Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"BECAUSE you needed to be the emperor, Nero."

[Ah, as expected.]

Nero wasn't surprised by his mother's answer when he asked her why she abandoned him in this world. He already knew the answer but he still had to ask to confirm his thoughts. But he now regretted it. "I'm sorry, Mother," he said remorsefully. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, nor to make you feel guilty."

The beautiful Lady Mona Roseheart, his mother, opened her pale blue eyes. "You're really kind, Nero," she said. "Don't you feel resentful toward me and your father? We decided to escape this world with Neoma. And the only reason why we decided to leave you here is for you to rule the empire."

"There must be a reason why I needed to become the emperor."

His mother slowly nodded. "A de Moonasterio needs to sit on the throne because only a de Moonasterio's Moonglow could keep the doors alive."

"The doors that lead to another world?" he asked curiously. "There's more than one? Does it mean there are other worlds besides the one that Neoma came from?"

"Yes, there are other worlds besides that one," his mother confirmed. "But I've only managed to open one. It leads to a world called Earth, and it's where the country called Korea is located."

"Is that the country where you and Neoma came from, Mother?"

"Yes," she said, then her expression turned cold. "It was the country where Neoma grew up. But I only got to stay there for a few years."

Now he was confused. "What do you mean by that, Mother?"

"Nero, I will show you some of my memories," his mother said, then she extended her hands to him. "It would be easier to show you than tell you what transpired in the past."

Nero held his mother's hands and closed his eyes.

***

MONA clutched her head and closed her eyes tight when she suddenly felt like her skull was being split into two.

For some reason, unknown images that seemed to be memories began to flood her mind. Much to her surprise, those memories belonged to her. The images were being flashed too fast that she barely understood what was going on.

She could see a glimpse of the future. But the ones she was seeing right now were memories of the past.

A past that she couldn't remember.

[Then, perhaps…]

"Mona, what's going on?"

The pain in her head subsided when she heard Nikolai's voice. Then, she felt his arms around her body as if he was consoling her. Her system that was so used to his presence instantly calmed down.

She opened her eyes when her breathing returned to normal.

"What happened, Mona?" Nikolai asked worriedly. "Should I call Madam Hammock?"

Mona laughed softly while shaking her head. "Madam Hammock is one of the few and precious Healing Sages of the empire, Nikolai. Why would you summon such an important person just because I had a headache?" she asked, then she clicked her tongue. "Your advisors won't be happy that you're giving a concubine such treatment."

He frowned and she knew it was because she called herself a 'concubine.'

But it wasn't like she was wrong.

The law of the empire dictates that the emperor could have an empress, a queen, and a concubine.

She couldn't be the empress because the citizens loved the late Empress Juliet and some of them blamed her for her death. On the other hand, Nikolai didn't want her to be just a queen. Moreover, being a queen would require support from the nobility.

And she didn't have that.

Thus, she could only live in Yule Palace with Nikolai.

She couldn't live in Larissa Palace because it was the palace reserved for the empress. And Nikolai didn't want her to use Portia Palace– the palace reserved for the emperor's harem. Before Nikolai took the throne, Portia Palace was the home for the previous emperor's countless mistresses.

He banished the ladies living in Portia Palace and thus, it was empty now. Still, Nikolai didn't want her to use that palace.

The Blanco Palace was reserved for the royal princes while the Luna Palace was reserved for the royal princesses born in the Royal Family. As such, she couldn't use the last two remaining "main" palaces.

And Nikolai said the "smaller" palaces didn't suit her.

Thus, she ended up living in Yule Palace while sharing a room with Nikolai. Although that arrangement showed that he treasured her, it was also proof of her "lower" status.

After all, she was just a matriarch of a fallen noble household.

"I'm going to make you the empress, Mona," Nikolai said, interrupting her thoughts. "Juliet wouldn't mind if I give that title to you. She was supportive of our relationship in the past, and I'm sure she would be just as supportive if she was still here with us."

