Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NIKOLAI was surprised when Stephanie and Alphen came out of Nero's room with cuts on their faces.

He also noticed that their clothes were dirty.

Judging by the tray holding broken pieces of tableware in Alphen's hands, he could already guess what happened.

[Nero probably threw his dinner at them.]

Stephanie and Alphen were both Mana users. The fact that they got hurt only meant Nero used enough force to hurt the servants.

"Go to Marcus and get treated for your injuries," Nikolai said to Stephanie and Alphen who were both bowing their heads toward him. "You'll also be compensated for getting hurt while serving the Crown Prince."

"Thank you for Your Majesty's generosity," Stephanie and Alphen said at the same time.

"And I will scold Nero so that something like this won't happen again."

Both Stephanie and Alphen raised their heads in shock.

"Your Majesty, please don't scold Prince Nero for our sake," Stephanie pleaded with him. "We understand that His Royal Highness is currently unwell, so we don't blame him for his actions."

"I agree with Stephanie, Your Majesty," Alphen said earnestly. "We appreciate Your Majesty's concern. But we don't want Prince Nero to be scolded since he's already being punished. Please be lenient to His Royal Highness."

The two bowed deeper this time while asking for his leniency for Nero's sake.

Tsk.

Stephanie and Alphen would always take his children's sides. They would spoil his daughter like this, too. It was good to know that the two were loyal to Neoma and Nero, though.

"Don't spoil the kids too much," he scolded the two slightly, then he waved them off. "Leave and get yourself treated."

Stephanie and Alphen bowed their heads.

Geoffrey Kinsley, the one he assigned to guard the room where Nero was confined in, bowed to him before opening the doors.

He entered Nero's bedroom.

Fortunately, his son was still awake.

He was supposed to scold Nero, but he got worried when he saw his son clutching his head again. Although it had already been normal for Nero to have a headache ever since his Lunacy began, it didn't mean he had gotten used to seeing his son in pain.

"Nero, you should take your medicine," he said, then he sat beside his son while looking for his medicine on the bedside table.

"Father…"

He froze when he heard Nero's cracked voice.

When he turned to his son, he was shocked to see him crying.

"Nero, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "Where does it hurt?"

"I don't know, Father," Nero said in a hoarse voice, his tears falling from his face nonstop. "I don't know why I can't stop crying…"

He wasn't good at comforting other people.

But as soon as he saw the pain in his son's eyes, he knew that he could only do one thing at the moment.

"It's alright to cry, Nero," Nikolai said, then he gently pulled Nero for a hug. Then he patted his son's back. He would admit that he felt awkward because he wasn't used to getting this affectionate with his children yet. But as a father, he couldn't just watch his son cry without comforting him. "Just let it all out."

He expected his son to push him away since they had the same personality.

Moreover, he knew that Nero didn't really like him.

[Well, he only likes Neoma…]

His thoughts were distracted when he felt Nero's arms around him as he buried his face against his chest.

Ah.

He felt shy, but he also felt touched that his prideful son who saw him as a competition (to his beloved twin sister's attention) relied on him.

Nero let him see him in his vulnerable state, and he was grateful for that.

As a father, he felt even more protective of his son.

"It's alright, Nero," Nikolai whispered, saying those words again and again. "Just cry your heart out– I'll be here with you until you feel okay."

***

MONA smiled while looking at Lewis Crevan.

The fox boy was kneeling beside the bed while looking at Neoma without blinking. His glowing gold eyes were filled with worry. And even if there weren't tears in his eyes, she could tell that he was crying inside.

[He really cares about my daughter.]

"Neoma has a high fever, and she was delirious as a result," Mona explained gently to the child. "But she has calmed down now."

"Princess Neoma's sleep… it's deep," Lewis said worriedly. "She has to wake up."

The fox boy didn't even turn to her.

In a normal situation, that would have been considered disrespectful and he could have been punished for his misconduct in front of a matriarch. Although House Roseheart was no longer a proper noble household, she still had a higher rank than Lewis Crevan.

But she didn't care about that.

"I'm trying to wake her up, but I can't reach my daughter's consciousness. It's too dark in there," she said in a sad voice. "And she doesn't recognize me."

Lewis finally turned to her. "Princess Neoma doesn't recognize her Mama Boss?"

Aww.

It was adorable how the fox boy referred to her using Neoma's endearment for her.

"That's right, she can't recognize me. She calls me 'Mother' instead of 'Mama Boss,'" she explained sadly. "I have a feeling that her recurring nightmare is related to her first life."

"Oh," the young man said, his face devastated. "Princess Neoma believes that she has no one in her first life. We can't probably reach her consciousness because she doesn't recognize any of us."

