Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

THE SMELL of blood.

The feel of Mona's cold body.

The crying noises coming from the two babies on the floor.

Nikolai was going crazy while his senses were being attacked by the things that he didn't want to smell, feel, and hear.

The worst thing was he couldn't move.

All he could do was kneel beside Mona's cold body while covering his ears with his hands. He didn't want to hear the cries of the two little humans that caused the death of the person he loved the most in the world.

[Mona… is gone?]

The smell of blood told him that yes, his precious person was now dead.

But there was a small voice in his head screaming for him to "wake up." Why did he have to wake up? Was all of this a dream?

He couldn't tell the illusion from reality anymore.

Was someone messing with his head?

["Your Majesty, I'm actually in love with Lady Mona Roseheart."]

He gasped when he heard Gavin's voice in his head.

His cousin was in love with Mona? His cousin that he trusted most in the world? Gavin Quinzel had betrayed him?

An ungodly amount of rage rose up in his chest.

The small voice in his head telling him to wake up earlier was now replaced by a voice telling him to do one thing.

"Kill Gavin," Nikolai whispered to himself, repeating the words that kept ringing in his head. "I must kill Gavin."

***

[IT SEEMS to be working.]

Gavin didn't let his guard down while watching Emperor Nikolai.

His Majesty was on the floor while clutching his head tight. He had his eyes closed while mumbling to himself. Thankfully, it seemed like the emperor hadn't noticed the black smoke covering his body at the moment.

[Lukas's ability is pretty impressive.]

To be precise, it was Impure Mana. The elf had the ability to use the Impure Mana left by the dead Darkness attribute users. And with the help of Lord Helstor, Lukas was able to create a strong illusion enough to deceive the strongest person in the continent.

But of course, the preparation wasn't easy.

He remembered what he and Lukas had discussed beforehand.

["Gavin, it wouldn't be easy to attack His Majesty with my illusion. We need him to let him put his guard down."]

["How do we do that?"]

["We need to shock His Majesty. The moment he goes shocked, even for a tiny moment, only then could my illusion work on him."]

To shock His Majesty, he declared that he was in love with Lady Roseheart.

[And it worked.]

But the next problem had already occurred.

While Emperor Nikolai was losing his mind, his Soul Beasts began to come out of his body one by one.

First, the White Tiger.

Second, the Black Tortoise with the black snake.

Third, the Vermillion Bird.

And finally, the Blue Dragon.

Naturally, when the Vermillion Bird and the Blue Dragon appeared, the two Holy Beasts immediately soared to the sky. The roof collapsed and his Shadow Veil was broken instantly. As expected, the Soul Beasts all rushed toward him.

[I hope I survive.]

He summoned his Unholy Beasts to fight the Soul Beasts.

First, he summoned the former shadow of a dead phoenix. Then, he summoned the former shadow of a dead dragon. The two Unholy/Shadow Beasts soared in the sky to fight the Vermillion Bird and the Blue Dragon.

The sky shook as four giant, flying beasts fought up there.

After summoning his own Shadow Beasts, he covered himself with Mana while drawing his sword. Then, he used the blade of his sword as a shield when the White Tiger came at him and tried to bite him on the neck.

[Damn!]

He used all his strength to push the White Tiger and fortunately, he was able to succeed. The beast growl at him angrily. He responded by gathering his aura in the blade of his sword. Then, he slashed into the air while aiming the aura that took the form of a giant blade in the White Tiger's direction.

But much to his surprise, the beast didn't bother trying to avoid his aura.

The moment a transparent wall that looked like a giant turtle's shell appeared in front of the White Tiger, he realized why the Black Tortoise didn't come at him.

[Shield. The Black Tortoise is known to be the best defender among the Soul Beasts!]

He was only distracted for a moment but the White Tiger immediately used that opportunity to attack him. The beast's speed and agility surprised him. Even though it was three times bigger than an average tiger, it was able to close the distance between them in a couple of seconds without making a noise.

This time, the White Tiger broke the blade of his sword that he used as a shield again. After using its fangs to break his blade into two, the beast didn't give him the chance for a counter-attack. He covered his whole body with another layer of Mana as a shield.

But the White Tiger still managed to bite him on the neck.

He fell to the floor with the giant beast on top of him. The beast's fangs dug deep into his skin as if it wanted to tear his flesh off.

And it hurt like hell.

He let go of his broken sword and decided to use his Mana-covered hands to try and push the White Tiger off of him before it broke his neck. It didn't work so the next thing he did was to separate his own shadow from his physical body.

Then, his shadow stood behind the White Tiger and wrapped its black arms around the beast's torso. His shadow tried to pull the beast off of him while he pushed it as hard as he could.

When the beast suddenly stopped moving, he didn't think that it was him who stopped it.

After all, he felt an ominous aura.

He was right.

The White Tiger and the Black Tortoise began to turn translucent before the two completely disappeared. Moreover, the sudden silence in the sky convinced him that the Vermillion Bird and the Blue Dragon disappeared as well.

"Gavin Quinzel."

And at the moment, he found himself literally under His Majesty's foot.

Emperor Nikolai was now standing while crushing his chest with his right foot. The blade of his Holy Sword, Calypso, was glowing with different-colored auras. It must be the auras of the Soul Beasts that disappeared a while ago.

"You're a traitor," Emperor Nikolai said in a cold voice. The anger in his glowing red eyes was evident. But Gavin was glad to also see the glint of insanity in the emperor's eyes. "A traitor like you deserves death."

Gavin smirked when he saw His Majesty grip the hilt of his sword tight while the blade was pointed at his chest. He didn't move even though the emperor was about to stab his heart with his Holy Sword.

And that was because of the presence that he felt.

His Majesty was too engrossed with his rage that he might have not noticed it.

