Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"AH, SO it's true that Your Royal Highness is rude."

"I can't be nice to the person who did this to my precious hand, can I?" Neoma said, smiling while showing the young man her right hand. "You fucking piece of shit."

"Why are you complaining?" the young man asked, shrugging. "It's already healing even though you can't use your divine power on this island."

That was right.

Her divine power and Moonglow weren't working.

[That's why my barrier is also weaker than usual. If I have my Moonglow, that bastard wouldn't have broken my barrier with a dagger laced with poisonous Darkness.]

Thankfully, her Roseheart Blood was also capable of purifying Darkness– and it worked its magic before her condition got worse. First, her Roseheart Blood numbed the pain in her hand. Then it began purifying the poisonous Darkness that entered her body.

And now, her hand was as good as new.

"This is why I'm deeply grateful that my mother is THE one and only Mona Roseheart," Neoma said proudly. "Your petty tricks won't work on me even if I can't use my divine power here."

"I didn't play a petty trick on you," the young man denied calmly. "You weren't my target in the first place."

"Ah, right," she said, nodding. "The dagger was aimed at Trevor."

[This dude can pass off as Trevor's older brother, though.]

Physically, the young man looked older than Trevor's current appearance. The two could even pass off as twins.

[But this dude looks like the sleep-deprived version of Trevor.]

Just look at how heavy the bags were under his eyes.

[Maybe I'm just being biased since I still consider Trevor as my chingue, so I'm finding fault in this dude.]

"Why did you save Trevor Kesser?" the dude asked her. "I heard he betrayed you."

"Oh," she said, smirking. "Did Kyle Sprouse already spill that much tea?"

They already expected that Kyle Sprouse would leak information about her to the crows.

And she wasn't disappointed.

[As expected of that traitor.]

"I don't know what you're talking about, little princess."

"Drop the act, dude," she said. "I know you're a crow– you reek of bullshit."

"Kids these days are so rude," the young man said. "Your foul mouth makes me want to cut off your tongue and feed it to the crows."

Oh?

That actually gave her goosebumps. After all, she could tell that this young man was the real deal. The dude was strong, and so his threat wasn't empty.

[Ah, finally. An opponent who can actually scare me.]

She couldn't help but laugh in excitement.

"You're laughing?" the young man asked, unimpressed. "I hope you know I don't give empty threats."

"Precisely," she said, opening her hand after summoning Skewer. As soon as the pink Death Sycthe materialized in the air, she grabbed it tight. "Are the crows blind? You should have been the 'Masterpiece' and not Calyx Dalton."

"Oh, you can tell at one glance?" the young man said, raising an eyebrow at her. This time, a glint of interest sparked in his black eyes. "Someone dear said the same thing to me earlier."

"Then my assumptions must be correct," she said, smirking. "You're crazier than Calyx Dalton."

"That's precisely why I wasn't chosen as the 'Masterpiece,'" he said, shrugging. "Calyx is good at pretending to be a dumb person– I'm not."

'Pretending to be a dumb person,' huh?

[He's saying that the Calyx Dalton is only pretending to be dumb.]

The young man who observed her reaction lifted the corner of his mouth into a lazy smirk.

[Gosh, he really looks like Trevor.]

"It worked, didn't it?" he asked indifferently, the smirk he flashed earlier disappeared the moment it appeared. "You must be all thinking that Calyx is an easy target. But whatever you say, that child is still a de Moonasterio. Like any royal child with the Moon God's blood, his mind developed early. He was already an adult inside even before his age hit double digits."

Well, it was the same for Neoma and Nero.

[We never really had a 'toddler phase' because we matured fast.]

"If I knew that Your Royal Highness talks a lot, I would have invited you to have tea with me."

"Are you done?"

"You were the one who initiated this talk, Princess Neoma."

"No, not that," she said, opening her arms to gesture to their surroundings. "I'm asking if you're done gathering Mana."

The arrogant look on the bastard finally disappeared.

"Do you think I wouldn't notice that you're collecting Mana in order to fight?"

