Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"SO, SOMETHING like that happened while I was away?" Mona asked through gritted teeth. "That fake Juliet dared to lay a hand on my man?"

The incident that Nikolai mentioned was when he almost fainted in the fake Juliet's presence. When he came to be, he found the fake Juliet on top of him. Thankfully, nothing happened because Hanna came on time.

[I should thank our precious Hanna later.]

If she had heard of that incident, then she would have figured out right away that the Juliet Sloane who appeared out of nowhere was a fake.

After all, she knew that the real Juliet wouldn't do that.

"Haah. I can't believe that the fake is using my body in that way," Juliet, who was sitting on the bed while surrounded by pillows, said in an annoyed voice. "I was never romantically or sexually attracted to someone in my past life. And yet, that fake dared to use my body to sleep with the person I consider my brother?"

"I'm sorry I was stupid," Nikolai said, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I know that Juliet wouldn't do something like that, so I believed her excuse when she said it was an accident. Had I been more suspicious of her, then I wouldn't have let her leave the palace."

After that day, the fake Juliet had gone to Marquis Lennox's mansion.

Mona couldn't blame Nikolai.

After all, the two of them were weak against Juliet since they both blamed themselves for her death. Hence, it was hard for them to doubt the fake Juliet.

[That's why I understand why Nikolai chose to believe the fake Juliet's excuse.]

"I'm sorry, Mona," Nikolai said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "It was my fault."

"It's alright, my love," Mona said while putting a hand over Nikolai's hand on her waist. "Now that we know that she's a fake, it will be easier for us to deal with her."

The problem would be Marquis Vincent Lennox.

[We made the mistake of accepting the fake Juliet as the real one easily. Hence, we have to find a way to prove that the Juliet Marquis Lennox is protecting is a fake.]

It wouldn't be easy, though.

"I thought of a way to convince my grandfather that the other Juliet is a fake," Juliet declared. "After all, that fake Juliet doesn't have my memories, does she? And even if she does, I'm sure she can't memorize every single thing that happened in my life– especially in my childhood."

"Are you thinking about using your memories against the fake one?" Nikolai asked. "That might work."

"The hard part is to convince my grandfather to put the fake Juliet on a test," Juliet said seriously. "And, of course, you must do it without the fake Juliet's knowledge. Hence, until we pull my grandfather to our side, you all must pretend that you haven't realized yet that the fake Juliet is a fake."

That would be a little hard.

Mona wanted to punish the fake for touching her man. But for the real Juliet's sake, she had to hold back for now.

[Just for a little while.]

"Alright. We will act like we don't know she's a fake in the meantime," Mona said firmly, then she turned to Nikolai. "My love, I trust you. But I don't trust the fake and her dirty tricks. So please, make sure you'll never be alone with her again."

Nikolai kissed her forehead and nodded. "I promise, my love."

The peaceful moment that they were having was interrupted when the three of them felt an intruder.

Fortunately, they could easily tell who the "intruder" was.

It was Ruto, and the young man made his presence known on purpose.

[He's saying that he doesn't mean harm.]

"That insolent punk," Nikolai growled under his breath. "How dare he visit my daughter at this hour?"

Mona stopped Nikolai when he was about to bolt out of the room, probably to chase Ruto out of the palace. "Leave them be, Nikolai. If Ruto wanted to meet Neoma behind our backs, he could do so since he's capable of hiding his presence from us. But he didn't do that. He intentionally let us know about his arrival because he wanted to gain our trust."

The emperor continued frowning, obviously still displeased by Ruto's visit.

It was a little frustrating when Nikolai was being this stubborn, but it was also cute.

[He really cares about our Baby Muffin.]

"Moreover, you know Ruto is the no-nonsense type," Mona said gently. She was on Ruto's side this time, and she wanted Neoma to have more freedom. "He wouldn't visit Neoma at this hour if it wasn't important."

Nikolai let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine, I'll let it slide this time. But I won't let Ruston Stroganoff date my daughter. Neoma is only thirteen years old!"

"You're one to talk," Juliet said, scoffing. "You and Mona were already dating at that age."

Mona laughed when Nikolai turned red from embarrassment.

[Juliet can really "break" Nikolai with just a few words.]

***

"WHAT DID you bring with you?"

Ruto raised his eyebrow when Prince Nero blocked his way in the dark hallway. "I'm not sure what Your Royal Highness is talking about."

"Neoma's sense may have gone weak when she turned into a baby, but you can't fool me," Prince Nero said. "You brought a monster with you."

