Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"MONA, why did you ask Neoma to leave when we weren't done with the conversation yet?"

Mona already expected Nikolai to be upset, so she proceeded to calm him down first. "Calm down and listen to me first, my love."

As soon as she called him 'my love'– her endearment for him– he instantly calmed down.

[Really simple, aren't we, my love?]

Right now, only the two of them were left in the tearoom.

After Neoma left, Manu excused himself, too.

[I think I heard Mana say he'll look for the Sun Priestess or something close to that.]

"Neoma and Ruto had a special relationship in the past," she said gently, holding Nikolai's hand and playing with his fingers. She would often do that whenever he was upset to soothe him down. "We can't change it anymore. Even if it was true that they had a baby before, it's none of our business. They were two consenting adults. As long as Ruto doesn't touch Neoma inappropriately THIS TIME, we shouldn't punish the children for what happened in the past. Moreover…"

He tilted his head while waiting for her to continue. "What is it, Mona?"

"I have a feeling that Neoma and Ruto didn't get the chance to have a baby, anyway."

And that was exactly why she told Neoma to leave.

[I don't want my Baby Muffin to hear this.]

"Ruto is the only divine son of Lord Levi," she said carefully. "Based on my understanding, during the time that they got close, Neoma was already on the verge of becoming the perfect Aether. I don't think the gods would allow her to have a baby then. Moreover, according to Calyx Dalton, it was Neoma who killed the baby in her womb. I know that we shouldn't trust the boy's words. However, we can't also brush it off completely."

"I don't want Calyx Dalton to be right," Nikolai said, frowning. "Because if everything he said was true, then I can't imagine how much pain Neoma had to go through in the past. If even Ruston Stroganoff wasn't able to protect her and their alleged child back then, it only meant Neoma had no one to lean on during that time. I hate it– I hate the idea of Neoma literally carrying the world on her shoulders alone."

That was exactly what seemed to have happened in the past.

[We won't let history repeat itself– we will make sure that Neoma will live happily this time.]

"Neoma was forcing herself to talk about it lightly earlier," she said in a sad voice. "But I can see the fear and the loneliness in Neoma's eyes when she was talking about her alleged child in the past. We shouldn't bring it up again, Nikolai. It's between our daughter and Ruto now."

Thankfully, this time, understanding crossed Nikolai's eyes.

"You're right," he said, nodding. "We shouldn't talk about it again. After all, Neoma's current situation is different from her past life. She's no longer alone this time."

"Uh-huh," she said, then her hand moved to smoothen the knot on Nikolai's forehead. "But why do you still look upset, my love?"

"It's obvious that Ruston Stroganoff has feelings for Neoma even now," Nikolai said, huffing. "I don't care what kind of relationship they had in the past. But I won't let him lay a finger on our daughter now– especially not when Neoma is still a child physically."

"I'm with you on that, my love," Mona said, smiling and nodding. "Even if it's Ruto, he's not allowed to have an intimate relationship with our Baby Muffin."

[Not yet, at least.]

***

RUTO immediately knelt beside Princess Neoma as soon as he realized that something was wrong. "Princess Neoma!"

He tried to shake her shoulders, but he noticed that she was shaking violently.

[She'll be more startled if I suddenly touched her…]

"I'm s-sorry!" Neoma yelled, her voice still trembling. "P-Please stop, Rubin…"

He knitted his eyebrows.

'Rubin?'

[Rubin Drayton?]

He didn't know why, but an ungodly amount of rage rose in his chest. For the first time in a while, he felt the urge to kill someone.

"Do you want me to kill him for you, Princess Neoma?"

Princess Neoma suddenly stopped shaking violently.

She hadn't completely calmed down yet because he could still hear her shaky breath. But, fortunately, it seemed like she was slowly coming back to her senses.

[Princess Neoma, just what did Rubin Drayton do…?]

"Her Royal Highness seems to be having a panic attack," Phoebe Willows said worriedly. "I believe we should summon the princess's physician."

He was about to respond, but he stopped when he heard Princess Neoma take a deep breath.

"That won't be necessary, Lady Willows," Princess Neoma said, then she raised her head while wiping her tears away with her hands. "My "children" will kill you if they saw me in this state."

Phoebe Willows looked confused when the young princess said "children."

And so was Ruto.

"I apologize for showing you a shameful behavior unbefitting of a royal princess like me," Princess Neoma said in a calm voice, then she stood gracefully as if she didn't fall on her knees just a moment ago. In just the span of a few seconds, the young princess had collected and presented herself elegantly in front of them. "I'd appreciate it if Lady Willows and Lord Stroganoff would pretend that this didn't happen."

