Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NEOMA thought she was going to have a nosebleed while looking at Ruto in casual clothes.

She put on a hoodie, a pair of skinny ripped jeans, and sneakers on him this time. Of course, she wore the same set of clothes because she was going for the couple look. Some people may not know this, but Koreans were really big on couple/matching items.

"You look good on casual clothes, Ruto. I think anything will look good on you because you're tall and you have a good athletic build," Neoma said while putting a headband on Ruto. It was a headband with panda ears. He was taller than her, but she didn't have difficulties putting a headband on him because she was standing on his toes, and he did the "manner legs" aka stretching one's legs sideways. "If you were Korean, you would have been scouted by an entertainment company already."

"I see," Ruto said, then he stood properly. This time, he was the one who put a headband on her. He chose a headband with rabbit ears for her. "What does it mean to be scouted by an entertainment company?"

"It means you can either be an actor or an idol or a singer," she said. "I think you'd be a great actor."

"How can you say so?"

"You're good at acting," she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "I almost believed you're in love with me."

He frowned at her jab. "I was genuine with you all this time, Neoma."

"Whatever," she said, then she turned her back on him to explore the area that she created. After her school was destroyed, she changed the "setting" into an empty amusement park. Hence, the casual and comfortable clothes. "I guess it's me who assumed wrongly about your feelings for me."

"What did you assume my feelings for you were?" he asked while following her.

"Romantic feelings."

"And why do you think you're wrong to assume that?"

She stopped in front of the Ferris wheel, then she turned around to face him. "I think Commander Yoan's feelings for Hanna Quinzel are closer to an obsessed follower's faith than a romantic love."

He smiled while looking at her as if he was amused. "Are you curious about our relationship in the past?"

"Not really," she lied smoothly. Gosh, her pride just couldn't accept how jealous she was of her past self to have "Commander Yoan" go all through all of this for her. "It's obvious that Commander Yoan and Neoma Quinzel's love story didn't end well."

"There was love, but not a story," he said and although he was still smiling, he could see sadness in his eyes. "Neoma, you still didn't live long, even though we revived you after Nero stabbed you with a sword in the heart. After that, you've undergone gruesome training. We didn't have enough time to focus on other things."

Really?

But the little things she remembered said otherwise. Why would a commander like him choose to be a chef in this lifetime just because he promised her he would become one for her?

[Still, that's not enough to convince me what Commander Yoan felt for Neoma Quinzel was love. I can't pinpoint what it is, but something is missing. He makes my heart flutter, but it seems like he doesn't want to see through it.]

"Neoma, must we really talk about our relationship in the past?" he asked with a sigh. "I don't like how it ended."

[Ah, I see.]

Commander Yoan's guilt for letting Neoma Quinzel die before him outweighed his love for her. He was doing all these sacrifices not to earn her love, but to atone for his mistakes.

"You haven't forgiven yourself for Neoma Quinzel's death, have you?"

"It's hard to forgive myself after failing to protect the person I gave my oath as a knight to," Ruto confessed, then he let out another sigh. "Neoma, don't make me talk more about it."

"Stingy Ruto."

Ruto looked like he wanted to apologize. "Neoma, you know I can't–"

"I know," Neoma said, then she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to the ride she wanted to try with him. "Ruto, let's ride the Ferris wheel."

***

"I LOCKED up Delwyn in the Hazelden Kingdom."

Neoma gave Ruto a dire stare. [He lacks romantic bone in his body.]

Right now, the two of them were inside the gondola. The night view was beautiful because the full moon was shining bright, and the city lights around them were also pretty.

But the person sitting on the couch across from her was talking about "work" again.

[Who the heck in Delwyn again?]

"I caught Delwyn when I was taking care of my documents to study abroad," Ruto explained while looking outside the window. But even though the view outside was pretty, he still looked indifferent. "I stole one of his ice roses, and I used it to trapped Gavin Quinzel in a block of ice. Since I believe Delwyn is just a waste of air, I locked him up in the snow that he loves so much."

Ah, she remembered now.

Delwyn was her mother's Ice Spirit.

