性瘾者

Neoma was already in the sixth step of the Stairway to Hell.

And, by now, she could say that she had seen the real hell on earth.

It seemed like the most heinous crimes in the world had been committed by her ancestors. She was able to stomach everything that she had seen so far.

But the sixth step almost made her snap.

It was because children were involved.

The fucking emperor that owned that step was a fucking pedophile who enjoyed torturing and making children bleed before he sexually abused them.

FUCK THIS SHIT.

Neoma clutched her head tight, trying to stop her Lunacy from coming out.

If she lost her mind here, she might destroy the world again.

<nulli>[I can\'t die a virgin again in this lifetime, so calm the fuck down, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio.]

Her lame joke to distract herself almost worked.

Almost.

<nulli><"Thug princess, I can\'t take it anymore.">

It was Tteokbokki.

She knew this would happen, so she actually tried to make her Soul Beast sleep.

But, perhaps, her uncontrollable anger woke Tteokbokki up.

"Go back to sleep, Tteokbokki."

Neoma was sober now.

If she failed to control her anger, she was afraid that it might trigger Crimson to come out.

The God of Wrath, who was Tteokbokki\'s alter ego, was not someone she could deal with at the moment when she was on the verge of snapping.

<nulli>[In the first timeline, Crimson played a huge part in worsening my Lunacy.]

"I\'ll deal with this," Neoma said, calm this time. "I\'m sober now, so go back to sleep."

She may always bicker with Tteokbokki and call him a ketchup-colored donkey from time to time, but she earnestly thought of her Soul Beast as her younger brother.

Hence, she wanted to protect him even though it should be the other way around.

<nulli><"How do you expect me to sleep in this situation?! I\'m so angry that I feel like I\'m going to die if I don\'t break something! Let me out, thug princess!">

Right.

She knew Tteokbokki would react this way, so she sealed him inside her soul.

"No can do," Neoma said firmly. "Let your big sister handle this."

<nulli><"Thug princess!">

She was about to scold Tteokbokki when, all of a sudden, she felt something strange in her heart.

Well, she currently didn\'t have her physical body.

<nulli>[But it is what it is.]

"My Roseheart Blood," Neoma said, clutching her chest. "Why is it acting like it\'s gonna make my heart burst? So freaking annoying."

But she remembered that her Roseheart Blood came from her Mama Boss.

"Ah, I take it back. I\'m sorry. My Roseheart Blood is awesome."

<nulli><"What are you saying, thug princess?"> Tteokbokki complained again. <nulli><"Are you ignoring me?">

"The strong protect the weak, my child," Neoma said, taking another step. "If you hate being protected by me that much, then become stronger than me."

<nullb>***

MONA clutched her chest tight.

The Roseheart Blood in her was giving her bad palpitations. She felt like her heart would burst at any moment.

And she wasn\'t the only person who felt that way.

"Did you feel it, too?" Mona asked William who clutched his chest at the same time that she did. "Our Roseheart Blood…"

"It\'s the same feeling I got when we were in the Cage."

The \'Cage\' was the place where the Soul Beasts were imprisoned. It was hidden under the throne.

But, of course, it wasn\'t physically there.

The Royal Treasury was also under the throne, and you wouldn\'t find the Cage there since it didn\'t have a physical form.

One could only access the Cage in two different ways.

The easiest way was to bring someone with a Roseheart Blood and use them as a key.

And the second way was to… well, force it open.

It wasn\'t easy, though.

<nulli>[You have to be on Nikolai\'s level to be able to force the door open with your bare hands, and there are only a few people who are on par with Nikolai when it comes to physical strength.]

"Nero is probably in the Cage now," William said. "Finally. A male Roseheart."

"We failed to free the Soul Beasts in the past because I didn\'t meet the requirements to finish the task," Mona said, her voice sounding bitter. After all, their failed mission cost them Juliet\'s life. "But perhaps, Nero is the answer."

"Of course," the Grand Spirit said proudly. "Nero is the first male Roseheart born after almost two centuries. He\'s bound to be special."

"You sound proud of Nero. Where is that energy when it comes to Neoma?"

"You\'re talking strange, Mona."

Ah, it must be because she lived in Korea for five years.

<nulli>[I picked up the way Neoma and Trevor talk since those two children both talk a lot…]

"Neoma is more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart, and she reminds me so much of Nikolai de Moonasterio," William said, scoffing. "You don\'t expect me to get fond of your daughter when she takes after her father, do you?"

