Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NOW THAT Neoma had calmed down, she realized that Nero was in his Spirit form.

She was relieved to know that. After all, she didn't want their Mama Boss to be left alone in the Hazelden Kingdom. Plus, it would be rude of Nero to leave Hazelden without saying goodbye to Brigitte unnie and Uncle Glenn personally.

"I'm not "god's favorite," and I don't care even if it was true," Nero said, frowning. "I just want to be your favorite person, Neoma."

Okay, that was cringe.

But she let it slide since Nero didn't know that the question "how does it feel to be god's favorite?" was just a meme that she quoted.

Even so, she had to admit that her question had a tiny bit of bitterness in it.

[I mean, I know that Nero suffers, too. And I also know that we shouldn't be competing with each other since we're twins. But sometimes, just sometimes, I feel like Nero has it easy.]

Neoma just smiled at her twin brother, then she changed the subject. "Congratulations on having a second Soul Beast, Nero."

"He's not my 'second' Soul Beast," Nero said. "Apparently, Sev is not an official Soul Beast."

She turned to Manu and was supposed to ask questions regarding Nero's remark because she had always been curious about the "official" and "unofficial" Soul Beasts.

But alas, the Moon Priest was lying face down on the sofa.

Manu was sleeping and snoring loudly.

[God, Lord Manu is so drunk.]

She was so gonna snitch on Lord Yule once she met the Moon God again.

"Ah," Papa Boss said. "Like the black serpent who's always with the Black Tortoise."

<"That's correct, Nikolai de Moonasterio.">

Oh, it was the ice phoenix who talked.

[He has a nice, soothing voice.]

<"Sev is my brother, and he serves as my guardian,"> Zeru, the ice phoenix, explained. <"Since just like a fire phoenix, I get revived every time I die, so I need someone who'd keep me safe while I'm waiting to be reborn. I only get reborn whenever a pair of twins are born in the Royal Family, though.">

Papa Boss raised an eyebrow. "Then were you reborn when Nichole and I were born?"

<"Yes,"> the ice phoenix said. <"I approached Nichole de Moonasterio and gave her the same test I gave Nero de Moonasterio. But the former Princess Royal failed the test. Your twin sister didn't love you that much, Nikolai de Moonasterio.">

"I was never a good brother to Nichole, so that was pretty understandable."

She nodded in agreement. [We love a man who's self-aware. Good job, Papa Boss.]

<"When Nichole de Moonasterio ended up with the Black Phoenix, I turned into a pile of ashes and returned as one of Sev's tails,"> the ice phoenix explained. <"I gained consciousness again when Nero and Neoma de Moonasterio were born. It took me a while to get revived completely, but here I am now.">

Neoma tilted her head to one side. "Zeru, did you test Nero's love for me?"

<"I happen to be interested in sibling relationships.">

"That sounds like something a pervert would say," she said, aghast. Then she turned to her baby brother, her "<anno data-annotation-id="65eecd3c-5b78-b07a-9901-53fac8cf7334">noona</anno> mode" activated. "Nero, he didn't do anything perverted to you, did he?"

"No," Nero said while shaking his head. "Zeru, in fact, showed me a lot of cute things."

Oh?

That sounded more suspicious.

But since Nero looked like he was satisfied with his Soul Beast, she didn't comment on that anymore.

"Are you alright, Nero?" Papa Boss asked. "You made us all worry when your chest suddenly bled. And have you forgotten that when you get physically hurt, Neoma would also feel the same pain?"

Nero looked shocked, as if he just remembered that they were pretty much connected in that strange way. "I'm so sorry, Neoma. It slipped my mind…"

"It's alright, Nero," she said. "I'm pretty sure I was the reason you hurt yourself, anyway."

"It was my decision to do that, so it wasn't your fault," Nero said while shaking his head. "I am responsible for my own choices, Neoma."

She smiled and gave Nero a thumbs up. "Very well."

"Nero, are you feeling better now?" Papa Boss asked, then he pointed at the wall. "Your mother is worried about you, too."

"Oh," Nero said, then he turned to the wall and greeted their mother politely. "Mother, I'm sorry for making you worry. I'm coming back now."

<"It's alright, baby,"> Mama Boss said sweetly. <"I'm just glad that you and Neoma are both safe now.">

Neoma smiled, relieved that everything ended fine.