"That traitor," Neoma said, then she sighed. Gosh, Ruto was so workaholic that she had no choice but to keep up with his pace. "But why did you leave him in the Hazelden Kingdom?"

"It's always winter in the Hazelden Kingdom," he explained. "I need to keep Delwyn alive, so I locked him up in a place where he would likely survive."

"Why did you keep him alive for me?"

"I thought you need a new pet since I knew your Soul Beast has to leave at one point."

Huh.

Ruto really did know everything.

[I'm glad he's not an enemy.]

"Lord Manu said the same thing," she said. "He wanted me to turn the traitorous Ice Spirit into my temporary Soul Beast."

"Did the Moon Priest teach you how to do it?"

She nodded. "He also left some items that I apparently would need in the future."

"I don't like the Moon Priest, but he's not wrong," he said as if he was satisfied with the Moon Priest's job. "Neoma, do you know what Prince Nero's Soul Beast's attribute is?"

"Ice."

"Yes, ice," he said. "If your temporary Soul Beast has the ice attribute, then you'd be free to use your Soul Beast in front of other people now."

"Ah, I see," she said. "That makes sense."

"So, I want you to think about it," he said gently. "I can't tell you the exact place where I locked up Delwyn since I just practically threw him somewhere cold, dark, and creepy. But I trust you, Neoma. I know you'd find him if you go to the Hazelden Kingdom."

"Okay," she said. "I'll go if I feel like it."

"I can't return to the West Continent yet since I need to recover," he said. Ah, he was saying goodbye again. "I will probably sleep for a long time."

"You're going to enter a slumber?"

"Yeah," he said. "I've said things I shouldn't have. I'll be punished, but it would be a light punishment since I refrained from saying important stuff."

Now she suddenly felt guilty. "I'm sorry…"

"It's my choice, so please don't apologize," he said. "I just realized you were right with what you said earlier. We should have had this conversation a long time ago."

"Ruto, don't do everything on your own," she said with a frown. "It makes me sad when you treat me like a fragile glass. I want you to rely on me, too." She shook her head when she realized she had misspoke. "No– we should rely on each other."

He smiled as if he liked what she just said. "You're right– we have each other now."

"I don't care about how Commander Yoan and Neoma Quinzel's love story ended. I don't care if there was only a little love, and a short story between them," she said with clenched hands. Gosh, she sounded so cheesy. But she couldn't help it, okay? "You're Ruto now, and I'm Neoma Ramsay. We should write our own story, so I won't bother remembering how tragic our first ending was."

His face turned red, then he laughed softly. "How can you look so cute while saying embarrassing things?"

"Shut up," she snapped back at his teasing. "And don't laugh!"

He just laughed harder.

[This little bastard…]

"Neoma," he said, suddenly serious.

Then he stood up.

Well, he had to lean down since the gondola was too small for someone his height. But when he leaned down, he put his hands on either side of her head. As if that wasn't enough, he had to inch his face closer to hers.

"I changed my name because I didn't like the decisions I did in the past as Commander Yoan," he said while looking straight in her eye. "You were right when you said Commander Yoan's duty outweighed his feelings for Neoma Quinzel."

She bit her lower lip.

To be honest, she wanted to avoid his gaze. But she couldn't. She was frozen in her seat while wishing Ruto couldn't hear her loud heartbeat.

"But I'm no longer Commander Yoan," he continued. "I'm Chef Ruto– and we have plenty of time now to create our own love story."

She covered her ears with her hands. "Gosh! You're so cringey, Ruto!"

But she wasn't gonna lie– it made her heart flutter.

"I'll come back after three years," Ruto said gently, then he covered her mouth with his right hand. "Please wait for me, Neoma."

And then, Ruto closed her eyes and kissed the back of his hand that covered her mouth.

Their lips didn't touch.

But Neoma closed her eyes, savoring that moment.

***

NIKOLAI clenched her hands. For some reason, he suddenly felt annoyed. Neoma was still asleep, and now it began to bother him. [Why do I feel like something is stealing my daughter away from me?]

***

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