Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"ISN'T THAT His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince?"

"His Royal Highness is in Valmento?"

"But why is Valmento covered by Darkness?"

"Oh, Lord Yule! Have you forsaken us? Is Darkness back to swallow up the world again?"

"Hey, don't be ridiculous! Lord Yule will never forsake us! The Moon God is one of the major gods that lit up the world during the Ancient Period!"

"That's right! Have faith in our god!"

"But Darkness is back–"

"Why are you afraid of Darkness when we all see His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince putting his life on the line to purify the thing we're all afraid of?!"

"Lord Yule must have sent His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince to purify Darkness and save us all!"

"Oh, our poor Crown Prince! His Royal Highness may be a de Moonasterio, but he's still a child. And yet, His Royal Highness puts his precious body in the frontline to protect the people of this continent!"

[Everywhere I go, people say the same things.]

Tate, Jasper Hawthorne's cousin and butler, blended in the crowd while discreetly observing the people around him.

As a member of the information guild his master owned, it was his duty to collect information at times like this. As soon as the crows carrying hundreds of recording tablets appeared all of a sudden, he went out to investigate.

Right now, he was in the plaza for the commoners.

The royal knights and the Black Hawk Knights (currently led by the vice-captain since Duke Rufus Quinzel was yet to return to the empire), tried to chase off the crows. But it was already too late.

They may have chased off most of the crows that flocked to the plaza earlier, but the video recording tablets were already spread out to the Royal Capital.

"But why is Valmento swallowed up by Darkness?"

"Aren't they called the 'Holy Land' because Valmento used to be Lord Yule's home when he descended into the human world during the Ancient Period?"

"If a land as holy as the Valmento could be swallowed up Darkness, how can we be sure that we're safe here?"

[Ah, as expected, Darkness brings out fear in humans.]

"Don't talk like that when His Royal Highness is working hard to purify Darkness!"

"It's an insult to His Royal Highness's hard work!"

"So what if Darkness is back? Darkness has never left in the first place because Darkness is also a part of nature, just like what Astello Temple taught us! Darkness only becomes evil when there is malice!"

"Even so, we have people like His Royal Highness to protect us!"

"Like I said, keep your faith alive!"

[This situation is working to Prince Nero's advantage.]

The Crown Prince already built a good reputation after Lord Yule sent him a divine item. Thanks to the people's support, the nobles who hated the Rosehearts couldn't do anything to harm the Crown Prince.

When he was at the plaza for the nobles earlier, he noticed the nobles were more concerned about the Crown Prince's growing popularity among the people. Of course, there were still nobles who expressed their fear for Darkness. There were also some who were obviously charmed by the Crown Prince's bravado.

But most of the nobles feared Prince Nero's growing influence.

His thoughts were interrupted when people suddenly screamed and yelled.

When he turned to the giant recording tablet floating in the middle of the plaza, he realized why the people had that reaction.

Even he got worried.

Prince Nero's beautiful purple slowly faded away as the petals (instead of feathers!) fell one by one. Then, the Crown Prince began to plummet to the ground as if he had no energy left. His Royal Highness must have exhausted his divine power.

Tate clenched his hands. [Prince Nero, please be alright! If something bad happens to you, my master will definitely go mad.]

Thankfully, the Crown Prince was saved.

Since the video recording was clear as if the person who recorded it was physically near the scene, he and the other citizens clearly saw a young boy jumping in the air as if he was stepping on some invisible steps in the sky.

That young boy was none other than Lewis Crevan, the Crown Prince's personal knight.

[Is he using flight magic?]

It wasn't important, though.

What mattered was Lewis caught Prince Nero in his arms.

"Let us thank Lord Yule for saving our Crown Prince!"

"The fox boy saved the Crown Prince, though?"

"What do you know, child? Of course, the fox boy saved the Crown Prince because it was Lord Yule's will!"

"Hey, stop calling Sir Lewis Crevan as 'fox boy.' He's not a slave anymore."

"Moreover, Sir Crevan is His Royal Highness's personal knight. To be honest, at first, I thought a former slave like him doesn't deserve to stand beside the Crown Prince. But seeing how he saved our dear Crown Prince just now, I want to believe in him now."

"I have more faith in His Royal Highness's eye for the right people. I want to trust the people the Crown Prince trusts."

"Lord Yule personally assigned our Crown Prince to find the next saint, which already speaks volumes."

"It's as if His Royal Highness represents Lord Yule now."

"We should support the Crown Prince and the people he personally chose to stay beside him."

"They deserve our support seeing how hard they're working to save Valmento!"

Tate smiled faintly. [Prince Nero, it seems like you and your people are going to be the new heroes of the continent after this ordeal.]