The young man frowned. "If you already know what I was doing, then why didn't you attack first?"

"Because that's boring," she said, summoning Tteokbokki's flame. In just a couple of seconds, the red dragon's red flame engulfed Skewer's curved blade brilliantly. "I want to fight a strong bastard like you in your best condition, so you wouldn't have an excuse as to why you lost once I beat you to a pulp."

"How arrogant," the young man said, then he opened his hands. "I'll make you regret your "generosity," Princess Neoma."

It only took a second for them to literally clash.

In just the blink of an eye, Skewer's curved blade collided with the Darkness-covered curved blade of the young man's scythe.

[Yep, we wield the same weapon.]

The impact created a strong wave, sending both Neoma and the dude away from each other.

Then the wave caused by the clash exploded in the air, causing a sky quake.

Yep, the sky shook as if a loud thunder just rumbled. It was strong enough to cause the ground to shake as well. If they fought on the ground, half of the island would have been wiped off already.

[This dude is indeed the real deal.]

<"Thug princess, for the first time in a while, you found a worthy opponent.">

She smirked after hearing her Soul Beast's thoughts in her head.

[You sound excited, Tteokbokki.]

<"Well, an easy kill is boring.">

"Now I know why Calyx lost to Your Royal Highness," the young man said, then he put a hand over his chest and bowed to her. "I apologize for the late introduction. My name is Dilan Crowell."

Crowell, huh?

[I thought he was a de Luca.]

"I didn't expect such courtesy from someone like you, Mr. Dilan."

"I only respect two types of people," Dilan said, his face and voice remaining blank. "First, family members who are worth killing. Second…" He removed the earrings and piercings in his left ear one by one. "Opponents who force me to remove my seal."

Neoma got chills when Dilan's real power leaked out.

But it wasn't the crow who made her feel that way.

"Why…"

She looked over her shoulder to find Trevor behind her, suspended in the air just like her and Dilan Crowell.

[He's angry, for real.]

This was the first time Neoma saw Trevor this angry.

"You damned crow," Trevor, whose entire body was covered with dark energy. Ah, it must be his demon power. "Why do you have my father's piercings?! Those are the Kesser Family's heirlooms!"

[Oh my gosh!]

"Is there a reason for me not to inherit the family heirlooms?" Dilan said, smirking at Trevor. "Brother?"

Neoma gasped softly. [What a shocking plot twist!]

***

"GO BACK."

Nero looked at Hanna, who literally blocked his way, coldly. "Do you even know where I'm headed to?"

"You're obviously headed to the residence you provided to Lord Calyx and Lady Sloane," Hanna said calmly. "Seeing as you left without your knights, I can tell that you are headed there in a hurry. And judging by your bloodlust…"

"I won't kill that crazy bastard," he said. "I'll just punish him a bit."

"What happened to Neoma?" she asked, ignoring what he just said. "You won't react that way if it has nothing to do with Neoma."

"Neoma is hurt," he said, then he looked at his right hand. "But I suppose it already healed since the pain is gone and I can feel my right hand again."

He was relieved.

Thanks to their Moonglow and divine power, their minor wounds would heal on their own. Moreover, both Nero and Neoma were immune to the most deadly poisons known to man.

But he was worried since the island would prevent Neoma's divine power from working.

[Perhaps her Roseheart Blood helped her this time.]

He was glad that their mother was Mona Roseheart.

"If that's the case, then you don't have to lash out at Lord Calyx."

He raised his head to meet Hanna's firm gaze.

"Don't glare at me. You know I'm right," Hanna said sternly. "Moreover, you shouldn't let the enemies know that Neoma was hurt."

Ah, right.

He was too consumed by anger that he almost made a mistake.

"You're right," he admitted. "Thank you for preventing me from making a mistake, Hanna."

"Although it's lovely to see you care for Neoma that much, don't let your emotions get the better of you."

"I understand," he said, nodding. Then he changed the topic. "Where are you headed?"

"I set an appointment with His Majesty," she explained. "I wish to get His Majesty's approval."