Ah.

The Crown Prince must be talking about the Ancient Devil.

He tried to suppress the Ancient Devil as much as he could because he knew there were several strong people in the Royal Palace. To be honest, he thought he concealed the Ancient Devil's presence well.

But Prince Nero still sensed it.

"It won't hurt Neoma," Ruto said vaguely. "Unlike Your Royal Highness, I can control the "monster" within me."

The Crown Prince let out a frustrated sigh. "You're an eyesore."

"Your Royal Highness' words won't affect me," he said. "After all, Neoma just told me that my face is her most favorite face in the entire world."

"Neoma is obsessed with her face, and we have the same face," Prince Nero said, scoffing. "So, what are you talking about?"

"I'm saying Neoma likes my face in a romantic sense," Ruto said confidently. "We're not on the same level, Prince Nero."

***

"PARRICIDE," Trevor complained after coughing up blood. "Lewis Crevan, you should be arrested for attempted parricide crime! How dare you try to kill me– your "father?""

"You're not my father," Lewis growled lowly, his golden eyes glowing menacingly. His fangs and sharp claws were out. And it looked like the fox boy wanted to maul Trevor to death even though his kick almost killed Trevor already. "If you don't let me out, I will kill you–"

"Lewis, have some snacks first."

Thankfully, Lewis' bloodlust disappeared as soon as Princess Nichole and Dominic Zavaroni entered the room.

The Princess Royal brought a tray filled with different snacks.

On the other hand, the former saint brought cups of hot chocolate for them.

[Lewis only behaves when Princess Nichole and Dominic Zavaroni are here.]

It was probably because Princess Nichole was Princess Neoma's aunt, while Dominic Zavaroni was Princess Neoma's former mentor.

[Would you look at that?]

Lewis sat on the chair quietly.

"This is discrimination," Trevor complained when he stood up while holding his stomach that Lewis kicked a moment ago. "Lewis, you almost killed me with your infamous "one-kick attack." And now you're pretending like a good boy."

Lewis gave her a dire stare. "Speak. Don't."

"Wow!" Trevor complained in disbelief. "And now you're talking incoherently to me after you threatened me with cold words a few minutes ago!"

The fox boy ignored him to drink his hot chocolate.

"Trevor, calm down," Dominic Zavaroni said, laughing softly. "Lewis is being harsh to you because you're annoying."

Ouch.

"My man is right," Princess Nichole said, then she turned to Trevor and clicked her tongue. "I'm glad my niece isn't interested in you. I don't know if I can accept you as my nephew-in-law, Trevor."

Ouch again.

Lewis, on the other hand, smirked.

"Wow, you're ganging up on me," Trevor complained, then he sat on the chair next to Dominic Zavaroni. "Anyway, should we contact Princess Neoma now? Based on the information that we collected, Her Royal Highness is already back in the Royal Palace. I'm sure Princess Neoma will come out for her precious "son.""

Lewis glared at Trevor.

"It won't be as easy to kidnap Neoma even if we managed to lure her out of the Royal Palace," Princess Nichole said. "Ruston Stroganoff is back, and he's currently with Princess Neoma."

"Then let me fight him," Trevor said. "This time, I'll win."

The Princess Royal didn't look convinced.

"What, why?" Trevor asked, confused. "You don't trust me?"

"It's not like that, Trevor," Princess Nichole said. "But–"

"Ruston Stroganoff has already awakened the Ancient Devil."

It was the Devil.

Lewis, upon seeing the Devil's appearance, looked surprised.

Aruna de Moonasterio, in the body of Arche de Moonasterio, appeared in the room cloaked in black from head to toe.

[Now that they're back, Princess Nichole's power as the "temporary" Devil is almost non-existent now.]

The hierarchy was a little confusing since the title 'Devil' belonged to two people.

"Ruston Stroganoff is already a problem since he's too powerful despite his young age," the Devil said. "But now that he made contact with the Ancient Devil, he has become untouchable."

"The Ancient Devil?" Trevor asked, confused.<anno data-annotation-id="3a3038a7-f06d-147d-184d-52d59d3fed12"> "Just how many Devils are there?"</anno>

***

ANNOUNCEMENT: Neoma is already an adult in the advanced chapters. Hehe. Please subscribe to my priv chapters to meet the 19-year-old Neoma if you can. Thank you~

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<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="3a3038a7-f06d-147d-184d-52d59d3fed12">Trevor asking the right questions. :></li></ol></annotations>",