Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NEOMA let out a sigh after her rebellious "children" refused her request.

[Gosh, kids grow up so fast. They know how to say 'no' to me now.]

"Eomma, please don't do this!" Greko begged her while hugging her by the waist. "Please reconsider it!"

"I agree with Greko, Princess Neoma," Juri, who looked stressed out, said. "Please don't cut your beautiful, luscious hair short!"

Yep, she asked Greko to fetch Juri and Paige because she wanted to ask either of the two if they knew how to cut hair. But the reaction that she received from her "children" was explosive. It was funny, actually.

"Princess Neoma, we know that you have the right to decide what you want to do with your own hair," Paige said calmly. "However, we know how much you've longed to let your hair grow long after posing as Prince Nero for many years. Although we do not how what made Your Royal Highness decide to suddenly have a haircut, we'd like to ask you to please not act on a whim."

As expected, the Mage knew how to convince her to change her mind in a calm manner.

"May we know why you suddenly want to cut your hair short, Princess Neoma?" Juri asked carefully. "We know how much you treasure your long hair, after all."

"A lady introduced herself to me as Ruto's fiancée."

The silence that ensued after her casual revelation was a little cold.

[If Ruto was here, my "children" would have attacked him already.]

"Then we should cut Ruto Stroganoff's life short and not your hair, Princess Neoma," Jeno, who was sitting on the windowsill quietly, declared. "Should I do it for Your Royal Highness?"

"Nah, it's not Ruto betrayed me," she said, then she sat on the bed. "Lady Phoebe Willows was the woman Ruto's family chose for him. But apparently, he already turned her down a long time ago. However, for some reason, the Willows have brought up the marriage talk between Ruto and Lady Willows again."

"And what did Lord Stroganoff say about it?" Juri asked, her eyebrows furrowed. "He never mentioned about the other lady to Your Royal Highness before, did he?"

"He didn't, but it wasn't like it was relevant, so I get why he didn't tell me before," she said. She wasn't defending Ruto– she was merely explaining his side from her point of view since she could relate to his situation. "It's normal for noble and royal children to get engaged early. Even in this lifetime, I was almost sold off to Rubin Drayton when I was still a toddler."

It happened during the time that her Papa Boss was still, uhm, subhuman.

"So, it doesn't really bother me that Ruto had a fiancée in the past," she said. "And as far as I understand, the marriage talk has been brought up again recently. Thus, he didn't get the chance to tell me about it."

Especially since he lost his memories of her.

[My fault, so I can't complain that much.]

"Eomma, your level of trust in Ruto hyung-nim is high," Greko commented, then he sat beside her. "Ruto hyung-nim must really be a trustworthy man."

"Well, that's true, but if I was going to be honest, then I'd say my level of trust in myself is higher," she said, laughing. Yes, it was her arrogance talking again. But what could she do? She wouldn't be Neoma (Version 2.0) if she wasn't arrogant. "I'm Neoma, so I'll always win, whether it's love or war. And it's not like there's a competition, anyway."

It wasn't like she was underestimating Phoebe Willows.

She just didn't see her as a threat or a rival since she knew that Ruto wasn't even mildly attracted to Phoebe Willows, so why would she be bothered?

"Ruto already has me, so why would he still look for another girl?"

Greko and Juri both laughed.

Jeno just nodded his head solemnly as if what she had said made sense.

On the other hand, Paige covered her face with a fan to probably hide her silly grin. The mage's eyes couldn't lie, though.

She just smiled at the reaction of her "children." "Moreover, if Ruto gets attracted to a child like Phoebe Willows, I will kill him."

She could understand Ruto's attraction to her since they both knew that they were adults inside.

But getting attracted to a child like Phoebe Willows was a different matter.

[What is Ruto's family even thinking? They know that Ruto isn't a normal "child," right? Gosh.]

"Princess Neoma, I understand now why you wanted to cut your hair short," Paige said. "I'm not saying that you should do it for real, but would you like to see how you'd look with short hair? Not as short as it was when you were posing as Prince Nero." The mage touched her shoulder gently. "How about this length?"

