Chapter 936: NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY
THE SOUL-SWITCHING trope was famous in the pop culture.
There were movies where a mother and daughter switched souls/bodies.
But it was a more popular trope in the romance genre where the female lead and her love interest would switch souls.
It was already awkward for two strangers of opposite sexes to switch bodies.
Imagine how awkward it would be for twins of different genders.
[I mean, Nero and I used to take a bath together when we were toddlers so we've already seen each other naked plenty of times before. But it's different now that we're both grown adults.]
"Why would it be awkward?" Nero asked, genuinely confused. "I get that we'd be switching bodies, too. But I really don't care if Neoma sees my body. And even if I see her body during our switch, I don't think I'd care much about it either. I cannot like Neoma's vessel without Neoma's soul in it. Without her soul in it, Neoma's body is just an empty vessel to me."
Oh.
That was a relief to hear.
Sometimes, Neoma would think that Nero's obsession with her was borderline incest– wait, never mind.
"You heard Nero, and I agree with him," Neoma said, all the awkwardness she felt earlier completely gone now. "It's a small sacrifice to pay for pulling off the mission I envisioned, so let's begin now." freёwebnoѵel.com
"Alright," Arche said, nodding. "First, let me ask you something. Neoma, Nero, who's more important to you? Yourself or your twin?"
"Neoma," Nero said without missing a beat. "Neoma is more important to me than myself."
"That's right," Neoma said, nodding. "I am more important to me than Nero."
She knew it was a selfish response, but Nero looked pleased by her answer.
"Are you fine with Neoma's answer, little emperor?" Aruna asked, raising an eyebrow at the current emperor. "She just said that she values herself more than she values you even though you put her first."
"Neoma has no obligation to put me first just because I do," Nero said bluntly. "And I like the fact that she values herself that much. I would rather kill myself than see Neoma sacrifice herself for me."
Aruna rolled her eyes. "Then are you fine if Neoma gets to hold the "leash" of you and not the other way around?"
"In soul switching, the dominant twin holds the leash," Arche explained. "It means the dominant twin gets to decide when to switch. That's the downside of our technique– only one of the twins has the upper hand. So, I'll ask you again, little emperor: are you willing to give the leash to Neoma?"
"Yes," Nero said without missing a beat, then he smirked. "I like the thought of having a leash around my neck as long as Neoma is the one holding it."
Neoma frowned because of cringe. "That sounds like a kink. But I respect your fetishes, Nero."
Her twin brother just laughed it off.
Arche smiled and nodded. "That reminds me of when we were young, Aruna."
Aruna was aghast by her ancient twin's remark. "You weren't that obsessive with me, Brother. The little emperor's obsession with Neoma is on a different level."
Right?
[If only Nero could love other people instead of giving half of his heart to me…]
***
[WHY AM I suddenly pissed?]
Ruto felt like he wanted to punch something, but he didn't know what.
"Hey, your bloodlust is leaking," Trevor, who was busy literally crushing a certain sorcerer's heart with a mallet, complained. "I can't concentrate because I feel like you're going to hit me at the back of my head or something."
"I won't," Ruto assured the sorcerer. "I won't commit violence while holding a baby in my arms."
He looked at the sleeping God of Death in his arms.
And, yes, the God of Death was still in the form of a baby.
Right now, Ruto was in Trevor's room located in Neoma's palace. The sorcerer had turned his room into his personal workshop.
In short, it was a mess there.
"How long are you going to let the God of Death use that vessel?" Trevor asked, going back to his work. "Are you here to ask me to help you with that?"
"No," Ruto said. "The Goddess of Life will help me separate the God of Death's soul from this precious vessel."
"Then why are you here?"
"It's about Neoma's plan after she and Emperor Nero switch souls."
Trevor paused for a moment. "Ah, you're talking about Princess Neoma's plan."
"Neoma could go up there because her Divinization has already begun, but I doubt Emperor Nero's soul could withstand it," Ruto said. "I don't want His Imperial Majesty to damage Neoma's vessel in any way."
"So, you're here to ask me to help you create a portal that could pierce through the heavens."
"Only you could do something like that in two days, Trevor Kesser. Because I know you've already begun working on a Heavenly Portal since you found out that Princess Neoma might ascend one day."
That was how Trevor Kesser was determined to follow Neoma anywhere.
[No wonder there's a universe where Neoma chose Trevor Kesser over me.]
"Heavenly Portal, huh?" Trevor looked over his shoulder, his eyes glowing while looking at Ruto coldly. "Did I make that in the first timeline?"
"Yes, you did."
"For what?"
"I wasn't close to you back then, so I wouldn't know."
More like he didn't like Trevor Kesser for trying to force his feelings on Neoma.
[After all, he left as a Pillar after Neoma dumped him.]
"Commander Ruto, nothing in life is free."
"I know," Ruto said, nodding. "So, tell me what you want in return for making the Heavenly Portal."
"My death," Trevor Kesser said right away. "Tell me everything you know about what the evil baby meant when he asked me to choose between two horrible deaths."
***
PFFT.
Neoma, who was looking at herself while wearing Nero's skin, couldn't help but laugh. "We did it, Nero."
Nero, who was wearing Neoma's skin, smiled back at her. "It's so easy."
***
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