Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

[A few moments earlier…]

"YOU CALLED us, my Moon Princess?"

Neoma nodded at Trevor's question.

She was sitting on the chair beside the bed when Trevor and Gin entered the room. It was the same room where Xion was confined in earlier. She borrowed the room from Sharon again because it was the room with the strongest divine protection.

Hence, she could use her divine power there.

[I really need to have a long talk with Miss Sharon later.]

"Welcome," Neoma said without moving an inch. "I have something to discuss with you."

She didn't have to stand up, since she had the highest rank in the room. Trevor was a noble so he was probably aware of royal etiquette. And Gin also seemed like he learned etiquette since he was well-mannered.

Anyway, it wasn't like she was abusing her authority as the royal princess.

There was a reason why she remained seated.

"Discuss with us?" Trevor asked curiously. "What is it, Princess Neoma?"

She smirked and gave the demon boy a thumbs up. "Since you graciously shared the location of the mansion with us, now I can go there and launch a surprise attack."

""I?"" Gin, who was sensitive as hell, asked cautiously. "Where are we in that plan of yours, little princess?"

"Here," she said, smirking.

Then she snapped her fingers while standing up.

Before Trevor and Gin could escape the room, they already found themselves trapped inside Neoma's Dome.

Trevor and Gin attacked the Dome in order to break it, but to no avail.

The reason she didn't stand up earlier was because she was afraid Trevor and Gin would read her body language while she was preparing to trap them inside her Dome. Hence, she sat down to appear relaxed.

"Princess Neoma, I thought your Dome weakened because of the Darkness on this island," Gin said, smirking bitterly at her. "So why the hell is your Dome so sturdy now?"

"It's thanks to the divine protection of this room," she explained. "To be honest, I haven't talked to Miss Sharon yet about this secret hide-out. But that has to wait, since I need to deal with Regina Crowell first before she escapes."

"My Moon Princess, you're heading to the enemy's hide-out," Trevor warned her. "Dilan Crowell is there. You need me to fight that shitty fake-ass sorcerer."

Oh.

[Trevor is usually rude, but this is the first time I've heard him become so crude. It's not my (bad) influence, is it?]

"I know what you mean. It certainly will be easy to fight against Regina and Dilan Crowell with you, Trevor," she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "But I know you will only use that opportunity to separate me from my children and kidnap me while I'm busy fighting the crows. I won't let you do that, so I'm locking you up here– you and Gin."

Trevor frowned. "My Moon Princess–"

"I won't let you stab me in the back again, Trevor," Neoma said in a serious tone that she rarely used on the demon boy. "The first time you betrayed me, I let it slide because you have the right to choose which side to take. You never swore your loyalty to me in the first place, so I never considered you as one of my people who will live, fight, and die for my sake."

The demon boy smiled sadly at her. "Well, that's sad. I'm always sincere with you, Princess Neoma–"

"I know," she said, cutting him off. "And I'm sincere when I said you're my chingu. Well, now you're my "frenemy" because you decided to join the Devil's side in order to "save" me. Even so, I know you're doing this for my sake, so I can't really hate you."

Trevor looked touched by her words. "Princess Neoma…"

"That's why I can't let you cross the line," Neoma said firmly. "Even though I'm easy-going, rude, and arrogant– I'm still the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire. If you kidnap me, you'll be a criminal for real. Moreover, my family won't forgive you since they love me so much. You might think Nero and Papa Boss are the scariest members of my family, but you're wrong. It's actually Mama Boss that you should be afraid of if you dared to lay your hand on me."

"Yep, that's the Princess Neoma that we know and love," Gin said, chuckling while clapping his hands. "I'll never get tired of your arrogance, Your Royal Highness."

"Why, thank you."

The black cat just laughed.

Trevor, on the other hand, just smiled warmly at her. "Twenty minutes," he said, the Bookworm materializing around his shoulders. "I think I might be able to break this Dome in 20-30 minutes, my Moon Princess."

"That's more than enough for me to deal with the crows," Neoma said, turning her back on Trevor and Gin. "See you later, boys."

***

NEOMA started the real discussion of her plans with her children in the next room.

She already told Sharon that Trevor and Gin would be locked up, so the lions wouldn't be shocked when they found the two trapped in her Dome.

"I'll bring Paige and Jeno with me," Neoma said while looking at her children. "Juri, Xion, Greko– you three will stay here to keep an eye on Trevor and Gin, and protect the lions as well."

Neoma might be awesome, but she sucked at using magic.

Hence, she needed Paige in order to counter Dilan Crowell's "magic tricks" since she couldn't trust Trevor at the moment. Jeno, on the other hand, was needed as their hidden card in case Regina had a trap set up for them.

[I mean, Regina is smart. She knows I'll raid the mansion as soon as I recover, and she won't wait idly. That's why she's trying to run away, after all.]

"Princess Neoma, is it safe to assume that Trevor and Gin will now be treated as enemies?" Juri asked carefully. "If they managed to break the Dome, do we have permission to fight them for real?"

"Yes," Neoma said. She had a feeling that Trevor and Gin wouldn't prioritize escaping over fighting her "children," though. "Do your best to hold them back. However, if it gets too dangerous–"

"Drop it because no mission is worth dying for," Juri, Greko, and Xion said at the same time.

"Very good," Neoma said, laughing. Then she turned to Paige and Jeno. "Let's go, kids."

Paige and Jeno bowed at her command. "As Your Royal Highness wishes."

***

[THIS ISN'T my first time riding on Jeno's cloud, but I still feel like I'm Son G*ku whenever he rides his yellow magical cloud.]

Of course, it wasn't Neoma's first time to experience using Jeno's cloud as transportation.

