Nero and the rest were eating in the hall.


    Nero was sitting in front of the dining table, and Emilia and Sophia were seated on each side.


    Asteria was serving food and filling the sses with wine as soon as they got empty.


    When she came to Nero to fill the ss, he grabbed her hand and said, "Come. Sit with us."


    "I… will eat once you all finish eating."


    Nero nced at Emilia and grabbed her hand, pulling her on hisp. Then, he turned to Asteria and pointed his gaze at the chair Emilia was sitting before— which was now empty, and said, "Sit."


    Asteria quietly nodded and sat on the chair.


    Nero passed an empty te to her, then served her some food and filled the ss with the wine.


    Asteria reluctantly grabbed a fork and hesitantly ate a bite. She slowly chewed and gulped down, then nced at Nero from the corner of her eyes— only to find Nero staring back at her.


    "No need to be so tense. Rx and enjoy, and don''t worry about anything. You are safe now, and no one would ever harm you," Nero asserted.


    Asteria''s face flushed as she grabbed the ss with her hands and drank everything.


    "That was smooth," Sophiamented.


    Nero turned to Sophia with an oblivious look on his face, as though he had no idea what Sophia was referring to.


    "Now don''t say something like ''I have no idea what you are talking about.'' or something simr," Sophia remarked.


    "I was just stating my obvious and true feelings, and I mean every word I said," Nero proimed.


    Sophia sighed and looked at Emilia, who was enjoying her VIP seat on Nero''sp:


    "See that? He has always been like this. Acting all charming and oblivious like a yboy and making the girls fall in love with him. And rejecting themter. Then wondering ''Why would they even fall for me?''," Sophia let out all her past frustration.


    Emilia grinned and leaned on Nero''s chest, then said, "He is not that oblivious anymore, though."


    "Yeah, he has be a little brazen now." She took a bite and added, "Which is good, by the way."


    "You both are insulting me like it''s totally a normal thing to do." Nero took a bite to imitate Sophia and added, "Which is bad, by the way."


    Nero fed Emilia by eating one bite and giving her the other.


    As they were eating, Emilia nced at Sophia and grinned.


    Sophia realized what Emilia was nning, so she shook her head, seemingly begging Emilia not to do what she was nning to do.


    "You know what happened a while ago," Emilia uttered as she fed Nero.


    "Hmm?"


    "Sophia got scared of a demon and nearly jumped off from the balcony."


    Nero stopped chewing and nced at Sophia with a surprised look on her face.


    Sophia''s face twitched in anger, and as it all happened because Emilia said something to her at that time, so she med Emilia for that.


    "I don''t want to hear it for someone who slept with a stranger— even worse, a demon while being half-sane," Sophiamented.


    Nero choked on his food after hearing that, and Emilia''s face looked like she was about to burst in embarrassment.


    There was only one thing in the world that embarrassed Emilia, and that was her first time with Nero.


    Nero quietly shook his head and thought, ''This is why you don''t mess with Sophi.''


    Emilia tried to act though and said, "So what? I was his ''first'' in everything."


    "No, you weren''t," Sophia replied.


    "It''s surprising how fast and vastly Emilia changed, though." Nero decided to join the battle.


    He turned to Asteria and continued, "She was even more docile and innocent than you."


    "Like, when she regained consciousness in that room, she covered her body with a nket and never showed me her skin."


    "Then, when I touched her, she looked at me like I was some kind of piece of filth. And—"


    Emilia stuffed some food in Nero''s mouth so he couldn''t speak and looked at him with tears in her eyes, and muttered, "You are making me angry."


    Nero raised his brows and gulped down the stuffed food from his mouth, then said, "Oh? What will you do? Actually, what ''can'' you do?"


    He teased Emilia with a wide smirk on his face.


    "I won''t let you kiss me," muttered Emilia.


    "I can kiss Sophi anytime," Nero shrugged.


    "I won''t let you have sex with me," she murmured.


    "Again, I have Sophi. And that''s your loss, not mine."


    "I won''t let you drink my blood," she stated.


    After a brief silence, he replied in a low voice, "I have Sophi."


    ''That was effective,'' Sophia thought to herself.


    It was indeed effective.


    Emilia ran out of options, so she puffed her cheeks and buried herself on Nero''s chest.


    "Just admit it that you can''t do anything," Nero remarked.


    Emilia puckered her lips and thought, ''So he would be okay even without me?''


    As she was wondering, her gaze fell on Nero''s tail which was wagging left and right.


    ''So he is enjoying teasing me?'' she thought and nced at Nero, who was now busy eating.


    A wide smirk appeared on Emilia''s face, and she grabbed Nero''s tail with her hands.


    "Omn~"


    Nero jolted on his chair and let out a weird voice.


    Sophia and Asteria choked on their food and nced at Nero with a surprised look on their faces.


    Nero tried to stop Emilia, but she jumped off hisp— without letting go of his tail. He stared at Emilia, who just smirked at him with a smug look on her face.


    "Let. It. Go." Nero forced a smile.


    "What were you saying? ''Is there anything ''I'' can do'', huh?" Emilia smirked wider. "You had your fun making fun of me, and now it''s my turn for revenge."


    "I will give you 100 kisses if you let go of my tail," Nero asserted.


    Emilia pondered for a while with a serious look on her face, then started stroking Nero''s tail with her hands.


    Nero''s face flushed a little as he tried his best not to let out any weird voice.


    "Alright. I will let you do whatever you want to do with me— for one night."


    "Deal." Emilia decided not to be too greedy and let go of Nero''s tail before he got angry.


    She sat back on Nero''sp like everything was natural and started eating.


    "How did it feel?" Sophia asked with a curious look on her face.


    "It just felt like someone was tickling me," Nero replied.


    Once they all were done eating, Nero prepared a dish with his hands and made his way to Leto''s room.


    When he reached Leto''s room, he saw Orthrus sitting in front of the door, guarding Leto''s room.


    [I am already full, master,] said Orthrus.


    Nero furrowed his brows and said, "This is not for you."


    Orthrus rolled in front of Nero''s legs and started cuddling him.


    "You may leave us alone, for now."


    [As you wish, master.]


    Orthrus left for a stroll.


    Nero stood in front of the door while holding two tes in his hands.


    He was acting just like how an innocent maiden acts when she visits her husband for the first time.


    "Leto, are you awake?" he asked.


    After some seconds, Leto opened the door with a smile on her face and said, "Come in."