Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NIKOLAI, who was busy signing a document, stopped and raised his head.

He caught Lewis slowly and silently pulling out his sword.

[I'm quite impressed.]

He and Lewis were currently in Neoma's room. They were there to guard his daughter who was sleeping on the bed. Since Neoma's soul was with William and the Soul Beast, her physical body was vulnerable.

Thus, he and Lewis were there to protect Neoma.

Gale and the other two Spirits Neoma was taking care of were also there. To be precise, Gale and her friends were lying down on the bed with his daughter.

But the three weren't the only Spirits in the room.

Thus, the fox boy was feeling restless.

[Lewis can't see Spirits, but I guess he could feel their presence.]

After all, there were quite a few Spirits among the group that "visited" them.

"Calm down, Lewis," Nikolai said, then he put his pen down on the table. He brought his paperworks to Neoma's room because if he didn't get any work done, Kyle Sprouse would nag at him later. But he couldn't concentrate when Spirits kept coming in and out of his daughter's room. "Those Spirits are harmless."

"Oh," Lewis said, then he slowly put his sword back in the scabbard attached to his hip. "Okay."

"I can't believe that the news of Mona's return spread like a wildfire already when she isn't here yet," Gale, who was in the form of a white bunny, said. Since Gale chose to communicate with humans, Lewis could hear her as well. "I blame it on the Cosmic Tree."

"The Cosmic Tree?" he asked curiously. "What did she do this time?"

"Every time the Cosmic Tree is in a good mood, she'd sing a song about Mona."

He raised an eyebrow. "The Cosmic Tree made a song about Mona?"

"Yes, she did," Gale confirmed, laughing. "And she changes the lyrics of the song based on her mood. The Cosmic Tree probably sang a line about Mona's return, thus the news quickly spread among the Spirits."

That sounded like something the Cosmic Tree would do.

"I don't like the fact that the enemies probably already know that Mona is about to return," he said, picking up his pen to resume his work. "But at the same time, I don't want to hide her. That's why I don't know how to feel about what the Cosmic Tree did."

"It will be alright, Little Nikolai," Gale assured him. "After all, the news about Mona's return has surely reached the ears of our old allies, too. Most of them entered slumber when Mona disappeared. But now that she's back, they will definitely return to our side as well."

That was true.

Now that the crows had openly approached Neoma, they needed to gather as many allies as they could in order to protect his children. He could trust them because they were strong.

Those people were just a little… eccentric, though.

[Mona's allies only listen to her, but they would at least care for Neoma and Nero, right?]

"So, don't worry too much, Little Nikolai. I'm sure Mona will be fine," Gale said as if she was trying to console him. "Your Little Muffin will make everything alright."

He gripped the pen tight until it broke in his hand while glaring at Gale.

The Wind Spirit laughed, while Lewis did a poor attempt to hold back his laughter.

[It's normal for Gale to know that I called Neoma 'Muffin' because she was probably listening back then…]

But the fact that even Lewis, who had a semi-permanent poker face, stifled his laughter at the mention of 'Little Muffin…'

[How did he know?]

Did Neoma tell Lewis that he called her 'Muffin?'

"Princess Neoma complained a lot to me about being called 'Muffin' by His Majesty," Lewis explained when he noticed that he was glaring at him, too. "But I don't think Princess Neoma hates it, Your Majesty."

"Ban…" Nikolai said weakly while pinching the bridge of his nose. "I will ban the use of that cursed word from now on– and no muffins would be served in the palace as long as I'm the emperor."

Gale laughed out loud. "That's so petty of you, Little Nikolai!"

***

NEOMA almost threw up.

Wow.

If there was one thing she wouldn't miss from the modern world, it was definitely the rollercoaster. Why would she miss riding that attraction when all she needed was to ask William to teleport her somewhere? She'd get the thrill and the motion sickness that she would get from riding a rollercoaster by simply being teleported by her master.

"When will you get used to it?" William asked disapprovingly while shaking his head. "It's not like it's your first time we teleported together."