***

[FREEFALL, huh?]

Neoma, for the first time in this lifetime, exhausted her supposed-to-be overflowing Moonglow.

It took all the petals in her purple wings made of roses to completely purify the Darkness that swallowed up Astello Temple. She was glad to see the temple again after it was covered with Darkness earlier. Although it wasn't completely fine since the roof collapsed, it was better than the whole temple being engulfed in Darkness.

She had to pay the price of overusing her Moonglow, though.

[I'm falling fast, and I'll probably end up like a squashed pancake if I plummeted to the ground.]

It was a violent thought, but she couldn't help it.

[I can't even lift a finger.]

But she stopped worrying about getting squashed to the ground when she felt a warm breeze pass her by.

[Mochi?]

And although her eyelids were heavy, her eyes were still open.

She saw Lewis jumping in the air as if he was using some invisible steps to ascend to the sky and reach her.

[Ah, Mochi is probably using flight magic on Lewis.]

Knowing that she was safe now, she closed her eyes and felt her body finally collapse from exhaustion.

It was as if her body melted in Lewis's arms when he caught and carried her.

"Princess Neoma," Lewis whispered in her ear, his face buried in her hair. "You're safe now."

Neoma, touched by the fact Lewis caught her despite his aversion to physical contact, smiled weakly. "Thank you for always catching me, Lewis…"

***

NIKOLAI was irritated when he saw a crow sitting on top of his table when he returned to his office.

It wasn't an ordinary crow, of course.

Geoffrey Kinsley immediately stood in front of him and drew his sword.

<"It's been a while, Nikolai de Moonasterio.">

He frowned at the familiar metallic voice he heard from the crow. Of course, it wasn't his first encounter with a crow. But this was the first time he had an encounter with one after he took the throne from his father.

"How impudent!" Geoffrey Kinsley, who sounded really offended, yelled at the crow. "How dare a mere crow address His Majesty casually?!"

<"It's fine since we're family, aren't we?">

Geoffrey began to undo the seal prohibiting him from using his actual power.

"Stop," Nikolai ordered Geoffrey, then he put his hand on the Paladin's shoulder and gently pushed him out of his way. "I don't think the crow is here to fight, so leave us alone. I'll talk to that impudent bastard."

"But Your Majesty–"

"Don't make me repeat myself twice, Geoffrey."

Geoffrey didn't look happy with his decision, but he bowed and left the office quietly.

Now it was only him and the crow in his office.

"You're that cheeky brat from before, aren't you?" he asked the crow. "The weirdo who refers to himself as the 'Judge.'"

When he was planning his rebellion against his father, the previous emperor, a crow who introduced himself as the 'Judge' approached him. The 'Judge' offered to help him overthrow the previous emperor because, according to his so-called 'verdict,' he deserved the throne more than his father did.

At that time, it came as a shock to him because he thought he had already wiped out the entire crows after what they did to Nichole.

But he also remembered the cheeky bastard dying by his hand back then.

"I thought I already killed you the night you approached me so brazenly like you do now," he said while frowning. "Do you suppose your little cult should be renamed 'roaches' instead of 'crows?' You survive no matter how many times I kill you."

The crow laughed, its metallic voice sounded ominous. <"Nikolai de Moonasterio, if we were that easy to kill, our "little cult" would have ceased to exist a long time ago. Moreover, the de Moonasterios weren't the only ones who shared the same blood as Yule.">

Callisto de Luca.

Yule's half-brother, and the one who turned the 'Crown' to 'Crows' that hunted down the royal princesses of the empire in order to 'support' the male de Moonasterios.

[The executives of the crows definitely received Callisto de Luca's blood.]

<"I'm not here to pick a fight with you– I'm just here to drop my gift for Prince Nero's upcoming tenth birthday.">

He smirked bitterly at the crow. "By gift, do you mean creating a mess in Valmento to turn my child into a hero?"

<"We think alike, don't we? See? We're family and you can't deny it.">

"My child doesn't need your help."

The crow just laughed again. <"There's another reason I'm here, Nikolai de Moonasterio.">

"I don't give a damn–"

<"Where is she?">

His lips formed a thin line.

Of course, he already expected the fact that the crows were looking for his daughter. The crows wouldn't appear in a generation where a royal princess wasn't born.

In short, the fact that the crows were here was proof they knew that a royal princess was born in this generation.

[Thankfully, the crows don't know Neoma is hiding in plain sight.]

<"Where did you hide the royal princess, Nikolai de Moonasterio.">

Nikolai smirked at the arrogant bastard, his Moonglow now leaking out of his body. "Who knows?"

***

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