Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"DO YOU know why you have demonic power in you, Neoma de Moonasterio?"

"No, Grandpa," Neoma said while shaking her head. "I have a theory, though."

"Let's hear it then."

"I've seen fragments of my first life," she explained. "It seems like I've made a contract with the Ancient Devil in order to burn the world during the first timeline. I'm thinking that the contract I made with them in the past is the root of my demonic power."

"The divine blessing and power that we received from my father, Lord Yule, are both designed to purify any kind of Darkness attribute just like a demon's power."

Yep, she was aware of that.

[It's the reason why Papa Boss didn't inherit his mother's Shadow Manipulation Technique. After all, the Quinzels' power is a type of Darkness attribute.]

"But Grandpa, if that's true, then why did Princess Aruna inherit her mother's Black Witch blood?" she asked curiously. "According to history books, Empress Leticia– the mother of Princess Aruna and Emperor Arche– was a Black Witch. But, apparently, only de Moonasterion females could inherit the Black Witch blood. Hence, Emperor Arche didn't… wait." She knitted her eyebrows. "Only female de Moonasterions can inherit the Black Witch blood?"

Black Witches were Darkness attribute users.

[Plus, Aunt Nichole can also use Darkness attribute. But I thought it was because she died and was revived by the Devil…]

The Firs Emperor smiled at her. "Did you figure it out?"

She put a hand over her chest. "Are female de Moonasterions built different? Do we have the ability to wield Darkness attribute?"

"That's correct."

"But why only the women in the family?" she asked, knitting her eyebrows. "Where did we get that ability?"

"From my wife."

"Huh?"

"My wife was the Demon Queen."

Okay, she almost choked on her saliva. "Granda, you are the child of the Moon God and the Light Goddess. You're, like, a legit divine being. And yet you married a Demon Queen, a being who's probably born from Darkness attribute." She gave the First Emperor her signature double thumbs up. "You got balls, Grandpa. How did you convince the people to accept the Demon Queen as your wife?"

"Actually, I didn't know that she was the Demon Queen until she gave birth to our second child– a princess," he explained. "Our daughter was born with strong affinity to Darkness attribute. That was when I found out that she was the Demon Queen."

"You didn't leave her?"

"I didn't," the First Emperor said, smiling warmly. "I loved Gwen so much I didn't care whether she was the Demon Queen or not."

"Aww, that's sweet, Grandpa."

[He "forgot" his name, but not the name of his wife.]

The First Emperor's smile faded. "Uncle Callisto killed Gwen the moment he found out that she was the Demon Queen."

"Fucking bastard," she said through gritted teeth. "Grandpa, please don't call Callisto de Luca 'Uncle.' He doesn't deserve to be respected."

"Oh," the First Emperor said, surprised. Then he nodded. "You're right, Neoma. It's a bad habit that's hard to break since the "fucking bastard" raised me and my son."

She nodded, satisfied to hear the First Emperor curse at Callisto de Luca.

[You're doing well, Grandpa.]

"My life ended when I tried to kill Uncle Callisto for killing my wife," the First Emperor said. "But, fortunately, before I died, I managed to seal my daughter's demonic power. I used a spell that would protect all the future female de Moonasterios that would inherit my wife's demonic power. It was a spell that

"Oh, right," she said, nodding, when she remembered something important. "According to history books, Grandpa is the first Great Archmage of the Altalune Continent."

The First Emperor smiled and nodded. "Neoma de Moonasterio, all the female de Moonasterios in history were born with affinity to Darkness attribute. But you know what happened to them before they reached their full potential."

[The crows killed them.]

"However, you're still special, Neoma."

"Of course," Neoma said, nodding in agreement. "I always knew I was born the main character."

"…"

"Please carry on, Grandpa."

The First Emperor nodded. "When Gwen died, she asked me to turn her demonic power into a weapon. She wanted to give it to our daughter as an heirloom. But I didn't know what happened to that weapon after I died." He then smiled at her knowingly. "Until I met you, that is."

Neoma gasped out loud. "Skewer…?"

"The Death Scythe is a weapon I made from Gwen's demonic power," the First Emperor confirmed. "I don't know how it fell into the hands of the Devil, but I'm certain that the weapon with you is the weapon I made using my wife's Darkness attribute."

She suddenly felt like everything was falling into its rightful place.

"The first time I met Skewer, the Death Scythe, was when I met the Devil's Grimoire," Neoma shared with her ancestor. "Everyone wondered why I had an affinity to Darkness attribute. Now it makes sense."

