Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"CALM DOWN, Father."

"How can I calm down?" Nikolai snapped at Nero. "Are you acting up because Neoma isn't here?"

On his way home earlier, William had suddenly appeared in his carriage to inform him that Mona decided to send Neoma to the "secret base" that Neoma's "children" had built for her. After saying that, the Grand Spirit left without offering a longer explanation.

It was the reason why he was eager to meet Mona.

But he knew Nero wouldn't "summon" him without a proper reason, so he went to see his son first.

[Only to hear this nonsense?!]

"Father, why are you getting mad?"

"Give me a reason not to be mad, Nero de Moonasterio," he said, then he closed his eyes while pinching the bridge of his nose. He thought Nero was more mature than Neoma. But why was his son giving him a bigger headache than his daughter now? "If you give up your right to the throne, you'll just give the crows what they want."

"What do the crows want, Father?"

He opened his eyes, then raised his head to answer his son's question. "The crows want to get rid of the female de Moonasterios and put a male heir to the throne."

"Exactly," his son said casually. "That's why they won't allow me to leave the palace."

"If they need you, they wouldn't have created Calyx Dalton."

"Calyx Dalton is just a placeholder they created in order to threaten us."

"What makes you say so?"

"Because Calyx Dalton is nothing but a poor version of a de Moonasterio," his son said, smirking. "He doesn't even have a Soul Beast."

"I confirmed that Calyx Dalton doesn't have a Soul Beast while watching his fight with Neoma. If he had one, he would have already summoned it," he said. "But how did you know that he doesn't have a Soul Beast?"

"If you want to prove that you're a de Moonasterio, the first thing you'll show off is your Soul Beast," Nero said. "After all, you can change your hair and eye color with magic. But you can never fake your Soul Beast since even common people know what a Soul Beast looks like."

A mix of pure white and blue glow that couldn't be imitated surrounded soul Beasts.

Moreover, even the common people knew the difference between a Soul Beast and an Elemental Guardian– thanks to the unique glow of the Soul Beasts.

"Calyx Dalton, in order to manipulate the public, used a cheap trick," his son said, smirking. "He hid his true appearance, at first. Then he unveiled his de Moonasterion physical traits during a thrilling match, where he also summoned the White Lion– which is the symbol of the Royal Family. And, for the finale, he revealed that his mother is a woman who looks exactly like Empress Juliet. He exposed everything all at once to shock the public."

Ah, everything that his son said made sense.

"I hate to say this, but it was an effective way to stop the public from thinking deeply," Nero continued explaining. "After the public saw Calyx Dalton's de Moonasterion traits and the woman who looks exactly like the supposedly dead Empress Juliet claim to be his mother, then the fact that Calyx Dalton is the emperor's son with the former empress has already been established in their minds."

He nodded, agreeing with his son. "Calyx Dalton's eyes even turned red during the match. The things that he prepared to prove that he's a de Moonasterio are enough to make people forget that he doesn't have a Soul Beast. Some may question it, but I'm pretty sure that the general public already believes that Calyx is my son with Juliet."

"That's right, Father," Nero said. "And that's how I ended up with the conclusion that Calyx Dalton doesn't have a Soul Beast. I don't know what kind of trick they'd pull to explain to the public why he doesn't have a Soul Beast, but I'm pretty sure that they'll pull it off."

"By using Juliet, am I right?"

His son nodded. "The beloved empress who met her untimely demise suddenly returned with a son– a son who's qualified to dethrone the current Crown Prince that most nobles refuse to accept because of his Roseheart Blood. I'm sure that the nobles who support Empress Juliet will begin launching propaganda to bury the fact that Calyx Dalton doesn't have a Soul Beast just for him to be recognized as a royal prince."

"You said it yourself, Nero," he said while giving his son a confused look. "The crows went through all those troubles just for Calyx Dalton to be recognized as a royal prince. And yet, despite knowing that, you still wish to "quit" as a Crown Prince? Why would they bother to put Calyx Dalton in the palace if they think you're already enough?"

"Calyx Dalton only exists as collateral for the crows in case I turn out to be a "failure" because of my Roseheart Blood," Nero said confidently. "But they love me– and I'll make sure that they continue to do so."

"Nero, I don't understand."

"Father, it's simple," his son insisted. "The de Lucas are powerful enough to survive alongside the de Moonasterios all this time. They even raised most of the previous emperors while killing off all the de Moonasterion princesses in the past. But if they like the empire that much, why didn't they take the throne for themselves? The de Lucas have the blood of a god, too. But why did they remain in the shadows while letting the de Moonaseterios shine as the empire's Moon?" He smirked as if he was amused by the answer that he came up with. "It's not that they don't want to– but they can't."

"They can't?"

"Only the de Moonasterios are meant for the throne, and the throne is only meant for the de Moonasterios," Nero said seriously while drumming his fingers on the throne's armrest. "It must be the rule of this world, but for what reason that particular rule exists, I do not know yet. However, I have a feeling that owning at least one Soul Beast is a requirement. Otherwise, they would have already exposed Calyx Dalton's existence to the world instead of waiting for me to grow up to see if I deserve to be the future emperor or not."

"Nero."

"Yes, Father?"

"I would like to officially recruit you to become my personal strategist."

"I refuse, Father," Nero said without missing a beat. "I already made a resolve to only work for Neoma."

"Tsk."

"Father, you must be careful," his son warned him seriously. "I have a feeling that you already failed in the crows' eyes."

"I failed?" he asked, then he sneered. "I don't remember asking for their approval."

"I'm talking about the reason why the crows choose the emperors who would sit on the throne," Nero said, then he leaned against the throne lazily. "And I'm pretty sure that they have a set of requirements for their future emperor."

"And why did I fail?"

"Because you chose Mother, and the crows hate the Rosehearts," his son said. "The fact that you didn't give up on Mother after all these years may have made them realize that you wouldn't listen to them. There must be something that the emperor must do for the crows. Did they approach you in the past, Father?"

"They did," he said while nodding. "They came whining to me about how I should repay them for helping me during the time I started a rebellion to overthrow my father. If I remember it correctly, it looked like they wanted me to do a favor for them."

"And…?"

"I killed them, of course," he said, smirking. "I never asked them to "help" me ascend the throne, so why do I need to repay their "kindness?"'

"Did Father kill everyone from the cult that still dared to approach you then?"

"Of course."

"As expected of Father," Nero said while nodding approvingly. "Anyway, that "favor" must be what the crows wanted from the de Moonasterios sitting on the throne."

"And since they know that I will never do them a favor, I "failed?""

"Yes, Father," his son said. "Now that the crows have determined that I'm the perfect de Moonasterio to put on the throne, they might try to assassinate you now. Not that they could."

At least, Nero was confident that he could protect himself from the crows.

"So, Father, I want you to accept my resignation letter," Nero said. "Once my resignation letter is in your hands, they won't kill you. Instead of getting rid of you, they will negotiate with you to keep me in power."

"You sound confident," he commented, to which his son only smiled. "But what if the crows use the nobles to force me to reinstate Juliet as the empress? Reinstating Juliet means renewing my marriage with her, too."

His son smiled mischievously. "I already prepared a solution to that, Father."

Oh?

[Nero will really be a good strategist.]

"Interesting," Nikolai said, amused by his son's quick thinking. "I'd like to hear it then."

"There's only one thing Father needs to do," Nero said, then he smiled "sweetly" at him while tilting his head to one side– and that smile reminded him of Neoma's own "evil" smile. "You just have to commit treason for our family, Your Majesty."

Nikolai thought that maybe his son just wanted him to die.

***

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