Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NEOMA wanted to strangle herself.

[I'm in my super petty era.]

"Forget it," Neoma said before she stooped even low. "I'm not craving ice cream. And I know that you can't make it at your current state anyway."

Ruto frowned at her words. "That sounds like a challenge to me."

"Children should be in bed by now, so let's all go home."

"I'm not a child," Ruto said, confused. "I'm older than you, Princess Neoma."

"I'm talking about me and Lord Preston," she said, then she turned to Preston. "My same-age friend, let's go. It's past our bedtime already. And staying up late isn't good for our skin." She raised the edible flowers in her hands. "Thank you for these. I love them."

Preston smiled and nodded. "You may not be familiar with this place yet, Princess Neoma. Would you like me to walk you back to the temple?"

"Thank you for the offer, but it's alright, Lord Preston," she said. "My children are already here."

The young lord looked confused when she said "children," but she didn't feel the urge to explain.

[Anyway, if Greko and the other children have found me here, then they probably know the way back to the temple.]

"<anno data-annotation-id="92a6886b-6b80-52ce-e71d-bf71b1c2d1d2">Eomma</anno>!"

She turned in the direction where she heard Greko's voice, then she smiled and waved when she saw her youngest son. "<anno data-annotation-id="83df4e8d-72d1-e367-3a94-b0f0757b8f8a">Maknae</anno>, I'm here."

Greko smiled and waved back at her.

Her youngest son was visibly alone. But she could feel her other children's presence.

[Gosh, why are they so protective of me when I'm stronger than all of them combined?]

Of course, she appreciated the fact that her children cared genuinely for her. And she would always, always be grateful to them. She just didn't want her children to get hurt trying to protect her for every little thing because she could manage herself anyway.

Her thoughts got interrupted when Ruto and Preston both offered their hands to her when she was about to stand.

She grabbed both hands, then she let the two boys pull her up.

[I mean, I can stand on my own. But I don't want two boys to fight over me. Gosh, me and my sinful beauty.]

"Thank you, gentlemen," she said while removing the jacket that Ruto draped over her shoulders earlier. "Here, Lord Stroganoff. Thank you for lending me your jacket."

"You can keep it and just return it to me later, Princess Neoma," Ruto said. For some reason, he looked pissed even though he was acting politely towards her. "I don't want you to get cold on your way back to the temple."

Greko, who finally reached them, cleared his throat. "It's alright, Lord Stroganoff," he said, addressing Ruto the way she did even though Greko would usually refer to him as 'Ruto <anno data-annotation-id="a8c027d5-aad3-167d-1e37-6e7726374d93">hyung.</anno>' "My eomma doesn't get cold since she has fire attribute."

After saying that, Greko snatched the jacket away from Neoma's hand and returned it to Ruto who didn't have the chance to say something back.

"Everyone, thank you for taking care of our precious eomma," Greko said, addressing Ruto, Phoebe, and Preston with a polite bow. Then Greko held Neoma's hand. "I'm taking eomma with me now. Don't worry because we know our way back to the temple. Have a good night."

Wow, would you look at that?

[Greko is making me proud again.]

"Wait," Ruto said. And for the first time since she met him, this was the first time that she saw the always calm and collected Ruto panic a little. "Princess Neoma, about the ice cream–"

"It's alright, Lord Stroganoff," Greko said, cutting him off. "We have ice cream at home."

She almost burst out laughing.

But her conscience poked her heart out a little.

[Greko is a polite boy, but he cut off Ruto just like that. I can't let my rudeness rub off on him, so I should talk to him later.]

"Lord Stroganoff, I was just joking about craving ice cream," Neoma said while gently squeezing Greko's hand to tell her youngest son that she got this already. "It was true that I was hungry earlier, and I was actually craving fried chicken. However, my hunger was already satiated when Lord Preston and Myah gave me some delicious, edible flowers."

Ruto looked disappointed, and he didn't bother to hide it. "I see. Then I shall prepare a meal for you next time, Princess Neoma."

She just smiled and didn't give him a response.

After that, she turned to Lord Preston and bowed lightly. "Thank you for keeping me company, Lord Preston. I had fun. Please extend my gratitude to Myah, too."

"It's an honor for both Myah and I to keep you company, Princess Neoma," Preston said politely, then he bowed to her. "Let's meet again later, Your Royal Highness."

Neoma smiled brightly. "Yep, let's play again later, Lord Preston."

