Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

HANNA SMILED while looking at Lewis who looked like it was already the end of the world for him.

[He probably wants to follow where Neoma is.]

After their video conference with her father, King Glenn of Hazelden, and Neoma, she excused herself after seeing that Nero had to talk to Lady Roseheart and His Majesty in private.

And here she was now.

Lewis and Sir Geoffrey Kinsley were guarding outside the door with the two royal knights (one male, one female) assigned to protect her while she was in the palace. She greeted the Paladin and the royal knights first, then she approached the fox boy.

Hanna stood in front of her friend. "Lewis, open your hands."

Lewis, without even asking why, just opened his hands and offered them in front of her.

She smiled, satisfied. Then she put a bag of candies in his hands. "Here. Our friend Rara said you like mint candies."

'Rara' would be Neoma, of course. She used the royal princess' nickname because the royal knights assigned for her safety weren't aware of the royal secret. She was talking softly, and the royal knights were far enough not to hear their conversation.

Even so, she had to be really careful.

[If someone of Count Sprouse's status could betray His Majesty, his long-time friend, who's to say that the ordinary servants and knights couldn't do the same?]

As expected, living in the royal palace was dangerous.

"Thank you," Lewis said while putting the bag of candies in his pocket. "Shall I walk you to your room, Lady Hanna?"

She stifled her laughter, then she shook her head. "I have the royal knights with me. Moreover, Prince Nero is still inside the room. Why would you leave without His Royal Highness's permission?"

Lewis frowned as if he was showing her how much he hated the idea.

[If Lewis could, he would definitely ditch Nero to follow Neoma.]

"Cheer up, Lewis," she said cheerfully. "Once Rara comes back, everything will be fun again."

Lewis didn't smile, but his face lit up.

Aww.

That was adorable.

[He must be so excited to meet Neoma again.]

She couldn't help but smile while watching Lewis' bright face.

"Hanna, let's go."

Her smile slowly disappeared when she heard the familiar voice. When she turned to her side, she wasn't surprised to see Nero standing next to her.

Nero offered his arm to her. "I'll walk you to your room."

Hanna nodded politely, then she put her hand on his arm as they began walking back to Luna Palace– her current residence.

Lewis was walking behind them since the fox boy was the Crown Prince's personal knight.

The two royal knights assigned to protect her were walking behind Lewis.

"When did you and Lewis get close?" Nero asked. They were walking ahead of their guards who were far enough not to hear them talking. "You look friendly to each other."

"We are friends," Hanna said casually. "Am I not allowed to be friends with Lewis?"

"It's not like I have the right to do that," he said. "But be careful. There are eyes and ears in the palace. They don't care about the truth– they just want to gossip about people of our status."

She understood what Nero meant, and she wasn't offended.

After all, he was only speaking the truth.

[If I get too close to Lewis while everyone knows I'm a candidate to become the Crown Princess, nasty rumors will definitely spread. And like what Lewis said, people do not care about the truth. They'll grab anything that they can in order to tear me down.]

"I'll be more careful," she said while nodding. "I don't want to drag Lewis into the messy power struggle here in the palace."

"Power struggle, huh? You're right," he said, then he turned to her. "Aren't you going to break off our engagement? The last time we talked, I'm pretty sure you were ready to end this."

"I'd lie if I said breaking off our engagement didn't cross my mind," she confessed. "But I thought this wasn't the good time to do that. Even if we break off our engagement right now, House Quinzel will continue supporting you."

By 'you,' she meant both Nero and Neoma, of course.

"However, it won't be good for both of our reputations," she continued. "People would point fingers at me and say I broke off my engagement with you because your position as the Crown Prince is threatened by Calyx Dalton. On the other hand, you will be the new laughingstock of the nobles for getting dumped by your unofficial fiancée. In our world, our reputation matters– and it's especially true for you, the Crown Prince."

"I'm glad that you think the same," he said, then he turned to her. "So, until the matter regarding Calyx Dalton is resolved, we will not break off our engagement?"

The two of them weren't engaged officially yet, so technically, there was nothing to break off.

However, they both knew that official or not, she was already regarded as the future Crown Princess. Leaving Nero's side at this critical moment would hurt both the Royal Family and House Quinzel. They couldn't afford to let their families suffer the result of their "break up" since it would only benefit Calyx Dalton and the crows.

Thus, she must uphold her position as the future Crown Princess and provide support for Nero until they got rid of the delusional "royal prince."