[All's well that ends well.]

***

"NERO is safe now, so you don't have to worry anymore, Hanna," Neoma said, sharing the good news with her cousin. "He just gained his official Soul Beast, and it's a beautiful ice phoenix."

Nero's soul already returned to his body.

So now, her baby brother was back in Hazelden Kingdom with their Mama Boss.

She, on the other hand, left Papa Boss while her father was dealing with the drunk Manu who wouldn't wake up no matter how much they tried to stir him.

[Gosh, Lord Manu can't handle his liquor.]

"That's a relief to hear," Hanna said, relieved. "Thank you for letting me know, Neoma."

She just smiled and nodded. "It's already late, Hanna. I'm sure you're tired, so you should rest now." She turned to Lewis, who was standing behind her. "Lewis, you should walk Hanna to her room."

Lewis just frowned.

But she knew why Lewis was acting that way, and it had nothing to do with Hanna.

"Neoma, you're making it too obvious that you want to "get rid" of us to have some alone time with Lord Ruto," Hanna said teasingly.

She wanted to deny that, but she couldn't.

Hanna told her earlier that Sienna, the Sun Priestess, suddenly appeared out of nowhere– drunk (just like Manu).

[Sus.]

Anyway...

Hanna told her that Ruto excused himself to make coffee for the drunk Sun Priestess.

[Yes, coffee exists in this world. It's not as famous as tea in the empire, but my father's palace has everything, so we definitely have coffee here.]

Apparently, Sienna followed Ruto to the royal kitchen.

"It's not like that," she said, slightly defensive. Then she showed Hanna the jewelry box in her hands. "I just have something to return to Ruto."

Hanna laughed softly. "If you say so."

"Really," Neoma insisted, then she turned to Lewis. "Walk Hanna to her room– I'll be back in a jiffy."

***

"DRINK your coffee and sober up," Ruto said, then he put the mug of coffee on the table. "Why did you get so drunk, anyway?"

It was a relief that the head butler of Yule Palace allowed him to use the royal kitchen in the emperor's palace.

To be precise, it was the kitchen where his father worked.

But it was currently empty since it was already late at night.

"I felt bad for that psycho Manu for working with the crazy de Moonasterios, so I had a drink with him," Sienna, who was sitting on the chair behind the long table, said. She sounded sleepy, but at least, her words were still clear. "Manu said your little princess refused to let the new saint be born with his divine power. It's the same thing as committing blasphemy against the Moon God. But what could poor Manu do against a bunch of lunatics on his own? The de Moonasterios don't listen to anyone but themselves." She patted her chest. "My heart goes out to my old friend."

He could only describe Sienna and Maun's friendship as odd.

[They always fight, but they empathize with each other well.]

"I don't think Neoma's decision was that bad," he said casually. "If there's a way to save both the mother and the baby, what's wrong with choosing that path?"

"You say that, but I'm sure you wouldn't do the same thing," Sienna said, smirking. "Yoan, if it were you, I'm certain you wouldn't choose the path that your little princess did. After all, you're the type of person who'd sacrifice people for the greater good."

He couldn't refute that.

If he were Neoma, he would choose to sacrifice the queen of Hazelden so that the new saint would be born safely.

But he wasn't Neoma, and it wasn't up to him to make the call.

"Really, Ruto?"

His thoughts were interrupted when Neoma suddenly appeared behind him.

Without making a sound.

While completely hiding her presence.

Before he knew it, his arm had already moved as a reflex.

[No…!]

He quickly grabbed his wrist with his other hand to stop himself from accidentally hitting Neoma. But he put a little too much force that he broke his own arm.

It hurt, but he didn't care.

Neoma, on the other hand, gasped when she heard his bone break.

"Are you alright, Neoma?" Ruto asked worriedly. "Sorry, my reflex kicked in…"

"I'm fine. I should be the one asking if you're okay," Neoma said, while looking at his broken arm. "Gosh, you didn't have to do that. You wouldn't have hit me, anyway."

Now that he was looking closely, Neoma was covered with her <anno data-annotation-id="65999c36-d792-3de9-810c-9ae4cd11325a">Coat</anno>.

