OF COURSE, the most fertile land in the Spirit World would be where the Queen lived.
Hence, Nikolai understood why Mona chose the land where Tara's "villa" was place.
In fact, his amazing wife pressured the Queen of the Spirit World to give up the entire villa for them.
He could still remember the conversation the two had...
["Tara, you already have plenty of properties around your little kingdom. Surely, giving up a villa or two won't hurt."]
["I happened to be fond of that villa, Mona."]
["Would you rather give up your villa or the royal palace?"]
Of course, after Mona threatened to take over the royal palace, Tara had no choice but to give up her villa.
Hence, right now, Nikolai was currently "living" in that place with Mona.
William was with them earlier, but the Grand Spirit was summoned by Nero.
Only Irina (the Cosmic Tree) was there, along with the Goddess of Life.
But the Goddess of Life couldn't stay awake for long to join them. Hence, the Goddess of Life went back to sleep after giving them instructions on how to make sure the fertile land would remain suitable to be a mini version of the Garden of Life.
"I'm impressed by how much the Spirit World has grown while I was asleep," Irina, the Cosmic Tree, commented while looking around at the backyard with Mona. The empty land behind the villa was the piece of land that they would turn into a little Garden of Life later. "I understand why Tara refused to help you, my daughter."
"I know, Mother," Mona said, smiling. As the Daughter of Nature, she had the right to address the Cosmic Tree as her 'mother.' "Tara's greed grew along with the growth of the Spirit World. She probably doesn't want us to know that the Spirit World is on par with your Garden now, Mother. I wonder why she wanted to keep it a secret, though."
Nikolai found the conversation interesting, but he soon realized that he couldn't finish listening to it.
He had to excuse himself for a moment when he received a message from Nero.
And his son did that by sending his Soul Beast.
Nikolai went inside the villa to talk to the Ice Phoenix.
And the Soul Beast immediately sent Nero's message.
<"His Imperial Majesty would like to inform you that he plans to cut the de Moonasterio's connection with the Soul Beasts tonight.">
"What did you say again?" Nikolai asked Nero's Soul Beast. "Are you sure about that, son?"
This time, Nero's voice came out when the Ice Phoenix opened its beak.
<"Yes, Father– let's end the Soul Beasts' lineage now.">
"Do you understand what you're saying, Nero?"
<"Yes, Father. Once I succeed with what I plan to do tonight, then no de Moonasterio would be born with a Soul Beast ever again.">
"Do you plan to have a successor in the future, son?"
<"Of course, Father.">
"Then are you alright if your child is born without a Soul Beast?"
He was just playing devil's advocate.
[I need to know if Nero really knows what he's talking about.]
To be honest, Nikolai had always wanted to end the Soul Beasts' suffering. But when Mona disappeared, he also lost his purpose in life.
Hence, he was glad that his children were able to do things that he couldn't accomplish.
"The de Moonasterios are hailed as the strongest bloodline in the human world, and the Soul Beasts play a huge part in it," Nikolai said, still playing the devil's advocate. "If the next generation of the de Moonasterios are born without a Soul Beast, then they might struggle in maintaining the title of the strongest bloodline in the human world."
"What's up, Nero?" Neoma greeted him cheerfully. "Why did you summon me here? I thought you'd deal with the male Rosehearts' resentment on your own."
"I need your opinion, Neoma," Nero said bluntly. "I want to cut off the connection between the de Moonasterios and the Soul Beasts, so that our future generation wouldn't be born with a Soul Beast."
"You want to end it in our generation?"
"Yes, and I'm under the impression that you'll agree with me."
To be honest, Nero thought Neoma would agree right away.
Hence, he was surprised when his twin sister suddenly fell silent as if she was hesitating.
[Did Neoma change her mind?]
***
"SHE'S seducing you since that's what she does best!"
Pfft.
Trevor suddenly wondered if it was the right choice to keep Dilan Crowell alive for this long.
After all, the bastard was talking as if he had the right to do so.
[Maybe I haven't tortured him enough, but let's humor him for now.]
"Oh, am I being seduced?" Trevor paused, and then he suddenly laughed out loud. "That was the funniest shit I've heard in a while. How could I be seduced by someone I'm remotely attracted to?"
"Then why are you helping Regina?" Dilan Crowell asked back. "Are you the type of person who helps an enemy?"
Ah.
That slowly took away Trevor's smile.
Come to think of it, even though Regina's offer was tempting, he had no reason to help her. Was it just on a whim?
[It's true that her power is amazing, though.]
Dilan Crowell scoffed upon seeing Trevor's hesitation. "You've been duped, Trevor Kesser," he said, sneering at him. "You don't know what Regina's real power is, do you?"
"Then tell me," Trevor said coldly. "Tell me before I cut your body into hundreds of pieces."
The crazy sorcerer laughed as if he found his reaction funny. "Do you think that Regina Crowell's power only involves manipulating time? What if I tell you that she also has the ability to manipulate emotions?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You know that Regina Crowell can manipulate time? I was under the impression that she was keeping it a secret to use as a weapon against your family later."
"There are things that I found out about her, but my mind gets confused when I'm with here, so I tend to forget about them. But now that I've spent some time apart from Regina, my mind is getting clearer."
"So, what are you trying to say?"
"That Regina Crowell made me obsessed with her on purpose!"
"Ah, so you're trying to say that you're innocent even though you've touched your sister inappropriately?" Trevor asked, and then he laughed. "Too bad for you, but my Moon Princess taught me to believe the victim first~"
Dilan Crowell looked at Trevor in disbelief. "I'm telling the truth!"
"I'll apologize if I was wrong after my OWN investigation to know who between the two of you is telling the truth," Trevor said, shrugging. "But, for now, endure the pain~"
Because Trevor brought Dilan Crowell there for his own experiment and not because of Regina Crowell.
[There's no way in hell that woman has affected my emotions, okay?]
***
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