"But your teleportation technique is really aggressive, Master," Neoma complained, feeling a little better now that her feet were touching the sand. "Now that I think about it, why did nobody teach me how to teleport? It's a useful skill. I need to learn it."

"You of all people should never learn any kind of teleportation technique," he said bluntly. "Why do you think your former mentor, the ex-saint, never taught you how to teleport?"

"Because it will be unfair to the world if I become more perfect?"

William looked at her with a disgusted look on his face. "No, it's because if you learn how to teleport, who knows what kind of 'door' you'd open?"

She tilted her head to one side, confused. "What does it mean?"

"Let's stop talking nonsense," he said grumpily, then he pointed to the vast, dark ocean in front of them. "Your mother is trapped under the Black Ocean."

She clenched her hands tight while looking at the Black Ocean in front of them.

It really lived up to its name because the water was very dark. The dim sky was also moonless. Overall, the place looked very depressing.

[And Mama Boss has been trapped here for thirteen years…]

"How will we cross the water, Master?"

"That's not water," William said. "That's Impure Mana. When a person or creature with a Darkness attribute dies, their Mana doesn't return to Nature. It turns into a harmful substance called Impure Mana."

"Ah, yes, I remember you teaching me about Impure Mana," she said. "But this is the first time I've seen it in personal…" Her stomach growled, then she licked her lips while looking at the black water– er, Impure Mana. "It looks delicious, Master."

For some reason, Darkness and Impure Mana both made her hungry.

"Don't eat it," the Grand Spirit said, then he snapped his fingers.

She was about to ask her master if she could maybe have a bite of the Impure Mana when she realized what William had just done.

[Ohh…!]

Her hair grew longer, the tips turning into pink. Then the suit that she was wearing had turned into a pretty dress. It was like a "magical girl" moment– just like when her favorite icon, S*ilormoon, would transform into her cute costume.

"But Master, if you dress me up like a doll… it's awkward."

And her Papa Boss wouldn't like it either.

"I did it for a reason," William explained, frowning. "There's a giant water serpent guarding your mother under the ocean. Her name is Nathaira, and she's very loyal to Mona. The only person she's allowing to come near your mother is you."

"But I thought Nero met our mother once when he visited the Black Ocean with you…"

"I dressed him up as a girl back then to make him look like you," the Grand Spirit explained. "You see, Nathaira is a dumb serpent."

"That's mean."

"It's true, though," he said bluntly. "Nathaira thought Nero was you just because I made your brother look like a girl."

"I don't think that cheap trick worked," she said, giving Nathaira the benefit of the doubt even though they hadn't met yet. "I think she gave Nero a free pass because she knows Nero is also my mother's child."

"Whatever," William said dismissively, then he raised an eyebrow at her. "Summon your Soul Beast now."

"`Gotcha," she said, then she tapped her chest twice. "Tteokbokki, come out."

In just the blink of an eye, Tteokbokki appeared in front of her.

Her Soul Beast was still in his human form. God, it was so annoying how Tteokbokki towered over her.

Tsk.

"Thug princess, this place is depressing. I don't want to stay here for long," Tteokbokki whined like a child, then he grabbed the sleeve of her dress. "Let's do what we came here for, then let's leave."

Just like that, her irritation disappeared.

[Tteokbokki can be cute when he wants to.]

"Alright," she said, then she gently patted Tteokbokki's head. "Then transform into your dragon form now. You won't go berserk this time, will you?"

"I don't think so," the Soul Beast said. "I've completely beaten Crimson this time."

"Oh, you're finally aware of your other personality."

"Lord Manu told me about him," the Soul Beast explained. "Moreover, I had to battle Crimson for the past years."

That made sense.

But speaking of Lord Manu…

[He disappeared again. I wonder where the Moon Priest goes to every time he disappears. Is he reporting to the Sun Priestess?]

Hmm…

"Stop with your chitchat and hurry up," William said grumpily. "Red Dragon, I want you to breathe as much fire as you could once I bring you above the block of ice where Mona is trapped."

