Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NEOMA was shocked when, all of a sudden, she found herself on the roof of the arena with William and Jeno Dankworth.

[What the…]

She was confused at first. Then, while looking at William's (somewhat distressed) face, she slowly realized what might have happened.

"Princess Neoma, are you okay?" Jeno Dankworth asked worriedly. "Please wait here. I'll fetch Greko in a minute."

She was just about to say that she was okay when her "son" suddenly disappeared.

[Gosh, he's such a good boy.]

"William, why did you swap us?" Neoma confronted the Grand Spirit while she was sitting on the roof, holding her stomach tight. "What is Nero planning?"

"He's obviously preventing your secret from getting exposed."

"I can see that. I'm asking what EXACTLY is Nero planning… never mind," she said, giving up because she didn't have the energy to deal with William. She was so tired that she lay down on the roof– letting the harsh sunlight hit her pretty face. She covered her eyes with her hand while squinting. "I should ask Greko and Paige to make sunscreen for me."

"Are you sleeping?"

"No," she said, then she closed her eyes. "I'm just replaying the match in my head."

To be precise, she was thinking about Delwyn and the White Lion's "fight."

She made a fancy attack earlier to keep Calyx Dalton occupied, so he wouldn't notice that Delwyn (in his wolf form) and the White Lion were just pretending to fight each other. In reality, the two beasts were talking.

[I asked Delwyn to "interview" the White Lion, and ask him what we can do to help him.]

Unfortunately, the White Lion disappeared the moment Skewer's awesome Energy Blade hit Calyx Dalton.

"Delwyn," she called him. "What did the White Lion say?"

<"I can tell you about it later. For now, sleep,"> Delwyn said in her head. <"You need to rest your "big brain" before you use it again.">

Neoma smiled, then it faded as she let her sleepiness win.

[Good night, world.]

***

["LADY AVERY, please return to the palace to let Lady Roseheart know that Empress Juliet has returned, and she claims she's Calyx Dalton's mother. I believe it won't be safe for Neoma to return to the palace, but it's not my call to make. So please let Lady Roseheart decide what's best for her daughter."]

That was what Paige heard from Hanna Quinzel.

After her encounter with Lukas and Helstor, West (the White Tiger) brought her to where the Quinzels were. The Quinzels were about to return home. Thankfully, they got there on time.

Her plan was to head straight to the academy after checking on the Quinzels. But because of the news that she received, she went straight to the Royal Palace to meet Lady Quinzel. The matriarch was in Yule Palace, and she gracefully invited her to have tea with her.

And so, Paige was now in the drawing room while having tea with Lady Roseheart.

She has already relayed Hanna Quinzel's message, and the matriarch seemed to be thinking deeply about what to do next.

"So, Nero is with Nikolai in the academy right now," Lady Roseheart whispered. "And Juliet claims to be Calyx Dalton's mother. Since Calyx Dalton already revealed his de Moonasterion traits, everyone is probably thinking that he is Nikolai's son with Juliet. If that's the case, then we can assume that the crows have successfully created a way to step foot into the Royal Palace safely."

Paige nodded in agreement. "The news about Empress Juliet's return has already spread in the empire, and it will soon reach the entire continent. Now, people must be talking about how Calyx Dalton must be His Majesty's son with the supposedly dead empress. Because of that, we can no longer get rid of Calyx Dalton."

"I also have a feeling that the crows will instigate the public to make a demand to reinstate Empress Juliet to her position as the 'Empire's Mother,'" the matriarch said while drumming her fingers on the table. "Since Calyx Dalton is older than Nero and Neoma, those who support Juliet will probably pressure Nikolai to dethrone Nero, and replace him with Calyx."

She hated to admit this, but the crows had come up with a very effective strategy to push Prince Nero and Princess Neoma out of the succession line– and to kick Lady Roseheart out of the palace, too.

"Lady Roseheart, I know that this may sound harsh, but can't His Majesty just declare that Calyx Dalton is not his son?"

"It will be hard to do that without enough evidence to support his claim, Lady Avery," Lady Roseheart said, smiling apologetically at her. "Moreover, if Nikolai openly denies Calyx Dalton as his son, Juliet will get humiliated. The public sentiment would definitely go to Juliet, and Nikolai would be criticized heavily. After all, Calyx Dalton has the de Moonasterion traits."

"But Calyx Dalton doesn't have the glow of the emperor's firstborn child– Princess Neoma has it."

"Ordinary people can't see it," the matriarch said. "Only the saint can declare who the rightful heir is since he can see the Moonglow. Unfortunately, we don't have a saint anymore. It's not like the public will believe Nikolai if he says Neoma is the firstborn child."

The matriarch was right.

Empress Juliet was apparently a beloved empress, so the public who loved her wouldn't think that Her Majesty was capable of deceiving the emperor.

On the flip side, if His Majesty outright denied that Calyx Dalton was his son, he would earn the public's hatred. Once the people lost their trust in the emperor, then His Majesty would lose his power.

That power would definitely go to Empress Juliet.

[Since Empress Juliet is with the crows, then the crows will get more power and influence over the empire.]

