Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"ME NOT listen. You."

Ruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Lewis Crevan was speaking incoherently again. He had kept an eye on the fox all these years and he noticed that despite being educated, Lewis Crevan would still talk incoherently when he didn't feel like talking anymore.

[Neoma, this is the reason why raising a "son" is futile.]

"You're not serving Neoma well, Lewis Crevan," Ruto said when he opened his eyes. He didn't want to be violent but he needed to keep the fox literally pinned to the wall. Thus, he moved fast to approach Lewis Crevan. Then, he pressed his arm against the fox's throat. "Don't move or I'll accidentally crush your throat."

The fox snarled at him angrily but he didn't move.

Well, he couldn't. Right now, he was currently crushing the fox with his Mana to keep him in place. Lewis Crevan was probably feeling like he was being crushed by a mountain. He didn't want to be this rough to Neoma's "son" but he had to make him listen to him.

[And violence is the language that Lewis Crevan understood best.]

"Since I'm older than you, allow me to address you casually, Lewis," he said. Addressing Lewis by his full name was quite tiring. Calling him by his title felt awkward to him since in the past, he was in a higher rank than the child. "And I'll be brutally honest with you: you suck at taking care of Neoma."

He fully expected Lewis Crevan to get mad at him.

But much to his surprise, the fox looked like a child that had been scolded by his parent. He looked confused and scared. To be honest, that poked his conscience.

"What did I do wrong?" Lewis asked in a scared voice. "Princess Neoma listens to you. If you tell her that I'm bad at my job, is she going to throw me away?"

Ah, he felt gutted.

Despite being in an adult form, Lewis looked like a helpless child at the moment. And he felt bad for "bullying" him.

[A child is still a child, huh?]

"I'm sorry for being harsh," he said softly, then he removed his arm from Lewis's throat. "Neoma cares about you a lot, Lewis. You should know by now that she won't throw you away. Have some confidence."

"I know that," Lewis argued with a frown. "But Princess Neoma likes you more than she likes me. If you tell her that I'm bad at taking care of her, then she might not find me useful anymore."

[Neoma likes me more than Lewis?]

To be honest, hearing that made him happy.

But on the other hand, it came as a surprise. He had watched Neoma from afar since she was a toddler. And he could tell that Neoma's most trusted person in the world was Lewis. He wouldn't do it but he knew that even if he told her that Lewis was "useless," Neoma would punch him in the throat without hesitation.

"It's not my intention to insult or belittle you, Lewis," he said calmly, purposely avoiding the topic about who Neoma preferred more between him and the fox. "I chose the wrong words. Once again, I apologize for that."

The fox just nodded as an acknowledgment of his apology.

"Lewis, you do know that Neoma can be arrogant and reckless most of the time, don't you?"

Again, the fox just nodded as a response.

"It's a good thing that you're loyal and obedient to Neoma," he said carefully. "But blindly following her could be dangerous for the two of you. I understand that you don't want to disobey her orders. Still, there are times that you have to do so in order to protect her. Sometimes, going against your master is also a way of protecting and cherishing them."

The fox's lowered his gaze to the floor. "Should I have stopped Princess Neoma earlier…?"

"Ideally, yes," he said. "But I understand that it would have been hard to do so since Neoma is currently going through a process called 'Lunacy.'"

"Then, what should have I done in a situation like that?"

"You should have grabbed her hand and followed her," he said right away. "Because I would."

The fox boy raised his head to meet his gaze.

[He looked like a puppy that has been abused by his owner.]

"Lewis, you're doing a good job as Neoma's knight and number one protector," he said gently. "But you should be more than that. You need to be Neoma's confidant. And that means you should call her out when you think she's being out of the line. Support her, but don't spoil her. She acts like a grown-up but deep inside, she still has an immature side to her. I know that you're also a child. But I believe that you can make wise decisions when it comes to Neoma's safety." He put his hand on the fox's shoulder. "Scold her if you need to and don't hold back."

"What if Princess Neoma hates me if I scold her?"

"That won't happen," he assured him while patting his shoulder. "Neoma treasures you more than you think, Lewis."

"Why do you speak like you know Princess Neoma very well?" the fox asked curiously. "You've only personally gotten close to her a little over a year ago. Moreover, it seems like you know everything."

"I don't know everything," he said. "But I can't also speak of the things that I know. So please don't ask questions, Lewis."

"It's unfair."

"I know," he admitted while nodding. "I'm running my mouth and yet, I can't give you the answers that you seek."

The fox let out a sigh while giving him a very judgmental look. "This is why Princess Neoma often says that you don't say the things that she wants to hear from you."

He almost smiled when he heard that. "It's good to know that Neoma talks about me often."

"Why are you only supporting Princess Neoma now?"

"Because only now did Neoma need my help."

"You're acting sus."

["Sus?"]

He almost laughed at the term that Lewis used.

[Neoma, you influence your "son" too much.]

"It's great that you don't trust me fully, Lewis," he praised the child. "You can't trust anyone else in this world other than your "mother." Having said that, I wish you'd follow my advice and become a more dependable friend to Neoma."

The fox remained silent for a while that he thought he wouldn't speak anymore. But fortunately, he was wrong.