Oh, that was brilliant.

Juri turned to Paige with furrowed brows. "Paige, what's the point of doing that if Princess Neoma wouldn't cut her hair short for real anyway?"

"It's a common "knowledge" in the empire that a woman who's going through a heartbreak cuts her hair short," Paige said to Juri, smiling. But the mage's smile was anything but innocent. "Princess Neoma," she said as she turned back to her. "Would you like to see how Lord Stroganoff would react once he sees your short hair?"

Yep, she absolutely wanted to see that.

Neoma smirked haughtily. "I love your plan, Paige."

Greko and Jeno whispered at the same time. "Girls are scary."

***

[I WANT rice and fried chicken.]

Neoma woke up past midnight while craving for rice and fried chicken, so she got up and went out of her bedroom alone.

Right now, the whole Cyran Temple was occupied by her family.

Ruto and his family let them have the Cyran Temple for privacy while the Solfrids were still preparing their accommodations in the Solfrid mansion.

Since her Papa Boss sent such short notice, the preparations of their accommodations weren't done yet. Thus, they had to spend the night in the Cyran Temple. But everything was provided for them. Except for servants, since her Papa Boss and Mama Boss requested it.

So, after the servants served them dinner and prepared their bath earlier, the servants left the temple.

[Wow, the kitchen is complete with ingredients.]

She was amazed by the kitchen, especially by the different kinds of rice that she saw.

[Most of the countries and kingdoms on the East Continent eat rice. It reminds me of Asia, to be honest.]

She was busy strolling through the kitchen with a happy heart when she felt the presence of her "children" outside. It was Jeno and Juri. As expected, she knew that her knights wouldn't let her move alone.

But, thankfully, Jeno and Juri stayed outside to give her privacy.

[Now, let's cook.]

She was rolling the sleeves of her pajama top when, all of a sudden, the air in the kitchen changed.

[Ah, dammit! Your girl can't even catch a break!]

She was about to bolt out of the kitchen because she wasn't in the mood to deal with bullshit. So, the plan was to hand the problem to her children. However, just before she could reach the door, the entire kitchen had changed.

It became a plain and empty white room, and she stood in the middle alone.

[I'm in a different dimension.]

"Ah, fucking shit," Neoma said, then she put her hands on her waist. "Show up before I fucking blow up this place."

It didn't take her long to know who summoned her to that dimension.

Before she knew it, she was already standing in front of a semi-transparent "person" who looked like Ruto's older version.

She had to discreetly wipe her mouth to make sure that she didn't drool.

[So fucking handsome.]

She felt sorry for Ruto, but she had to say that his divine father was so damned hot.

[What's his name again? Lord Levi? The God Among Gods or something?]

"You do not deserve my son."

"And you do not have the qualifications to be my father-in-law, Lord Levi," Neoma said bluntly. [Handsome or not, you do not cross Neoma de Moonasterio.] "Gosh, are you here to offer me money to stay away from Ruto?"

That was a classic scene in Kdramas where the rich mothers would bribe the "undeserving" girl that their son was dating with money to make them disappear from their son's life.

"I'm sorry to say this, but if you want to separate me and Ruto, then you should convince your son to "unlove" me, my lord," she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "It's Ruto who's more desperate to be with me, after all."

Lord Levi's handsome face looked shocked by her arrogance. "I heard that you were arrogant, but I didn't expect you to be this arrogant."

Neoma was about to say something when, suddenly, the entire room shook hard.

Then she heard a familiar voice outside.

"Just when will you all leave my daughter alone?"

She gasped when she realized who it was. "Papa Boss?!"

"Ah, I'm glad that your father is here," Lord Levi said, then he snapped his fingers. "I want to talk to Nikolai de Moonasterio about your relationship with my son."

Neoma's eyes went wide with shock. "Are you declaring war against my Papa Boss, Lord Levi?!" She shook her head hard. "Papa Boss is crazier than I am, you know?"

***

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