"Yes, we must stick together for now," she said. "In three days' time, we'll start attending classes. We can't afford to create another rumor that our schoolmates will surely gobble up in a minute."

The participants of the final match were given three days off.

After that, they were required to attend their classes normally.

"You're right," the Crown Prince agreed with her. "Once we're out of the palace, the academy will become our next battlefield."

"I'm not really worried about that, since I know we can dominate the entire academy if we wanted to."

After all, she had learned a lot from watching Neoma pulverize her enemies with just her savage words.

[I even learned how to curse because of her.]

But cursing wasn't her style, so she decided to never cuss out again unless she needed to.

Nero turned to her and laughed softly, as if he was amused. "I like your confidence, Hanna."

"Thank you," she said with a slight bow. "Ah, I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?"

"Include me in your plan to crush Calyx Dalton," she said seriously. "I will never forgive him for putting my parents in danger."

He smirked. "You didn't have to ask."

"Very well," she said, satisfied. "Anyway, we should also help her set up the grand stage for her return."

She was talking about Neoma, and she knew she didn't have to specify that.

Nero already knew that she was talking about his twin sister, after all.

"I'll create a big messy family drama first, since Neoma loves theatrics," Nero said, smirking. "How does 'Dethronement and Divorce' for the title of a "stage play" sound?"

Hanna sighed and shook her head. "You and Neoma are really a pair of wicked twins."

[Not that I'm complaining.]

***

"KAJA," Neoma said, speaking in Korean. It meant 'let's go,' and she said that to her "children." "Let's go to the East Continent first."

Her "children," Juri Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, Greko, Paige Avery, and Xion Redgrave looked shocked by her declaration.

After all, they were having their breakfast peacefully when she declared that they were coming to the East Continent. She didn't consult them first. Well, to be fair, the thought just suddenly popped up in her mind and her big brain said 'why not?'

"Of course, we will follow you, Princess Neoma," Paige said calmly. She was the first among her "children" to recover from the shock. "But may we know why we're heading to the East Continent?"

"It's for my comeback stage," Neoma said, then she held the fork and the steak knife in her hands a little tighter. "Ruto and I need to have a face-to-face conversation."

"But I heard Chef Ruto doesn't remember you, Princess Neoma," Juri said worriedly. "I'm afraid that you might get hurt if he cannot recognize you."

"I just have to accept it since it is the consequence of my stupidity," Neoma said. "I know that this may be futile, but I really need to talk to him about our baby."

She almost lost all her "children" when they began choking on their food one by one.

"Are you all okay?" Neoma asked worriedly. "Drink your water carefully, kids."

"B-Baby?" Greko said, surprised. "As in human baby, eomma?"

Neoma nodded. "Yes, that kind of baby."

"Whose baby?" Jeno asked, his voice surprisingly shocked. "Princess Neoma's and…"

"Don't say it," Xion said, then he covered his ears with his hands. "I feel like I'm going to kill that Chef Ruto or whatever his name is if you turn out to be correct, Dankworth."

"Jeno is right, but don't kill him, Xion," Neoma said, much to the utter shock and disbelief of her "children." Seeing their reaction, she felt the need to explain. "Apparently, Ruto and I had a baby in our past lives– so I want to hear the truth from him."

Hopefully, it would trigger Ruto's memories to return.

***

NIKOLAI thought that the crows couldn't shock him anymore– but they still succeeded.

This time, even the always calm and indifferent Nero looked shocked.

But who wouldn't have the same reaction while watching a video recording of Juliet giving birth to Calyx Dalton? It was the evidence that the Daltons had provided for him, Nero, and the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families to witness.

[How?] Nikolai thought to himself in disbelief. [How did Juliet give birth to a de Moonasterio?]

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NOTE 1: The timeline will make sense next update. Sorry for the confusion. I just really like this style of storytelling. Hehe. xD

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NOTE 2: As always, thank you for supporting me via purchasing privilege chapters. I hope to see you this July, too. This might be shameless of me, but I suddenly got the greed to win WIN-WIN next month. I hope Royal Secret: I'm a Princess gets a high rank in WIN-WIN in order for Neoma to get more promotions here on Webnovel. I haven't ranked high recently, so I'm hoping to see Neoma up there once again. And, of course, it will only be possible with your help. :')

Let's boost our baby girl, juseyo.

If we succeed, I will update at least two chapters a day in August. :>

Thank you! <3

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