So, William didn\'t hate Neoma.

<nulli>[He just sees Nikolai in my daughter.]

That made Mona smile. "Right? Neoma and Nikolai look more and more similar each passing day."

"Is that supposed to be a good thing? Nikolai de Moonasterio was the nightmare of his generation."

"He\'s the strongest of his generation, not the nightmare. And Neoma is following in her father\'s footsteps. It\'s supposed to be a good thing."

"Neoma is now the strongest of her generation, I admit that," William said, nodding. "But I will always be on Nero\'s side."

"Because my son is a rare male Roseheart?"

"Yes. He\'s the savior that we\'re all waiting for."

Mona smiled and nodded in agreement. "I really hope Nero succeeds in freeing the Soul Beasts."

"Nero can do it for sure," William said, smiling. "As I said before, Nero is the Roseheart that will bring back our family\'s former glory– and he shall start by saving the Soul Beasts stuck imprisoned in the Cage."

<nullb>***

"WHY DO I need to save the Soul Beasts here?" Nero asked indifferently. "They have nothing to do with me."

That was his response to Nero Roseheart\'s question earlier.

<nulli><"Are you here to free the Soul Beasts?">

When Nero Roseheart asked that, only then did Nero realize that he was in the \'Cage\' that her father and mother mentioned before.

<nulli>[This is the place where the Soul Beasts are imprisoned.]

Then the eyes that he could feel on him probably belonged to the Soul Beasts hiding themselves.

<nulli>[Hmm… interesting.]

<nulli><"This can\'t be right. The Rosehearts are programmed to feel the urge to save the Soul Beasts. If you don\'t have any intention of doing that, then why did you come here?">

"Do you think I came here on my own volition?" Nero asked, scoffing. "And stop talking to me using that mask. Do you expect me to feel empathetic to you just because you\'re wearing that face, huh?"

"Huh?" Dahlia reacted, obviously surprised by what his revelation was. "He\'s not Nero Roseheart, the first Holy Knight?"

"That thing is a Soul Beast– a Soul Beast that can wear human skin."

"Oh, I can\'t tell…"

"It\'s alright," he said. He didn\'t know why he felt the need to console Dahlia, but he couldn\'t stand seeing her disappointed in herself. "You\'re not familiar with Soul Beasts. Moreover, it\'s something that only someone with either Roseheart Blood or a de Moonasterion soul could notice anyway."

After all, the Soul Beasts were created using the male Rosehearts killed in the past.

Ever since then, every de Moonasterion born in history was given a Soul Beast or two.

There were instances where a de Moonasterio was born with more than two Soul Beasts– just like his father.

[And there are also instances where a de Moonasterion was born with a dead Soul Beast.]

That was the case with Neoma of the first timeline.

<nulli>[Calyx was also born without a Soul Beast.]

"You know that I\'m a Soul Beast, and yet you have the audacity to say that you\'re not here to save us?"

Oh, would you look at that?

"Nero Roseheart" was talking like a normal person now.

<nulli>[He talks like he\'s being possessed earlier.]

Nero couldn\'t help but laugh– in a mocking tone, of course. "Why would I save someone who has every intention to kill me? Do you think I wouldn\'t notice your bloodlust?"

The Soul Beast flinched, and didn\'t deny it.

"I know why you hate me," Nero said, his smile disappearing as quickly as it appeared since he was already starting to get bored. "It\'s because I\'m a de Moonasterio, isn\'t it? The de Moonasterios of the past were the ones responsible of killing the male Rosehearts and turning them into Soul Beasts."

"How can you speak so lightly of our history?! You may be a de Moonasterio, but you also have Roseheart Blood in you! Don\'t you feel anything for us?!"

"Yes, I don\'t," Nero said bluntly. "I don\'t feel attached to strangers."

"Strangers?! We are your ancestors."

"Dead ancestors, yes," Nero said indifferently. "But if you want, I can free you and pretend that I care. It will look good on my records as the next emperor."

The Soul Beast was rendered speechless.

<nulli>[And he looks very angry.]

"Prince Nero, how can you be so cruel?" Dahlia asked in disbelief. "You should feel remorseful towards the Soul Beasts. The de Moonasterios have killed so many male Rosehearts just to satisfy their greed–"

"I did not kill them, did I?" Nero asked coldly, cutting off Dahlia\'s nagging. "I won\'t take responsibility for a crime I did not commit– and that\'s my stance as the only male Roseheart alive in the world."