"My name is Tteokbokki," Tteokbokki said to William, then he turned to her. "But the strength of my Fire Breath depends on the thug princess."

Tteokbokki would need to borrow her strength to create a powerful Fire Breath.

It was the reason why William trained her to death for the past few years.

"Tteokbokki, don't worry– I got you," Neoma said, then she gave her Soul Beast a thumbs up. "We'll save my Mama Boss even if we both exhaust our Mana."

***

"WHOHOO!" Neoma laughed while standing on Tteokbokki's back. "This is better than riding on a plane!"

Tteokbokki was in his full dragon form now, and they were flying.

William was standing beside her. But the Grand Spirit had his arms crossed over his chest while maintaining a poker-face.

[Gosh, he doesn't know how to have fun.]

"You're having way too much fun, Neoma de Moonasterio," William scolded her. "Did you come here to play?"

"I would have died a long time ago if I didn't know how to have fun while dealing with bullshit," she said. "You know I've been dealing with bullshit since I was three years old, right?"

The Grand Spirit opened his mouth as if he was about to argue with her.

But both of them got distracted when a giant snake suddenly emerged from the water. It was baring its fangs at them, so it looked pretty scary at the moment. But thankfully, the water snake failed to reach them because Tteokbokki flew higher to avoid the serpent's attack.

"She really hates me," William said in an amused voice. Then he jumped abruptly. "I'll deal with Nathaira."

As expected, it was the snake that had been guarding her Mama Boss all this time.

And William just dropkicked poor Nathaira on the head. The giant water snake let out an angry hiss, but the cruel Grand Spirit continued attacking Nathaira until she fell back to the water.

[I'll check on you later, bestie.]

For now, she focused on the surface of the water.

She could feel Delwyn's Mana under them, so she was pretty sure they were directly above the block of ice where her Mama Boss was trapped.

Her heartbeat loud and fast against her chest in anticipation.

[Papa Boss, Nero, I'm going to save Mama Boss for our family."

"Tteokbokki, prepare yourself," Neoma said, then she grabbed one of Tteokbokki's horn with both of her hands. "I'm going to pour more than half of my Mana and Moonglow to you– so set the ocean on fire."

Tteokbokki roared, and that roar came with red fire that was hotter and more powerful than she expected from her Soul Beast.

[Go, my little rockstar dongsaeng!]

***

HOW MANY hours had it been?

Neoma was guessing it had been at least fourteen hours since Tteokbokki and she began setting the Black Ocean on fire.

To be honest, she couldn't tell if the block of ice under it was melting.

But William assured her they were doing fine.

The problem was her body.

For the past few years, her Master focused on improving her stamina. She also never got sick again, nor did she pass out from exhaustion. Like she promised herself three years ago, she really became one of the healthiest people on the continent.

Her clean record was broken this day, though.

[Did I pass out?]

She barely remembered closing her eyes for a while. Then her limp body just fell on Tteokbokki's body. But her Soul Beast seemed to have fainted as well.

[Ah, we're free-falling…]

She prepared herself to hit the ocean surface and get contaminated by the Impure Mana. Or maybe William would save her?

None of those two options happened, though.

Instead of the Impure Mana or William's strong body, she fell into something soft and warm. She also got a whiff of flowers. The sweet scent was pretty strong, too. For some reason, she felt rejuvenated at the moment.

"Neoma, my baby."

Huh?

That voice was the sweetest and the most gentle voice she had heard in her life.

She immediately opened her eyes, and she was attacked by a shocking visual that made her feel embarrassed about calling herself pretty all this time.

Coral pink hair…

Light-blue eyes…

That beautiful, kind face…

"Mama Boss?" Neoma asked weakly. [Did I really wake up in my mother's arms, or am I dreaming?]

If it was a dream, then it was too cruel.

But her mind was a little confused since she felt exhausted, so she couldn't determine if this was reality or not...

"You're not dreaming, my precious baby," her Mama Boss said in a cracked voice as if she could read her mind. Then, much to her pleasant surprise, her mother kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you for saving me, my pretty Neoma."

***

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***

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