’s lackey."

Ah, right.

I keep forgetting since my arrogance makes me think I’m above everything and everyone else.

"Prince Skylus is the new saint, and we also have Princess Monik as the new Light Saintess. So, do we need the Moon Priest to bless weapons with his divine power?"

"I told you, children—"

"You’re looking down on them too much, Neoma," Nero said bluntly. "In our empire, children from poor families work early. Most of them start working at five years old. Before our Imperial Family abolished slavery, children were born slaves. Hence, the moment they learned how to walk and use their hands, they were exploited to do hard labor."

Ah.

Neoma could already see where the conversation was headed, so she shut her mouth.

"I’m not saying that making children work early should be the norm. I just want to remind you that the reality of our empire is different from the world you came from before you returned as the Imperial Princess," Nero reminded her in a harsh tone. "If you’re so against using children to help you with your mission to save the world, then you shouldn’t have let Father pass down the throne to me."

"What?"

"In the world you’ve come from, I’m not yet a legal adult, am I?"

Well, in Korea, yes. But in other parts of that world... no, that’s not the point.

"You and I are both children, following your logic. But we’re the ones working the hardest to protect the empire. And, ultimately, save the world."

"We’re closer to being grown adults than we are to being children..."

Nero just scoffed at her lame excuse. "Be fair, Neoma. If you see everyone younger than you a child, then I should be one of them."

"Yah. You hate it when I treat you like a child."

"Whatever," Nero said, having learned the phrase ’whatever’ from Neoma and now using it on her. "Anyway, I have a request."

"What?"

"I want you to bring one of my people to the Upper World, in case the rule changes and you’re required to bring more potential representatives," Nero said, looking at Neoma with a serious look on his face. "If you refuse, I’ll order Prince Skylus and Princess Monik to ’donate’ their divine power for the sake of the Imperial Knights."

Neoma glared at Nero, who just smirked at her. "What a lunatic."

"It takes one to know one, huh?"

***

"HEY, you haven’t visited your Soul Beasts for quite a while now."

Nero just stared at William, who appeared out of thin air in the middle of his chamber, and remembered that he had halted his Soul Beast training regimen when Neoma returned.

He left it in the Grand Spirit’s hands.

"Ah, perfect timing," Nero said, sitting on his bed. And then he crossed his legs, observing William with sharp eyes. "Among the Soul Beasts who decided to stay and become one of my living weapons, is there someone who reeks of bloodlust?"

"All of them do," William answered, raising an eyebrow as if the Grand Spirit could already sense that Nero was planning something sinister again. "You have to be specific about what you’re looking for, Nero."

"Someone who won’t bat an eye when killing children."

"There’s one among the bunch— he decided to stay because he wanted to go on a killing spree. He figured that if he stayed with a lunatic master, he’d get the chance to satisfy his strong urge to kill."

"But can he kill children?"

"He bullies the younger Soul Beasts physically, and his bloodlust really reeks. Based on those things, I can confidently say that, yes, he’s definitely capable of killing children. He’ll even probably do it for fun."

"Excellent. Bring him to me later."

"What are you planning...no, never mind. I don’t want to know," William said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I’ll bring that woman to you later. I’ll be gone for a few days, and that’s the reason why I’m here. Take care of the Soul Beasts on your own for now."

"Alright. But where are you going?"

"I’ll accompany Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio to the Spirit World."

Nero let out a frustrated sigh. "Is she going to visit her Sapling again?"

"I don’t know," William answered while shrugging. "I didn’t ask."

Haaah.

"Neoma is leaving so many weaknesses out in the open," Nero said while shaking his head. "This is why Helstor caught her in a trap."

And this is why I need to do the dirty work for my dear twin sister.

***

NERO will definitely send someone capable of killing children.

Neoma knew her twin brother like the back of her hand.

He always tries to cover up my weaknesses in the most ruthless way possible.

There were two ways to solve the problem.

First, to prevent the rules of choosing the Battle Representatives from changing.

Second, if it was inevitable for the rules to change, then they should change according to her liking.

No child will die under my watch.

Now she finally understood why Ruto sent Veton to her.

Yes, it wasn’t just to deliver a message to her since his subordinates had already done that.

"Veton, come out."

The Thunderbird, now the size of a small bird, came out and landed on her palm.

"You’re here to send me to the Upper World, aren’t you?"

"Yes, my master asked me to bring Princess Neoma to the Upper World if she asks."

As expected of Ruto.

We really think alike.

"Alright. Let’s go to the Upper World later," Neoma said, tilting her head to one side. "I’ll just make a quick trip to the Spirit World first."

My baby, wait for me.

***

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