"Then, is it okay…" Lewis began carefully. "Is it okay if I stopped acting like Princess Neoma's obedient "son" and start acting like a man–"

"No. Neoma is only nine years old right now," Ruto said with a smile on his face. "I'll strike you with my lightning bolt if you make a move on a child, Lewis Crevan."

***

WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, she thought she was already in heaven.

Well, technically, she could tell that she was lying on a sofa inside a dark room. But it didn't matter because of the person kneeling beside her while holding her hand.

[Appa…?]

The man's face hovering over her looked like her dad from her second life. But the hair and eye color that the man had were different from her appa's.

[Black hair and golden eyes…]

"Commander Gavin Quinzel," Neoma whispered in a hoarse voice. Then, she touched the doodle on her neck and summoned Mini Skewer. After that, she pressed the blade against the man's throat. The last thing she remembered was her talking to Ruto. But if she woke up with a man who looked like her appa, then it could only mean one thing. "Gosh, Gin. Don't you know by now that your illusions don't work on me?"

She expected the black cat to appear out of nowhere. But she was met with silence. Plus, she just realized that the man's neck was already bleeding.

[His body and blood are both warm as if he's a real person…]

"Neoma, I'm not an illusion," the man said with a familiar smile on his face. Then, he stood up and sat beside her. "Agi, eotteohke jinae?"

She gasped when the man spoke Korean!

He only asked her "how are you" but for some reason, she already believed that this was her appa. Before she knew it, she already dropped Mini Skewer (that returned to her body as a doodle). Then, she covered her mouth with her hands as she began to cry.

"Neoma, geudongahn jal itsseotso?" her appa asked. This time, her dad wanted to know if she had been doing well since the two of them had been apart. "Oh raen man eya."

It meant "it had been a long time."

"Nae, appa. Oh raen man e eh yo," she said between sobs. It meant: 'Yes, father. It's been a long time.' "Neomu bogoshipoyo."

[Translation: I missed you so much.]

"Na do," her appa said while wiping her tears off of her face with his big and warm hands. "Nado bogosipeo, sweetie."

[Translation: Me, too. I missed you, too.]

She bawled like a child while clinging to her appa.

Her dad gently wrapped her in his arms while patting her back– consoling her like how he did back in their world. She buried her face in her appa's chest and continued crying her heart out. Ah, now she was certain that this man was the dad that she knew and loved back in her second life.

Of course, she had so many questions in her head.

How come her appa came here as Commander Gavin Quinzel when the commander was supposed to be dead in this world?

"Have you calmed down, Neoma?" her appa asked gently. "When did you become such a crybaby, sweetie?"

She raised her head and cried even harder upon seeing her appa's face again. "Appa, your daughter is a mass murderer now," she confessed between sobs. "I was so angry that I wasn't able to stop myself from killing all the evil people in the camp. I'm sorry. You raised me preciously as a good daughter but I've become a ruthless killer here…"

"You don't have to apologize to me, agi," her appa said gently. "I used to be the commander of the biggest Order of the Knights in the whole empire, Neoma. I've killed more people than I was able to save. I have no moral ascendancy over you, so you don't have to say sorry to me." He gently caressed her face and gave him a warm smile. "Moreover, I know that you didn't kill those people for fun."

She couldn't control the hiccups that came out of her mouth. "Appa…"

"You're not the evil one here, Neoma," her dad said with a sad smile on his face. "You should have realized by now that the de Moonasterios are the real root of evil on the continent."

She was surprised to hear that from her appa. "I didn't see it that way," she said, confused. "All this time, I thought I became the villainess here."

But her appa was correct.

She had always known that the de Moonasterios couldn't possibly be good and innocent. Real talk: her father and her ancestors were colonizers. The Royal Family had invaded territories and killed many people to be able to expand the empire.

It was a hard pill to swallow but yes, the de Moonasterios could be considered as "evil."

[If what Trevor told me about the male Rosehearts is true, then it only means that the de Moonasterios are worse than what I thought.]

And if her Papa Boss knew all of that...

[Let's not think about Papa Boss for now.]

Her appa fell silent for a while before he spoke again. "Neoma, do you want to go back?"

"Go back where, appa?"

"Korea," her appa said, then he held her hands. "Neoma, let's go home."

Neoma's brows furrowed in confusion. "There's a way to leave this world and return to Korea, appa?"

***

NIKOLAI knew that the "Mona" that he followed was nothing but a mere illusion created by the Devil to make him lose consciousness.

Nevertheless, he followed "Mona" in the garden that they often visited in the past.

He wasn't worried about his physical body because he knew that his Soul Beasts would protect him. To be honest, he knew that what he was doing was stupid and reckless. Still, he knew that it was something that he had to do.

"Mona, I have something to ask you," Nikolai said to the image of Mona standing in front of him while they were in the middle of a garden. Of course, the illusion before him couldn't justify the real Mona's beauty and grace. But it would do. "Will it be okay if I love Neoma and Nero more than I love you?" The image didn't respond as expected. It may be one of the reasons why he smiled sadly. "Will you forgive me if this time, I choose our children over you?"

***

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