Ah.

Lewis made a good point.

[Neoma probably knows that I'm her mother, but she thinks I'm just her imagination.]

"The only one who can pull Princess Neoma out of darkness is herself," Lewis said, then he stood up and pulled out a brilliant marble from the breast pocket of his knight's uniform. The stone that was the size of a quail egg looked like a mini replica of the moon. "Lady Roseheart, may I feed this to Princess Neoma?"

She approached the fox boy to take a closer look at the marble in his hand. "That is not your Fox's Marble, is it?"

"It's not the Marble that contains my life force," he assured her. "I give Princess Neoma a precious marble made of my Mana every year as a birthday present. And in return, she gives me a marble that contains her favorite memory of the year."

Ohh.

[They exchange marbles every year? That's cute.]

"This one is the marble that Princess Neoma gave me when she turned thirteen years old," the young fox said. "Will it help if we feed this to Princess Neoma?"

She didn't think of that, but it wasn't a bad idea.

[The marble contains Neoma, and it has pieces of her memories, too. It might clear the darkness that engulfs her consciousness at the moment.]

"That might work, Lewis," Mona said while nodding. "Let's do it."

Lewis bowed his head. "Thank you, Lady Roseheart."

***

NEOMA found herself inside that nightmare again.

She was sinking deep in Darkness, her hands reaching out to nothingness. Ah, she was dying again. She hoped it ended faster this time.

[It's getting hard to breathe…]

She was about to close her eyes when she saw a single ray of light.

[Light?]

She forced to open her tired eyes wide.

And that was when she confirmed that she wasn't dreaming. There was really a small ball of light floating in front of her. It started as a small, blinding dot in the endless darkness. But as it got nearer, it also got bigger.

<"Girl, the polluted "water" here is not good for your skin!">

Huh?

The ball of light… talked?

She closed her eyes when the ball of light suddenly shined brighter than it already was.

<"Let's get out of here.">

She opened her eyes when she felt a hand grab her hand.

Much to her shock, she saw her younger version in front of her. The young Neoma grabbed her hand gently, then she pulled her up.

Huh?

[What's going on?]

How could this child pull her up easily when her body was supposed to be big and heavy? When she reached his maximum potential as a de Moonasterio, her physical appearance also changed. To be precise, her size.

She became as huge as a mountain– just like when gods descend to the human world.

But now that she was looking at her arm, she realized that she had turned back into her normal human size.

[How did this happen…?]

"Child, stop," Neoma said to herself. "There's no way out in this endless Darkness!"

"I'm Neoma– I find ways."

What?

"Girl, just trust me," her younger version said. "If I can't find a way, then I'll make one."

She was honestly flabbergasted now.

[This child looks like me, but she talks differently…]

"This is why the ocean scares me," her younger version complained. "It's so fucking deep."

Her eyes went wide. [Did the child just… just use a bad word?]

"And it's so dark," the child continued whining, then she raised her other hand. "Tteokbokki, let there be light!"

[Who is she talking to…?]

<"You should be more specific, thug princess!">

She was shocked when she heard the voice of a boy that vibrated in the "water," but she didn't see anyone else besides her and her younger version.

The child laughed. "But Tteokbokki, you understand what I want anyway, right?"

<"Only because I'm a genius!">

Much to her surprise, a ball of fire came out of the child's hand.

Then the ball of fire skyrocketed until it reached what seemed to be the dark sky. Then it exploded like fireworks. The next thing she knew, the sky had already lit up.

[What…]

"We're finally out," her younger self exclaimed, then she turned to her. "Girl, can you breathe now?"

She was surprised to realize that, yes, she could finally breathe again.

Moreover, the endless "ocean" she was trapped in disappeared. And now, she found herself in the middle of a shore. The sand under her feet was… pink?

"I like pink," her younger version said with a shrug, then she pointed at the sky. "Look at the strawberry moon. It's pretty, isn't it?"

When she looked up at the night sky, she realized that her younger self was correct.

Even the moon was pink.

[It's so pretty.]

When did the last time she saw something as beautiful as a strawberry moon?

Her chest was suddenly filled with a warm feeling.

"This is our world, so everything is possible as long as we put our mind into it," her younger version said firmly, making her turn to the child. "Neoma of the first timeline, don't cry."

Her hands automatically reached for her face.

Ah, her younger self was right.

Her face was wet with tears.

"Don't cry– you're Neoma. You are me, and I am you," her younger self said, then she floated and cupped her face between her hands. She brushed her tears away with her fingers. "We make people cry– not the other way around."

Neoma, for the first time since forever, let out a soft laugh.

[Who's this weird kid?]

***

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