"Approval for what?"

"I plan to build an apiary in my current residence."

"Apiary?" he asked, confused. "Isn't that a bee yard?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"You're planning to raise bees?"

"Yes, and some poisonous flowers," she said. "Oh. I may need to get His Majesty's approval to raise poisonous flowers, too."

"That's an interesting combination."

Hanna just gave her a proud smile.

Aha.

[Hanna is up to something sneaky.]

It was Neoma's (bad) influence, wasn't it?

"Mother and Father are in the tearoom," Nero said, then he offered his arm to Hanna. "I'll escort you there."

***

NIKOLAI was about to follow Nero who stormed out of the tearoom when, all of a sudden, he felt a slight discord in the barrier that he put around the entire Royal Palace.

In just the blink of an eye, a jet-black rooster appeared in front of him.

Of course, it couldn't be an ordinary animal.

Hence, he stood protectively in front of Mona.

Then his Soul Beast South (the Vermillion Bird) came out in his human form.

"I apologize, Master," South said while kneeling and bowing in front of him. "I failed to stop that bastard from coming here."

That 'bastard?'

[South calls everyone he doesn't like a 'bastard.' But he's particularly irked with people from the same tribe as him. That's why he doesn't get along with Nero's ice phoenix.]

Then the rooster…

<"Have you been well, Nikolai?">

South turned to the black rooster and growled. "You disrespectful bastard! How dare you address my master by his name?!"

<"Well, I apologize for not respecting the person who killed my master heartlessly after treating her like a doormat for years.">

South opened his mouth to complain, but he beat the Soul Beast to it.

"Keep quiet, South."

South immediately turned to him and bowed his head. "Yes, Master."

"<anno data-annotation-id="814f240f-fb4c-df5f-caf1-977db8c1820a">Vespera</anno>," Nikolai said while looking down at the black rooster. It wasn't its original form, of course. "Why did Nichole send you here?"

Yes, the black rooster was Nichole's Soul Beast– the Black Phoenix.

[It probably changed into a rooster, a weak animal, so that the barrier wouldn't reject it.]

Of course, only Nichole could manipulate the barrier that he made because his twin sister had always been more talented than him when it came to making barriers.

<"My master wishes to meet you in the flesh, Nikolai.">

He was surprised to hear that. "Nichole wants to meet me in person?"

<"She would have come here herself, but we found out that Calyx Dalton was here.">

Ah.

Now he had a feeling as to why Nichole wanted to meet him.

<"Lady Roseheart, I apologize, but in my current state, I can only bring Nikolai with me.">

[Vespera talks to Mona respectfully while he's rude to me…]

Well, not that he deserved Vespera's respect after he harmed Nichole in the past.

"It's alright, Lady Vespera," Mona said, smiling. She also spoke politely to the Soul Beast, addressing Vespera as 'lady' because it was Vespera's wish to be referred to that way. "Please send my regards to Princess Nichole."

<"Of course, I will, Lady Roseheart.">

"Alright, take me to Nichole," he said, then he turned to Mona. "Is it okay if leave for a moment? I would love to take you with me, but I believe one of us has to stay here for Nero."

After all, the crows were in the palace at the moment.

"Of course, it's alright with me," Mona said, smiling. "I'll protect our son and the palace while you're out."

"Thank you," he said. "Ah, I just remembered that I'm supposed to meet Hanna later. I already signed the documents that she needed to renovate her residence again. If it's alright with you, can you hand them to Hanna?"

"Leave it to me, my love."

He couldn't help but smile because he really loved hearing Mona call him her 'love.'

"I'm lucky to have you," Nikolai said, then he leaned down to whisper in Mona's ear. "My love."

***

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<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="814f240f-fb4c-df5f-caf1-977db8c1820a">Nichole's Black Phoenix is originally called 'Raven,' but I accidentally gave the same name to Calyx Dalton's butler. Hence, I changed the Black Phoenix's name to 'Vespera.' Sorry!</li></ol></annotations>",