[And the next time we meet, I'll make sure you'll spill the beans.]

***

"EOMMA, am I a bad kid?"

"Of course not," Neoma said without missing a heartbeat. "Greko, you know what you did wrong earlier, don't you?"

Greko, who looked guilty, nodded. "I was rude to Lord Stroganoff. We're in their territory, so I shouldn't have been rude to our host. Moreover, I got upset with him even though it wasn't his fault that he forgot about you, eomma." He looked up at her with a pitiful look on his face. "I will apologize to Lord Stroganoff first thing in the morning."

Aww.

She stopped walking, then she faced Greko and gave him a big hug.

"I'm so proud of you for realizing your mistake and for your willingness to be held accountable for it," she said while patting Greko's back. "I'm proud of you, maknae-ah."

"Thank you, eomma."

She put her hands on Greko's shoulders, then she pulled away from their hug. "But why are you upset with Ruto just because he forgot about me? Greko, you know that it's my fault, right?"

"Because he made you jealous," Greko said hesitantly. "Eomma, I know the look on your face earlier. You weren't happy to see Lord Stroganoff with Lady Willows, were you?"

"Of course, I wasn't happy," she said. For some reason, she sounded so defensive even to herself. "I mean, I know that Ruto won't touch a child like Lady Phoebe. I also know that he's not interested in her. But I just felt bad for Lady Phoebe because she might be getting the wrong idea since Ruto is a gentleman…" She trailed off when she realized that she was just sprouting bullshit. "Yep, I'm really arrogant. I'm arrogant to assume that Ruto isn't interested in her, and I'm arrogant to feel bad for Lady Phoebe as if I'm looking down on her feelings for Ruto."

"Eomma."

"Yes?"

Greko tilted his head to one side as if he couldn't understand what she was trying to say. "Eomma, you've always been arrogant. Why worry about it now?"

Burn.

Princess Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio, the future empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire, was roasted by her own beloved youngest son.

[Greko is indeed my son, huh?]

Her thoughts got interrupted when she heard stifled laughter behind her.

[Oh, I almost forgot that they're also here.]

"It's okay, children," she said, sighing. "You can laugh all you want. I won't get offended, since I deserved that roast."

A few moments later and her other children appeared.

Juri stood on her left side and linked her arms with hers, while Paige appeared on her right side. Jeno appeared in front of her and stood beside Greko, then Jeno ruffled Greko's hair affectionately while their youngest looked confused.

"Did I say something wrong?" Greko asked, confused. "Eomma, did I offend you?"

"Not at all, maknae-ah," Neoma said while shaking her head, then she gave her youngest son a thumbs up. "Thanks to you, I've been humbled. And I mean that sincerely."

Greko still looked confused, but he smiled anyway.

"Princess Neoma, why don't you just admit that you're jealous?" Juri teased her. "Are you embarrassed because your love "rival" is a child?"

Ouch.

"Juri, you're all grown up," Neoma said, laughing. "You know how to tease your mother now."

She was fine with it, of course.

[It's nice that my children don't worship me. Well, not as much as they did before, at least.]

"It's fun," Juri said playfully. But she suddenly fell silent, then she turned serious even though she was still smiling. "Princess Neoma, it's nice to know that you get jealous like other people do. Of course, I don't enjoy seeing you upset. However, moments like this remind me that you're still human. Princess Neoma always does awesome things that I often forget that you're still human like the rest of us."

"I see," she said, laughing. "I'm not humble, but I'm still human."

"Yes, and you have to remain one forever, Princess Neoma," Juri said, smiling softly at her. "We don't want you to become an Aether, or a god that would save the world. Just be our little arrogant, sassy princess for the rest of your life."

Ah, so that was exactly what Juri meant when she said she wanted her to remain human forever.

[I'm touched.]

"I won't be any of that," Neoma said to assure her children. "What is my life goal again, children?"

"To be a lady of leisure," Juri, Jeno, Greko, and Paige said at the same time.

"Very good," she said. "Let's go back to the temple."

"Do we just leave him alone, Princess Neoma?" Jeno asked worriedly. "That boy dares to send fairies to spy on Your Royal Highness."

Yep, Preston Willows sent a little army of fairies after her.

If Neoma and her children were ordinary people, they wouldn't have noticed the presence of the fairies that were tailing them. The fairies were actually using barriers that were supposed to hide their presence. But, of course, it didn't work on them.