"Of course," Phoebe Willows said gently. "I'll never speak of this to anyone, Princess Neoma."

The young princess smiled. "Thank you, my lady." After that, she looked at him and Phoebe Willows back and forth, then she slightly bowed her head. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

After politely excusing herself, Princess Neoma began to walk away without even looking back.

Ruto was stunned.

[She left even without sparing me a glance again…]

"Lord Ruto, shall we go to my parent's house now?"

Ruto turned to Phoebe Willows with an indifferent look on his face. "Lady Willows, I was told I never accepted your family's marriage proposal," he said. "But why did you introduce yourself to Princess Neoma as my fiancée?"

"Because I'm confident that our engagement will push through, Lord Ruto," Phoebe Willows said, smiling. "I was told that Lord Levi, the God Among Gods, has personally chosen me to be your betrothed."

"That was my divine father's decision."

"Can you go against your divine father's decision, my lord?" Phoebe Willows said, then she let out a soft laugh. "How can you do that when your divine father governs the other gods and you're just a child in his eyes, Lord Ruto?"

"Then watch me," Ruto said, then he turned his back on Phoebe Willows. "Watch me rebel against my divine father."

***

["DO YOU WANT me to kill him for you, Princess Neoma?"]

After Neoma heard Ruto say that, she snapped out of her trance.

If there was someone who would kill Rubin Drayton, it should be her and only her.

As soon as that thought entered her mind, different ways to kill that bastard began flooding into her head. That was the reason why she stopped shaking. When she slowly calmed down, she took a deep breath.

And just like that, she could breathe properly again.

[I'm allowed to have a meltdown from time to time, but I don't have the luxury to dwell on my misery.]

Because this time, she was thirsty for revenge.

Of course, in this timeline, Rubin Drayton hadn't done anything that could hurt her. However, after remembering that he had physically hurt her in the past, she knew she couldn't live in peace until she got her revenge.

[If I'm being petty, so be it.]

"Princess Neoma!"

She had already reached the main entrance of the Cyran Temple when she heard Ruto's voice.

[Ah, right.]

She turned around to face Ruto who looked like he didn't know what to say.

"It's alright, Lord Stroganoff," Neoma said. She didn't mean for her voice to come out cold, but she did. "I know that Lady Willows isn't your real fiancée. I mean, she could be the lady that your family chose for you. But I know that you wouldn't flirt with me if you had a fiancée waiting for you here."

Ruto wasn't Rubin, after all.

Ruto looked confused. "If you know that, then why…?"

"Why am I upset?" she said, then she shrugged. "I'm upset because I know that I shouldn't be upset with you, but I can't help it. I know that it was my fault that you lost your memories. But because you lost your memories, you probably also forgot about Lady Willows. Hence, you didn't know how to introduce her to me. However, it hurt me that you didn't deny it when she claimed to be your fiancée."

"I'm sorry," Ruto said, sighing. "I was told that I never accepted her family's proposal. But I don't know why there are talks about our engagement again. Thus, I was confused."

"I see," she said a little indifferently, because honestly? She already stopped caring. "Anyway, I'm giving you back the authority you gave to me."

"Huh?"

"I know that you don't consider Lady Willows as your fiancée, but that doesn't seem to be the case for her," she explained. "I was once in her shoe, you know. My ex-fiancé was involved with another woman, and it sucked so much that I didn't want other girls to experience it."

"But Lady Willows isn't my fiancée."

"You should clear your relationship with her first," she said firmly. "Until then, let's stay away from each other in the meantime. I don't want to be the cause of another woman's misery. I don't want to see my old self in Lady Willows."

Ruto, for the first time since she met him, showed a desperate expression. "Princess Neoma…"

Her heart almost gave in, but she put a rein in it.

After all, the current Neoma was the type of person who would always put herself first. She was already ruined by a man in her first life. Thus, she wouldn't let another man become the cause of her downfall again.

[Not that I think Ruto would do anything that would hurt me on purpose.]

"We don't have a clear relationship anyway," Neoma said, then she gently patted Rubin's shoulder. "See you later, Ruto."

After saying that, she turned her back on Ruto to hide her teary eyes from him.

[It's not the time to cry, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio!] she scolded herself. [We have a bastard to kill.]

Yep, that was right.

[When will Rubin Drayton arrive in the East Continent again?]

Neoma touched her hair, then she whispered to herself. "I should cut my hair short."

***

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