However, it was still as exciting as the first time since her "son" was going full speed. She could barely see the top of the trees in the jungle. But even though they were flying above the jungle, the air wasn't hitting their face harshly. They also didn't have trouble breathing.

It was all thanks to Paige's magic protection.

"Oh, I see it now," Neoma said, pointing a finger at the "mansion" ahead of them. "Wow, only the annex building is left, huh?"

She could see that there used to be a mansion in that vast land.

However, it was obvious that the surroundings were melted by the magma. Only the annex building was left unscathed, and that building was currently surrounded by a bluish barrier of some sort.

"The annex building is inside a magic circle, Princess Neoma," Paige explained, her turquoise eyes glowing in the dark beautifully. "Based on my calculations, it will be completed in ten-fifteen minutes."

"`Gotcha," Neoma said, smiling as she spotted a familiar blob of black hair below. Well, it wasn't easy to find because that person was trying to blend in the Darkness scattered in the estate, but she could see them clearly. "Paige, Jeno, find a decent spot to hide and standby. And watch out for Dilan Crowell, too."

After saying that, she jumped off the flying cloud and summoned her wings.

Her wings made of red roses grew from her back, stabilizing her "free fall."

This time, her target had already noticed her presence.

Regina Crowell looked up, her glowing green eyes widened in shock upon seeing her.

"Annyeong!" Neoma greeted Regina using the Korean language to confuse her for fun. "Please accept my heartfelt gift, Regina Crowell!"

The gift that she mentioned was Tteokbokki's giant fireball.

"Curse you," Regina Crowell mouthed at her, then she raised her arms to block her attack. "Neoma de Moonasterio."

Neoma's smile faded as soon as a plate-like barrier appeared out of Regina's hands.

[Shadows…?]

***

REGINA coughed up blood as soon as her back hit the ground.

The impact made a crater.

But it was because she used Shadows to cushion her fall. If she had stumbled without protection after blocking Princess Neoma's flame, she would have broken her skull.

Even so, using a large amount of Shadows took a toll on her body right away.

[I just have to endure for a few minutes…]

"Shadows?" Princess Neoma, who was suspended in the air (thanks to her wings made of red roses) asked while looking down at her. "Did you steal the Quinzels' technique or something?"

"Princess Neoma, I heard from Rubin that you know about his split personality," Regina said, blood trickling down from the corner of her mouth. "Do you remember the name of Rubin's alter-ego?"

"I remember Rubin introducing his other personality to me as 'Gavin,'" the royal princess said. "And he also said that you were the one who named his alter-ego."

"That's right," she said proudly. "You see, I'm quite fond of the name 'Gavin.'"

And it was because Regina was raised with the adults drilling into her head that she was the daughter of Commander Gavin Quinzel– the former heir of House Quinzel, and the man apparently seduced by Lady Mona Roseheart.

[I was told Gavin Quinzel was already dead while growing up, though.]

However, according to the reports, Gavin Quinzel had been revived but currently missing.

"I didn't steal the Shadow Manipulation Technique from the Quinzels," Regina said, smirking at the royal princess. "I inherited it from my father."

[Oh?]

The royal princess' eyes suddenly turned glowing red.

"Regina Crowell," Princess Neoma said, her voice shaking from anger. "Are you saying that Gavin Quinzel is your biological father?"

"That, I am," Regina said, laughing. "But why are you so angry, Princess Neoma?"

As expected of the royal princess, she was quick to catch on. Her Royal Highness immediately realized why she suddenly talked about the name of Rubin Drayton's "other personality."

Dilan Crowell couldn't act like a normal human whenever he would possess Rubin Drayton's body.

Hence, Regina had no choice but to make House Drayton believe that the young lord had a split personality. She even named the "persona" 'Gavin' in order for the servants to realize whenever Rubin Drayton was acting strange (because of Dilan and his insanity).

Since Duke Drayton considered it shameful for Rubin Drayton to have a mental illness, it was kept a secret.

[But Rubin and Dilan exposed themselves to "Prince Nero" in the past.]

However, Regina didn't understand why Princess Neoma looked so angry at the moment just because she revealed she was Gavin Quinzel's daughter.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Princess Neoma landed on her feet, then pulled her up by the collar.

Argh!

[Who knew Princess Neoma could be this barbaric?]

"Did you steal Gavin Quinzel's Seed, too?" Princess Neoma asked in an eerily calm manner. "Just how did you do that?"

"If you want answers, then make me talk," Regina said, then she grabbed Princess Neoma's neck. "Princess Neoma, why do you hate me so much?"

***

NERO clutched his chest tight.

He felt like his heart was burning up. But he was fine, so it could only mean one thing: it was Neoma who carried this heavy anger in her chest.

[What set her off this time?]

<"Prince Nero.">

It was Zeru, the ice phoenix, talking to him in his mind.

<"Tteokbokki, Princess Neoma's Soul Beast, sent an urgent message.">

Nero let out a sigh. "I figured that much."

He wasn't alone in the portal room inside the Quinzel Estate.

Hanna, Duke Rufus Quinzel, and his mother all turned to him with a curious look on their faces.

But the three immediately realized that he was talking to his Soul Beast.

<"According to Tteokbokki, Princess Neoma is on the verge of insanity again.">

He knitted his eyebrows. "What made Neoma angry this time?"

<"Princess Neoma found out that Regina Crowell is Gavin Quinzel's daughter.">

Nero's eyes widened in shock. "Regina Crowell is Gavin Quinzel's daughter?"

His companions looked as shocked as he was.

Hanna covered her mouth when she gasped, while his mother's eyes went wide.

"What?" Duke Rufus Quinzel asked, obviously shocked. "My brother has a daughter? And it's the young lady who tried to kill our Hanna in the past?!"

***

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