Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"SO WHAT do you think of Ruto?" Neoma asked Lewis while they were in her room. "He looks like a good child, doesn't he?"

Right now, she was sitting on the sofa as her son stood behind her.

They were waiting for two things.

First, she asked Alphen to fetch a potion from Madam Hammock. She asked the Healing Sage for a potion that would make her hair longer. It was the same one that she often uses every time she was disguised as Miss Ramsay.

Second, she asked Stephanie to prepare a simple outfit for her. After all, she was going to face Ruto as a lady-in-waiting trainee.

"He's ugly."

She almost choked on her saliva when she heard what Lewis said. When she turned to her son, she was even more surprised to see him scowling. "What did you say, Lewis?"

"Chef Ruston Stroganoff is ugly," Lewis said coldly. "I don't like him."

"Son, what did I say about poking one's appearance? Yes, it's bad," she scolded him. "Plus, Ruto isn't ugly."

Well, the young chef looked pretty average compared to the beautiful men around her.

But Ruto was in no way ugly.

"And why do you dislike Ruto anyway?"

"Instinct."

She clicked her tongue while shaking her head.

Lewis was probably jealous because she was being nice to Ruto.

"Don't worry, Lewis," she assured her son. "I won't adopt Ruto. You're going to be my only child for a long time."

After all, she wanted to get married and have real children in the future.

But until then, Lewis would be her only son.

"I'm not your son, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, dropping his catchphrase after a long time. "And you shouldn't trust Chef Stroganoff too much. His Mana is strange."

"Mana?" she asked, confused. "His Mana is weak, isn't it?"

"Weak?"

She was surprised by her son's question.

But she didn't have the chance to question him about it when she heard a knock on the door, followed by Sir Glenn's voice.

"Come in, Sir Glenn," she said brightly.

A few moments later, Sir Glenn entered her room.

The older knight bowed his head to her and greeted her politely. After that, he raised his head and grinned. He must have come with a piece of good news.

"Princess Neoma, His Majesty sent me here to inform you that he will grant Duke Rufus Quinzel's request regarding Lady Hanna Quinzel," Sir Glenn said cheerfully. "His Majesty also said that he'll visit you later to apologize to you."

Was that a trap?

But to be honest, it wasn't that hard to believe that His Majesty would give in first.

Her Papa Boss may be a bad father, but he was a wise emperor. Even though his judgment was clouded by his personal feelings, she knew that he would come to his senses in the end. She just kind of pushed him a little by going on a hunger strike.

Hanna is a valuable figure in the empire as the sole heiress of House Quinzel. And House Quinzel is arguably the richest noble household in the empire. They're probably richer than the Royal Family. It will be a mistake on Papa Boss's part if he let Hanna die.

Especially if her father wanted to make Hanna the future Crown Princess.

You made the right decision, Papa Boss.

"Sir Glenn, tell Papa Boss that I want to have dinner with him later," Neoma said brightly. "For now, I'm going to have late lunch with Chef Stroganoff."

***

"ARE YOU disappointed that you're having lunch with me instead of Miss Ramsay?" Neoma teased Ruto. "Should I call her instead?"

After her father admitted "defeat," she immediately sent one of the new maids to let Ruto know that she'd eat the lunch that he prepared for her.

Then, she asked the servants to set the table in her residence's garden.

So here they were now.

She and Ruto shared a table where all the dishes that he mentioned a while ago were served. Of course, Lewis stood a few meters away from them. As usual, her son stood far enough to give her privacy with her guest. But near enough to reach her if something happened.

In short, there was a perfect distance between her and Lewis.

"Well, I can't deny that I'm a little disappointed that I can't meet Miss Ramsay sooner," Ruto said bluntly. "But I can wait. Moreover, it's interesting to watch you eat foreign food, Your Royal Highness."

Once again, this damned little chef managed to hurt her ego so casually.

First, he shamelessly and callously implied that he preferred to see 'Miss Ramsay.'

And it seemed like he just settled with the "Crown Prince" because he was interested to see how she'd eat the foreign dishes that he prepared for her.

Gosh, he's really bad for my ego.

"Chef Stroganoff, you just say whatever comes in your mind, don't you?"

"Yes, and I'm aware of that flaw," he admitted casually. "My father blames it on the fact that I interact more with food ingredients than I do with people."

That must be true.

Back in her second life, she began to attend social events after she was adopted by House Quinzel. But she couldn't remember House Stroganoff. It seemed like Ruto's family was as elusive as he was.