She was right– he wouldn't have hit her even if he failed to stop his arm from moving. Still…

"I wouldn't risk it," he said. "Again, I'm sorry. I almost hit you accidentally."

If he had hit Neoma, even by accident, he would beat himself up.

"It actually makes me happy," Neoma said, surprising her. "Not the part where you almost hit me by accident. But the part where your reflex kicked in because you thought I was a threat, sneaking up behind you unnoticed. You didn't feel my presence, did you?"

Ah, so that was the reason why she looked excited instead of getting upset.

"Yeah, I didn't notice you until you spoke," he confessed, then he touched his nape. "It felt like Death itself was breathing at the back of my neck, so my reflex kicked in immediately."

Neoma grinned happily. "To be able to conceal my presence from someone like you… wow, I'm amazing. I'm great. I'm powerful."

"Yes, yes, you are," he said, genuinely agreeing with her. "You've grown stronger, Neoma. I'm proud of you."

Neoma smiled smugly. "Yes, that's the only correct reaction."

"Neoma de Moonasterio, you should learn some humility."

"Oh, Sienna, you're drunk, too?" Neoma said in a surprisingly friendly voice when she turned to the Sun Priestess. "Did you drink with Lord Manu? He's drunk out of his mind, and my father is pissed. Papa Boss will probably kick him out of the palace any minute now."

"What? Nikolai de Moonasterio can't do that to my pitiful friend," Sienna complained, then she stood up– her body turning translucent right away. "Only I can bully that psycho."

And just like that, Sienna disappeared.

"Did you say that on purpose?" he asked Neoma when they were left alone in the kitchen. "Did you say that to make Sienna leave?"

"Wow, Ruto," Neoma said, as if she was in disbelief. Then she turned to him with a raised brow. "You think I made Sienna leave sneakily so I could monopolize you? How conceited! Gosh, you're so full of yourself. Is that because of my influence?"

"Am I wrong?"

"Did I say you were wrong?" she said, then she patted his shoulder gently. "You know me so well, kind sir."

"Uh-huh," he agreed with her statement, then he tucked her hair behind her ear. "Have you made up with the Sun Priestess? You weren't hostile with her earlier."

"Well, I already recovered my honor when I beat her on our second match," she said, grinning. "Ruto, I'm stronger than Sienna now. So, you don't have to address her by her title when we talk about her. Feel free to call her by her name– I won't get jealous anymore."

That made him smile. "So, you were jealous before?"

Her grin instantly disappeared. "Did I say that? Don't twist my words."

She said that defensively, but it didn't look convincing because her face was red and it was obvious she was trying hard not to cringe at her own flawed logic.

[How can someone be so cute?]

If he could put Neoma in his pocket, he would.

"No need to be embarrassed about getting jealous. It's normal," he said, teasing her because he wanted to see more of her cute reactions. "I know I shouldn't be, but I feel happy when you get jealous."

"Well, I can't deny that," she said. "But it's funny that out of all the boys around me, you got jealous of Jasper oppa. He's just a brother figure to me, and I'm sure Jasper oppa only sees me as a little sister."

"You don't propose to someone you see as a little sister, even as a joke."

"Oh, come on," she said, laughing while waving her hand dismissively. "We're talking about Jasper oppa here. He only "proposed" because of our circumstances. Oppa wanted to make his vassals stop forcing him to get married, and he just wanted to help me gain instant power once I made my debut as the empire's one and only royal princess. It would be a win-win situation had I accepted his offer. But that's just it, Ruto."

If he didn't have the memories of his first life, he would have just brushed it off.

But in that timeline, Neoma met Jasper Hawthorne when she was eighteen years old while the young duke was twenty-three. Both were already adults then. Thus, the two didn't grow up as childhood friends as they did in the present world, so they didn't have a "brother-sister relationship" in the first timeline.

<anno data-annotation-id="830750d0-2eb1-5f50-626a-1f01478cead3">[Neoma, you don't remember, do you? You don't remember Jasper Hawthorne sacrificing his life for you– the only woman he loved in his life.]</anno>

"Ruto, are you seriously jealous of Jasper oppa?"

He shouldn't, but he was.

[Let's just hope that Jasper Hawthorne's feelings for Neoma have changed in this timeline because they met earlier than they did before.]