"It's fine," she said. "Preston isn't a bad kid. He's just curious."

"About you, eomma?"

"Nope," she said while shaking her head. "That boy doesn't care about me at all."

"Hmm?" Paige asked as if she was suddenly curious. "Have you already figured out the boy's intention, Princess Neoma?"

"I guess I should thank my over-inflated ego this time," Neoma said cheerfully. "I know when someone is looking at ME properly, and not at someone who resembles me."

***

"WELCOME back, my love," Mona said when Nikolai went out of the kitchen. The cube earlier had already disappeared, and the kitchen had returned to normal. "Have you had fun talking to Lord Levi?"

"Yeah, it was so fun," Nikolai said dryly, then he turned to Lady Yngrid with an indifferent look on his face. "You're here?"

Lady Yngrid bowed her head towards the emperor. "I apologize for this mishap, Your Majesty. I heard from my son that Princess Neoma is on her way back to the temple. Her Royal Highness is safe, and she's being escorted by her… uhm, "children?""

"Neoma calls her knights "children,"" Mona explained, smiling at the confused lady. "Should we walk you back to your place, Lady Yngrid."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll be fine since I need to go the way that I arrived," Lady Yngrid said, then she bowed her head again. "Have a pleasant knight, Your Majesties. We will see each other again tomorrow."

After excusing herself politely, Lady Yngrid's body had turned into orange flame before disappearing completely.

"Lady Yngrid addressed me as 'Your Majesty,'" Mona said awkwardly. "That's… kind of pressuring."

"Well, that's how you address an emperor's wife, so Lady Yngrid wasn't wrong."

"I'm not yet your wife, Nikolai."

"But you will be soon," he said, then he kissed the back of her hand.

"Eww."

Mona stifled her laughter when Nikolai froze upon hearing their daughter's voice.

When she turned in the direction where Neoma's voice came from, she saw her daughter alone. Her "children" must have left after escorting Neoma there in order to give their family privacy.

"Mama Boss, Papa Boss, stop being lovey-dovey in front of your children," Neoma complained, but her smile said otherwise. "Anyway, are you both alright?"

"We should be the one asking you that, Baby Muffin," Mona said worriedly. "Lord Levi didn't say or do anything bad to you, did he?"

"Lord Levi sure talked bullshi– I mean, 'nonsense,' Mama Boss," her daughter said. "But don't worry. I didn't let him walk all over me."

She was relieved to hear that. "As expected of our brave little Muffin."

Neoma just smiled.

"Neoma de Moonasterio," Nikolai said, all serious suddenly. "I'll give you everything and anything in this world except for Ruston Stroganoff."

Mona wanted to scold Nikolai, but when she saw the clear look in Neoma's eyes, she kept her mouth shut.

[My Baby Muffin got this.]

"It's alright, Papa Boss. You don't have to give Ruto to me," Neoma said, smiling. "I get what I want with my own two hands, anyway."

***

NERO WAS getting tired of this 'circus.'

He knew he was the one who 'directed' this 'drama,' but it was getting boring now that Neoma was not here.

[I miss her.]

Thus, it was time to end this fiasco.

"What do you want?" Nero asked indifferently to the representatives of the Twelve Golden Families. "If you're just here to tell me that you'll approve of adding Neoma to the Royal Household Registry, as well as the law that allows women to inherit family titles– which also includes granting princesses the right to inherit the throne– then forget it."

"Please hear us out first, Your Royal Highness," Marquis Vincent Lennox, who looked calmer now than the last time he saw him, said politely. "We have something else to offer to Your Royal Highness this time."

"I'll give you five minutes. I don't want to be late for school," he said curtly. "What else can you offer me?"

"The Emperor's Decree," Marquis Lennox said. He sounded like he was hesitating at first. When he opened his mouth again, he sounded more confident this time. "We're giving back the Emperor's Decree to the Royal Family, Prince Nero."

[And rightfully so.]

He had to hold back his smile.

[The absolute power over the nobles and the common people… it's mine now.]

Finally, Nero had something worthy to offer to Neoma.

***

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<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="83df4e8d-72d1-e367-3a94-b0f0757b8f8a">Meaning: 'youngest.'</li><li data-annotation-id="92a6886b-6b80-52ce-e71d-bf71b1c2d1d2">'Mother.'</li><li data-annotation-id="a8c027d5-aad3-167d-1e37-6e7726374d93">'Older brother.'</li></ol></annotations>",