性瘾者

To say that Nero was surprised to hear the young princess of the Hazelden Kingdom call him a lunatic.

Well, the young princess didn’t say that directly to him.

But it was obvious Princess Monik was referring to him when she said ‘lunatic.’

“Princess Monik is only eight years old, isn’t she?” Nero asked the queen and the king of Hazelden, but he was looking at the young princess. “Your vocabulary is quite problematic, young princess.”

“Your Royal Highness’ attitude is more problematic, though,” Princess Monik whined light-heartedly. “Prince Nero is already eighteen years old, isn’t he? Why are you trying to steal from an eight-year-old little girl?”

“Steal? Your words are quite harsh, young princess,” Nero said, then he turned to the royal couple. “Don’t you think your daughter is being quite rude to the Crown Prince of the empire, Your Majesties?”

“With all due respect, it was Your Royal Highness who was rude first,” Queen Brigitte said calmly. “Of course, Monik could have used nicer words. However, isn’t it a fact that Your Royal Highness is pressuring my daughter to give up her Elemental Guardian for the First Prince?”

“Lord Kingston, Monik’s Elemental Guardian, is a part of our family, Your Royal Highness. He is Monik’s best friend,” King Glenn added firmly. “I’m sorry, but we can’t give him to you, Prince Nero.”

.....

It seemed like the Griffiths had already made up their minds.

[If they won’t give in while I’m still asking nicely, then…]

“Are you sure about that?” Nero asked in a threatening voice. “Think about our trading business, Your Majesties.”

A few years ago, the empire and the Hazelden Kingdom began their trading business.

The empire supplied the Hisa jewels for Hazelden, while the kingdom imported weapons infused with Mana stones to the empire exclusively.

[It was a business that my father established with Hazelden.]

And that business was left in his care after his father vanished.

“Even if Your Royal Highness threatened us, our decision is final,” King Glenn said firmly. “We will not give up on Lord Kingston.”

He wanted to click his tongue in annoyance.

“Prince Nero, I have something to say to you,” Princess Monik said, still smiling at him. “Can I come near you?”

Nero raised an eyebrow. He could tell by the evil glint in her eyes that the young princess was up to no good. Even so, he was still interested in what she wanted to tell him. “By all means, Princess Monik.”

Monik turned to her parents as if she was asking for permission.

Only when Queen Brigitte and King Glenn nodded did the young princess step down from her mother’s lap.

“Be careful,” Prince Skylus whispered worriedly. “Noona.”

‘Noona?’

It was a strange word that Nero was certain didn’t belong to any languages he knew. However, it sounded so familiar to him.

But he only got a headache while trying to remember where he had heard that strange word.

“Prince Nero, please lean down for a moment.”

Confused and distracted, Nero leaned down absent-mindedly.

“I know this pretty unnie who looks like Prince Nero’s female version,” Princess Monik whispered to him. Her voice was low enough that only he would hear it. Moreover, he could tell that the young princess used some strange power to ensure that her voice would only reach his ears. “She told me to tell you this if you started like a villain.”

“What–”

“”You sorry excuse for a little brother,”” Princess Monik said, cutting him off rudely. “”I will beat the living daylights out of you once I returned.””

He was shocked to hear the young princess say those vicious words in a cheerful voice.

“Prince Nero, you’re lucky that my unnie doesn’t want me to use harsher words,” Princess Monik said, laughing. “What I told you was actually the watered-down version. The original was harsher.”

“Who said–”

“Didn’t I already tell Your Royal Highness that it was an unnie who looks like your female version?” Princess Monik continued taunting him. “It’s a pretty unnie with white hair, ash-gray eyes, and pale skin just like you, Prince Nero~”

Ah.

The image of the girl who was bothering him in his dreams lately entered his mind.

White hair.

Ash-gray eyes.

Pale skin.

[And her foul mouth…]

All of a sudden, Nero pictured a clear image of a beautiful girl who had the same face as him. And, as soon as he did, he felt a splitting headache that made him clutch his head tightly.

[That girl… I know her…]

“Oops,” Princess Monik said, stepping away from him with a bright smile on her face. “Good night, Prince Nero.”

Nero was confused at first, then everything turned black.

***

“IF YOU pulled that sword out of the scabbard, I’ll take it as a threat to the royal family of the Hazelden Kingdom.”