Perhaps the young duke really saw Neoma as a little sister in the present time.

"Why aren't you calling me 'oppa?'" he asked Neoma instead of answering her previous question. "I'm older than you, too."

"How did you know what 'oppa' means?"

"You mentioned it before," he lied with a straight face. "And it's easy to deduct what it means since you always say Jasper Hawthorne is your older brother, even though Lewis is older than you, too."

"Lewis is my "son," so I can't call him 'oppa.'"

"Then what am I to you?"

"My Ruto," Neoma said, then she handed him the small jewelry box that she was carrying all this time. "You're my safety pin."

That was an unexpected response.

But that made him smile.

"I appreciate that," Ruto said sincerely. "May I open this now?"

***

NEOMA was actually nervous while watching Ruto open the jewelry box that she handed to him. It contained the gift that she prepared for him.

Well, it wasn't really new, but…

"It's a safety pin," Ruto said, amused. Then he raised his head and look her in the eye, his pair of orbs sparkling as his face lit up. Ah, someone was happy. "And you decorated it with Moonstones."

To be precise, her gift was a gold diamond-studded safety pin chain brooch. Four Moonstones dangled in the chain like pendants.

She was lying when she said Ruto was her safety pin.

All the people close to her made her feel safe. She also knew that she could rely on them. However, Ruto was still different.

She felt like Ruto was the only person who could put her together if she got broken apart.

[Just like a safety pin.]

"Are these the same Moonstones from the anklet that I gave you before?"

She nodded her head. "Ruto, I'm sorry."

He looked confused. "For what?"

"The anklet you gave me actually snapped, so I retrieved the Moonstones and turned them into a new accessory," she said. "I'm sorry for not taking care of your gift better."

"Oh, it's alright," he said. "It's not something that you should apologize for, Neoma."

"Ruto…"

"Hmm?"

"Mother told me the meaning behind giving someone a Moonstone anklet as a present," she confessed. "I don't like the story behind it."

Guilt crossed his eyes. "Ah… I'm sorry, Neoma. It's not like I have no intention of coming back to you alive…"

"You don't have to explain, Ruto," she said while shaking her head. "I turned the Moonstones you gave me into a different accessory because I wanted to change the meaning of Moonstones between the two of us."

"That sounds nice," he said softly. "What does this safety pin brooch mean between us then?"

She pointed at the safety pin brooch attached to the breastpocket of her jacket.

It was the same safety pin brooch that she gave Ruto, except for the color.

Hers was silver because it was the color of the moon, while she chose gold for Ruto's safety pin brooch because it was the color of the sun.

"I put the remaining four Moonstones from the anklet on my own safety pin brooch," she said. "Now, these Moonstones signify that even if get apart due to our respective duties, we would still return to each other in the end– safe and sound."

He smiled warmly at her. "Thank you for the meaningful gift, Neoma."

"No problem."

"Can you put this brooch on me?"

"Of course."

She was nervous while putting the safety pin on the breastpocket of Ruto's jacket. But she was happy that he appreciated her gift. Well, she was confident that he would like any gift that would come from her.

Even so, she liked that her present made him smile.

"I like that you chose a brooch to replace the anklet," Ruto said softly. Even without looking, she could tell that he was looking at her face intently. "I can wear your present near my heart all the time."

She grinned. "That's exactly why I chose a brooch, Ruto. You can't forget whom your heart belongs to. I can already tell that we'd be spending more time apart than together, but that doesn't mean you can let your feelings waver."

"My feelings for you won't waver, Neoma."

[Ah, always so blunt.]

Neoma raised her head to meet Ruto's warm gaze. "You're my safety pin, so you have to return to me, okay?"

"Okay," Ruto said, then he gently pinched her chin. "You're my anchor, so I'll always return to you, Neoma."

***

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***

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<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="65999c36-d792-3de9-810c-9ae4cd11325a">One of Neoma's defensive techniques: the Coat, the Walle, and the Dome.</li><li data-annotation-id="65eecd3c-5b78-b07a-9901-53fac8cf7334">Korean term that means 'older sister.'</li><li data-annotation-id="830750d0-2eb1-5f50-626a-1f01478cead3">Ruto casually dropping bombs, lol.</li></ol></annotations>",