Paige clutched her head tight. "Politics is too complicated. I'd rather study new magic spells than engage with the power struggle in the palace." She paused for a moment, then she shook her head. "That's what I want to say, but since I'm serving Princess Neoma who's also in line for the throne, I can't avoid the politics here even if I want to."

"That's true, but we are powerless here," Lady Roseheart said. "Neoma is also powerless because she's not officially registered to the royal household. So, even if she appears as the hidden royal princess, nothing will change. The law doesn't recognize a female successor."

She frowned. "That's unfair. Princess Neoma was the one who worked the hardest all this time. But someone else will harvest the fruits of her labor."

That someone else was Prince Nero, of course.

[I know that Princess Neoma is aware that this will happen from the beginning. I'm also aware that Princess Neoma doesn't resent her twin brother. She also doesn't need the public's recognition. But as someone who witnessed her work hard for the sake of the Royal Family and the people of the empire, I can't help but feel bitter about all of this.]

"I understand your feelings, Lady Avery," Lady Roseheart said sympathetically. "But we don't have a choice but to leave this matter in Nikolai and Nero's hands. As the emperor and the Crown Prince respectively, only Nikolai and Nero can engage in the political power struggle against the crows."

Everything that the matriarch said was correct.

[I still hate it, though. Princess Neoma should be the center of power here. She's the one who deserves to become the ruler of the empire.]

But in the end, Princess Neoma wasn't even officially recognized as a princess.

"Lady Avery, Nikolai and Nero are aware of what Neoma deserves after working hard all this time," Lady Roseheart said, then she smiled at her as if she was trying to assure her that everything would be fine. "Thus, they won't waste Neoma's hard work. Nikolai and Nero's goal hasn't changed– it is and will always be to put Neoma on the throne. It won't be easy, and it may take a long time to do it, but I believe that they will accomplish that."

The matriarch said that with confidence.

[She really has faith in them.]

Thanks to that, her heart was put at ease.

"I understand, Lady Roseheart," she said. "I will just do my job as Princess Neoma's protector."

"On that note, can you take Neoma somewhere else after her business with the academy?" the matriarch asked seriously. "The palace isn't safe for Neoma right now."

Paige smiled and nodded. "Lady Roseheart, we have already built the perfect retirement home for Princess Neoma."

Lady Roseheart's eyes went wide a little. "R-Retirement home?"

***

"AH, SO that was what happened, huh?" Neoma said while nodding after hearing her children's full report. Then she laughed softly while looking around. "So, this is my "retirement home?""

She felt like she didn't deserve to have a "retirement home" this early.

But she still appreciated it, since it was a gift from her beloved children.

"Eomma, please drink this," Greko, who was sitting beside her, said while handing a white pill and a glass of water to her. "The bad crow injected you with Darkness earlier, right? I made medicine that will clean the residue of the Darkness with malice that may have been left in your body. After all, purifying it will hurt you since you have Darkness attribute, too. So I thought of making medicine that will cleanse your body painlessly."

Aww.

She was touched.

"Thank you, maknae-a," she said, then she took the pill from him and put it in her mouth without hesitation. Then she gulped it down by drinking water. "Wow. It's tasteless."

Greko smiled brightly. "Eomma hates bitter pills, so I made it tasteless."

"Gosh, my baby is so thoughtful," she said while ruffling Greko's hair. "Our Greko has grown into a young man that makes his eomma proud, huh?"

"Greko is only thoughtful to you, Princess Neoma," Xion Redgrave complained. "He's not exactly caring when he's patching us up."

Jeno Dankworth added in agreement with the assassin. "Greko is a scary little doctor."

"Our maknae is like that to the two of you because you're always fighting," Juri Wisteria scolded Xion and Jeno. "If I was Greko, I would get tired of patching you up too if you kept on getting hurt just because you fight each other every five minutes. You should be thankful that our maknae is wasting his skills on you when your injuries were only caused by your stupidity."

Greko smiled and looked at Juri with sparkling eyes.

Neoma couldn't help but smile while watching her children bicker.

[I missed this.]

"Princess Neoma, what should we do now?" Paige Avery asked seriously, making the other children shut up. "Empress Juliet and Calyx Dalton are already in the Royal Palace."

"We're going to do nothing," she declared with a shrug. "I mean, what can I do? I'm just a princess in the name. I don't have real power to change the political power struggle in the palace. Papa Boss and Nero are the only ones who can fight the crows when it comes to politics."

She had already done her part by pretending to be the Crown Prince for eight years.

Now that Nero had reclaimed his rightful spot, it was time for her to step down and remove herself from the limelight.

However, she knew that it wasn't the time for her to retire yet.

She was just taking a "hiatus."

The political power struggle in the palace wasn't her fight to win, anyway.

[Nero, I leave that to you.]

"I think doing the dirty work suits me better," Neoma said, smirking. "But in the meantime, let's enjoy a well-deserved break first."

Paige, Juri, Greko, Jeno, and Xion all smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "We will make you a true lady of leisure, Princess Neoma."

Neoma couldn't help but laugh at her children's cute promise.

[Gosh, I corrupted my children so bad.]

***

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