"Nikolai!"

Yes, it was Lady Mona Roseheart.

Gavin was forced to close his eyes when a blinding light suddenly covered the whole room. Then, the smell of roses filled the air. Ah, that must be it.

[Lady Roseheart used her Light Spirit.]

"Commander!"

He opened his eyes and slowly got up while acting hurt. Well, his neck was bleeding but it wasn't like his life was in danger.

[They're gone…]

His Majesty and Lady Roseheart were gone. Only Glenn and the other Paladins were left in the room and everyone looked confused. But when they saw him bleeding, their confusion was instantly replaced by worry.

"I'm fine," Gavin said to assure his men, then he stood up while being assisted by Glenn. [Lady Roseheart probably brought His Majesty to her field.]

***

MONA brought Nikolai to the small dimension that she created.

She called it 'Field' and it was a giant rose garden. Aside from that, she also made a replica of the Roseheart Mansion in the middle of the garden to remind herself of their family's former glory. After all, the Roseheart Mansion in the real world was already abandoned.

"Mona Roseheart."

Mona clenched her hands when Nikolai called her full name in a cold voice. "I saw it, Nikolai," she said coldly. "You tried to kill Gavin!"

"That traitor deserves to die," Nikolai snapped at her. His eyes were glowing red and it seemed like he wasn't in his right mind. It was as if he regressed back to the time that he was going through his Lunacy. "Mona, I won't let you go. Those things in your womb will kill you!"

She could only let out a deep sigh.

It was too late for her and Nikolai.

If he was in his insanity state again, she knew that her words could no longer reach him. Thus, he didn't deserve the chance that she was supposed to give him.

[It's over between us now.]

"Nikolai, let's end this," Mona said in a tired voice. "It's time that you stop loving me before we end up killing each other for real."

Nikolai's eyes suddenly returned to their natural color, and it seemed like he looked scared by her declaration. "Mona, what do you mean by that?"

***

"DON'T DO this to me, Mona," Nikolai, lying on the ground underneath Mona, begged in a cracked voice. "Even if you seal my memories, I will still end up loving you again."

"I know that, Nikolai," Mona, who was straddling his hips, while pinning his hands on the floor, said with a sad smile on her beautiful face. Although her frame was much smaller than his, her physical strength was something that shouldn't be underestimated. Like the royal family, the Rosehearts were also born physically stronger than average humans. "That's why your memory of us isn't the only thing that I will steal from you tonight."

It was already two in the morning and here they were, in the front yard of the fake House Roseheart's estate, fighting when they shouldn't be.

After all, Mona was pregnant with their child.

[Ah, it should be "children."]

"Why are you doing this to me, Mona?" he asked, desperate. "Why do you want me to hate you?"

"Because if you continue loving me too much, you'd end up choosing me over our own child."

"I won't be satisfied with that kind of explanation, Mona."

"Even if I tell you the whole truth now, you'll just forget it anyway," she said in a frustrated tone. "Let's stop now, Nikolai."

"No," he said weakly. Damn it! It seemed like Mona was using her Mana to suck his remaining strength. He couldn't even lift a finger now. "Mona, don't leave me. I can't live without you and you know that."

She chuckled bitterly. "You see, Nikolai? You don't care about our child. Our children, to be precise. I'm about to run away with our babies in my womb and yet, you're only begging me to stay with you."

He couldn't refute that.

Of course, he loved their children because they were the existences created by him and his beloved. But if he had to choose between keeping Mona and their children, then he would choose his lover.

Just like what Mona said a while ago.

"Stop loving me too much, Nikolai," Mona said in a cracked voice, tears now rolling unstoppably down her cheeks. Then, she cupped his face gently between her cold hands. "Leave some space in your heart for our children."

"The children of the royal family weren't raised by their parents with love," he said with a bitter smile on his face. "I don't know if I'm capable of loving my own children that I only see as a means to continue our lineage. But if you stay and teach me how to be a good father, then maybe I'll be the first emperor to love his own children."

To be honest, he didn't know how to feel about their children.

Mona was a Roseheart and their family was only capable of giving birth to females. The empire was harsh to princesses. If it wasn't for Mona wanting to have a child, he wouldn't agree to have one in the first place.

But he genuinely wanted to learn how to love his children eventually.

That was until Mona said she was leaving him.

"I'm sorry but I can't stay with you, Nikolai," Mona said between sobs, then she placed a hand on his chest– on the part where his heart was beating erratically. The moment the warmth from her hand flowed to his body, she closed her eyes and leaned down for their last kiss. "Let me steal your ability to love so that you could live without yearning for me."

Nikolai wanted to protest and beg but as soon as Mona's lips touched his, his remaining strength was finally sucked in by her cruel, farewell kiss. When he closed his eyes, he felt his warm tears roll down his cheeks. "I will always stay in love with you, Mona…"

Unfortunately, Mona didn't listen to him.

When Nikolai woke up after that cruel "dream," he found out that Mona already disappeared with Gavin Quinzel– the traitor.

Moreover, his memories were unclear, except for one thing: Gavin Quinzel was in love with Mona. And the two ran away from his together. Wouldn't that make Mona a traitor, too?

Nikolai didn't know that he was capable of hating Mona until that moment.

***

NOTE: The last scene where Mona erased Nikolai's memories was quite different from the same scene in <Chapter 154: That's The Way I Loved You> since in the latter, Nikolai said "child" instead of "children." It wasn't a mistake.

Mona erased some of his memories, and one of those is the fact that Nikolai already knew that Mona's babies were twins. Thus, in the scene where he recalled Mona erasing his memories and his love for her, his memory of that moment was altered.

Hope that clears it up. Hehe! I felt compelled to explain even though I trust that you'd get it since the scenes were closely tied to each other.

Thank you~

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