It also made sense why not even Papa Boss knew about it.

[The fact that the First Emperor's wife was the Demon Queen was kept hidden as a secret all this time.]

"And now I understand why I fell in love with Skewer," Neoma said. "As a de Moonasterio, Papa Boss raised me not to depend on weapons because our brute strength is already our main weapon. However, even though the Death Scythe is an impractical weapon, I still like using it because I feel safe with it."

Now she understood why.

Since the scythe was made from her grandmother's demonic power, she felt attached to it.

"I'll teach you how to draw out the true power of the Death Scythe, Neoma," the First Emperor said, smiling. "Are you ready?"

Neoma smiled and nodded. "Yes, Grandpa."

***

"NEOMA, baby!"

Oh.

[I'm back.]

When Neoma opened her eyes, she saw Mama Boss and Papa Boss hovering above her. The two looked very worried about her. And it wasn't like she didn't know why.

"I'm sorry, Mama Boss, Papa Boss," Neoma said while getting up, both her parents helping her in every little movement that she did. From getting up to leaning against the headboard of the hospital bed. "Talking to Grandpa took longer than expected."

Well, they didn't just talk.

Her soul felt tired because of the technique that the First Emperor taught her.

"Grandpa?" Papa Boss asked worriedly. "Who did you meet this time?"

"He said he already forgot his name," Neoma explained. "But he told me to call him the First Emperor. He's the son of Lord Yule and Lady Roxana."

Her parents looked surprised by her revelation.

"That's right," Papa Boss said in a whisper. "The history books only called the first emperor by his title and never by his name."

"But why did the First Emperor summon you?" Mama Boss asked worriedly. "What did he say to you, daughter?"

"I'll explain everything later, Mama Boss," Neoma said in a hurry. "I'm sorry, but I need to find Trevor first."

***

"PRINCESS NEOMA, I heard you were summoned by the First Emperor–"

"That's not important right now, Trevor," Neoma said in a hurry. "I need you to send an urgent message to Jasper oppa for me."

Right now, Neoma and Trevor were in the hospital room.

This time, she was the one confined because her parents didn't want her to leave the hospital yet. Her body was a little exhausted, hence she agreed to be injected with IV drip. Her parents, on the other hand, were working together to erase the memories of the people who declared Papa Boss dead earlier.

"Did you find something?" Trevor asked curiously. "What will you ask Jasper Hawthorne to do?"

"Jasper oppa owns an information guild, and I want him to spread a rumor that will reach the East Continent."

"What kind of rumor would that be?"

Neoma pointed at her face. "I want Jasper oppa to spread that a Visual Goddess who is more beautiful than the Goddess of Beauty was born on the West Continent. Her face would put the Goddess of Beauty to shame despite being a mere human."

The demon boy knitted her eyebrow. "Princess Neoma, are you ready to announce your return already?"

"No," she said bluntly. "I just want to provoke the Goddess of Beauty."

"And why would you do that?"

She clenched her hands tight. "It seems like the Goddess of Beauty is spreading a false rumor about her marrying Ruto."

Trevor gave her a dire look. "And how did you know that it was a "false" rumor? You lost contact with Ruston Stroganoff two years ago. It's enough time for him to move on, you know?"

"A person who turned back time for me won't do that."

But, despite Neoma's bravado, she was actually a little scared.

[If the rumor about Ruto and the Goddess of Beauty was true, then it only means Ruto may have already lost all his feelings for me.]

That was why she wanted to know the truth.

"I need to find Ruto first," she said firmly. "If the Goddess of Beauty took my bait, I'm sure she'd react negatively to my provocation. And if she was really with Ruto, then we might find a clue as to where they are currently hiding."

"Fine, I'll ask Jasper Hawthorne to spread the rumor about the Visual Goddess who is more beautiful than the Goddess of Beauty despite being a mere human," Trevor said while shaking his head. "But what will you do if the rumor about the goddess and Ruston Stroganoff is true?"

"I'll cross the bridge when I get there," Neoma said through gritted teeth. "But perhaps I'll enter my yandere phase if Ruto really betrayed me."

***

NOTE: Thank you to everyone who saw my IG story yesterday about my minor accident and expressed their concerns. Sorry, I forgot to put on a trigger warning sign when I posted the picture of my bleeding leg. Hehe. I'm fine now, but I broke my promise again. Huhu. >.<

***

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