It was Glenn’s threat to the knight who immediately grabbed his scabbard when Prince Nero suddenly fainted.

Of course, it wasn’t an empty threat.

His voice was laced with an aura that he used to literally pressure the Crown Prince’s knight. Hence, even though the young knight wanted to pull his sword out of the scabbard, he couldn’t do it because he was paralyzed by Glenn’s aura.

“Sanford Devon, isn’t it?” Glenn asked while observing the young knight. “I heard you’re one of the youngest Swordmasters on the entire continent.”

Sanford Devon growled at him. He couldn’t move, but the fire in his eyes was commendable. “What did you do to Prince Nero?!”

Oh, the young knight could still yell despite being crushed by Glenn’s aura, huh?

[That’s quite impressive.]

“We didn’t do anything to the Crown Prince,” Glenn said firmly, then he opened his arms to Monik who came running towards him. He hugged his daughter and carried her when he stood up. Then he carried Skylus on his other arm so that Brigitte could stand up with ease. “We’ll explain ourselves once Prince Nero wakes up.”

To be honest, he didn’t know what to explain.

Monik had always been a special child.

He was aware that his daughter did something that made the Crown Prince faint, but he also knew that his daughter wouldn’t do that without a proper reason.

Hence, even though it was dangerous, he would stand by his daughter’s side.

“Our third child is left alone with his nanny in the villa Prince Nero provided for our family,” Brigitte, who stood up while her hands were placed on the baby bump on her tummy, said. “We don’t want our Claude to feel lonely for too long, so we’ll excuse ourselves now. But we won’t run away. Please let us know once Prince Nero is awake. We’ll return here as soon as you give the word.”

Sanford Devon finally broke free from Glenn’s aura.

However, as soon as the young knight pulled his sword out of the scabbard, the blade of his sword was cut in two.

“What the…”

Sanford Devon looked confused because both of Glenn’s hands were occupied, as he was carrying Skylus and Monik in his arms.

What the young knight failed to see was Ebony– Glenn’s sword– floating in the air.

Yes, Glenn could command his sword to attack his enemy without holding it.

[But it’s just a trick that works on people who don’t know how I wield my sword. I’m sure Sanford Devon won’t be tricked twice, but he doesn’t need to know that.]

“I may be the king of Hazelden now,” Glenn said, smiling at the young knight who looked like he was questioning his skills as a Swordmaster now. “But Sanford Devon, as a fellow Swordmaster, I hope you didn’t forget what I was before I became a king.”

“A Paladin,” Sanford Devon whispered to himself, gulping hard as if he was suddenly afraid for his life. “The former Emperor Nikolai’s Paladin, to be precise.”

“That’s right, young Swordmaster,” Glenn said, his eyes glowing menacingly at the moment. “If you draw your sword in front of me and my family again, your head will roll to the ground before you knew what hit you.”

***

“YOU’RE SUCH a sweet child, Prince Claude,” she said to the three-year-old young prince lying down on the bed while looking at her with sparkling blue eyes. “Thank you for not crying, even though your parents and your siblings aren’t here.”

The king, queen, prince, and princess of Hazelden were summoned by Prince Nero.

Queen Brigitte asked her to bring Prince Claude to the villa that the Crown Prince prepared for them because when they arrived in the empire, Prince Claude was sleeping soundly.

As Prince Claude’s nanny, it was her duty to accompany the young prince.

“Claude isn’t a baby,” Prince Claude said, referring to himself in the third person. “So Claude won’t cry.”

She chuckled at the young prince’s words. “Our little prince is brave, huh?”

“Claude isn’t afraid even if Mommy, Daddy, Sister, and Brother aren’t here,” the young prince said, then he smiled brightly at her. “Claude is happy because Sister Paige is with Claude.”

“Shh,” she said, putting a finger on her nose. “Prince Claude, didn’t you promise not to call me by my real name?”

“Oops,” Prince Claude said, then he covered his mouth with his hands. “Claude is sorry, Sister Penelope. Claude forgot that Sister is playing spy.”

“That’s right, Prince Claude,” Paige said, laughing softly. “I’m here to spy on the bad guys.”

.....

And the “baddest” person in the royal palace at the moment seemed to be Prince Nero.

[Princess Neoma would be so disappointed.]

***

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