"I apologize if I offended you, Your Royal Highness," Ruto said, then he bowed to her. "I will be careful from now on."

"Nah, just be yourself. You didn't offend me earlier," she said bluntly. "And don't worry, Chef. In case you offend me, I'll return the favor. An eye for an eye."

He raised his head, then he laughed softly. "Fair enough, Your Royal Highness."

"I know, right?" she said, then she changed the topic. "You know, Chef Stroganoof, Miss Ramsay and I are really close. She told me that you took care of her during the Moon Festival. So I'd like to thank you for being kind to my friend."

He seemed surprised by what she said. "I'm glad that you think of Miss Ramsay as a friend, Your Royal Highness. The life in the palace is probably tough for a kid like her."

"Nah, she's good," she assured him. "Miss Ramsay is pretty, smart, charming, witty, strong, and very cool so she's well-liked by the people in the palace. Don't worry about her too much. She's living her best life here."

"You're quite generous with praises, Your Royal Highness."

She just grinned at him, then she motioned for the main dish on the table and changed the topic. "Chef Stroganoff, let me teach you how to eat pizza," she said, then she rolled the sleeves of her button-down shirt. She already took off her suit a while ago and it was now draped over her chair. "First, we have to cut this baby into eight slices."

She picked up the bread knife. Since a pizza cutter didn't exist in the empire yet, that would do for now.

I should introduce Ruto to different cooking tools and equipment next time.

"After cutting the pizza into several slices, you just use your hand to eat it," she said, then she put down the bread knife near her plate. This time, she removed her gloves. Then, she picked up a slice of pizza. She gulped when she saw the string of mozzarella cheese stretch when she pulled a slice. "You're a god, Chef Stroganoff. You managed to make a perfect cheesy pepperoni pizza just from the instructions that I wrote for you."

She wasn't exaggerating.

The pizza that Ruto made was the kind of pizza she'd order in her second life. It tasted so damned good that she almost cried in delight.

I must share this with Lewis later.

"It's an honor to receive praise from you, Your Royal Highness."

She just laughed softly.

I prefer Ruto when he's being savage to me. But he's probably trying his best to act as a decent noble. After all, he thinks I'm the real Crown Prince.

"Every dish you prepared today is finger food, Chef Stroganoff," she said after taking a bite on her pizza. "Why don't you eat with me?"

He politely nodded, then excused himself before he took off his gloves.

She was surprised when she saw his fingers wrapped in bandages.

Ah, it seemed like she had almost forgotten that Ruto was only twelve years old despite being a cooking genius. Of course, he would still make mistakes in the kitchen. Even grown-up and professional chefs weren't immune to getting injured when cooking.

Ruto is a hard worker, that's for sure.

Anyway, she noticed that his face lit up after taking a bite of the pizza.

"It's good, isn't it?" she asked him. "It actually tastes better with bee–"

Thank goodness she stopped herself before she said "beer."

Back in her second life, when she was living as a Korean, she loved eating pizza and fried chicken with beer. But it would be weird for her to say that. Plus, even though she was an adult mentally, she was physically an eight-year-old child. She wouldn't ruin her own body just to satisfy her cravings for alcoholic drinks.

"Never mind," she said. "I forgot what I was saying."

"Your Royal Highness, if there's anything that you want to eat, please don't hesitate to tell me," Ruto said. "I'll do my best to make it for you."

"Oh, don't worry about that," she said. "Judging by the amount of food that I'd like you to cook for me, you'd probably end up as the first "king of fast food" in this continent."

Maybe it was time to teach Ruto how to make pre-prepared food to cook them faster.

"Your Royal Highness, please don't forget to eat vegetables as well," he said to her strictly. "As your chef, I'm worried that you eat too much oily food. Greasy foods are high in calories and unhealthy fat. High intake of such foods can lead to weight gain, obesity, bloating, and even heart disease."

Argh.

The young chef's points were valid but she didn't want to hear them while she was enjoying her pizza. It was the first time that she had it in her third life after all.

"Okay, Chef," she said obediently. After all, she knew that Ruto was just doing his job. "I will eat more vegetables from now on. May I make a request?"

"Of course, Your Royal Highness."

"I hope that someday, you serve me a course where cooked rice is the main dish," Neoma said with a smile. "And don't forget kimchi. It's included in one of the recipes that I sent you," she said. "I have faith in you, Chef Stroganoff."

Ruto bowed to him politely. "I'll work hard to not disappoint you, Your Royal Highness."

***

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