She smiled and touched Nikolai's face. "I already told you that I don't care about having a title," she said softly. "What matters is we're finally together."

"It's ideal but it doesn't work that way in reality, Mona," he said carefully. "Your title will serve as your protection."

She couldn't say anything because she knew that Nikolai was right.

In this world, titles were very important. Moreover, her lover was the ruler of the empire. A noble with nothing but her fallen household with her wouldn't suit the emperor. "It would be nice if we lived in a world where such titles don't matter for us to get married."

Pain crossed his eyes.

Both she and Nikolai knew that he couldn't give up on the throne.

It wasn't like Nikolai was greedy for power. The only reason why he couldn't quit his position was because he was the only one who could protect the empire. Only a person with the Moonglow could become the emperor.

And the role of the emperor didn't end with just running the empire or protecting its citizens.

It went beyond that.

Nikolai also had to protect the "cage" of the Soul Beasts. He still had a lot of things to do to keep the empire peaceful. Only he and the Moonglow could do it.

"Don't make that face, Nikolai," she said, then she pinched her cheeks. "I know that you would drop everything for me in a heartbeat. But I don't want you to do that. A responsible man is sexier in my eyes."

He blushed at the word that she used. "Mona, you…"

"What?" she asked while laughing. "We already did it many times. Why are you suddenly being shy just because I said that you're sexy?"

This time, even his ears turned red. "You'll be the end of me."

She laughed again, then she gently pushed him down on the bed and straddled his hips. "How much time do we have before your next schedule starts?"

"I'll cancel everything today," Nikolai said, his eyes were suddenly brimming with passion. Then, he put his hands on her waist. "And I'll kill anyone who disturbs us."

Mona just smirked and leaned down to kiss him.

***

"THIS ISN'T my first life," Mona declared while admiring the sword lilies around her. She was currently sitting lazily on a picnic blanket set in the middle of the vast field. She didn't have any knights or servants because she sneaked out of the palace. But she wasn't alone. "I saw a glimpse of the life that I previously had."

"I know that you can see the future," Gale, in her white bunny form, said while leisurely munching on the strawberry that she handed her earlier. "But I didn't know that you can see the past, too."

"I didn't know, too," she said, then she gently placed her hands on her belly. "But the memories of my past life flooded my mind when this child came into my body."

Yes, she just found out that she was two weeks pregnant now.

She was happy and excited to share the good news with Nikolai. But she remembered the fleeting past memories that she saw. When she counted, she realized that she retrieved the past memories two weeks ago. It probably happened because of the seed of life in her belly.

"Although I know that those images were my memories, I couldn't really remember the whole picture," she confessed to her trusted companion. "I couldn't understand a thing."

"Of course, you wouldn't," the Wind Spirit said. "Only gods remember their past lives completely when they get reincarnated. Them and maybe a few exceptions."

"I know that," she said. "But even if I couldn't understand the whole picture, the pieces that I saw gave me an interesting idea."

"You're smiling like how you smile when you're about to humiliate the nobles who keep on messing with you."

She laughed at Gale's description but she couldn't deny it. Although this time, she wasn't about to destroy some noblemen's fragile ego. She was simply happy that she found an interesting way to protect her family. "Gale, I think the past me has discovered a way to cross to another world."

The white bunny dropped her strawberry in shock. "Mona, are you crazy?" she asked, bewildered. "As a Spirit, I know that the world is too vast for only our reality to exist. I'm aware that the possibility of having other worlds out there is high. But to leave our world to enter another? You must be insane."

Her smile disappeared when she turned serious. "Yes, I must be insane. The past me already failed."

"Then, why do you still want to do it?"

"Because I saw how the past me failed," Mona said, then she smiled. "I think I can fix it for me to succeed this time."

Gale let out a deep sigh. "Yes, you've really gone crazy."

***

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