Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

JASPER didn't feel right leaving Hanna Quinzel alone.

He understood that the young lady had a point. The crows had already caught Hanna, and it wouldn't do any good if the crows also realized that he didn't forget Princess Neoma all this time. However, his heart protested.

[Lady Hanna is strong and I shouldn't treat her like a fragile glass. But Princess Neoma entrusted the young lady to me.]

He was about to return to where he had left Hanna when, suddenly, a man blocked his way.

Jasper was about to draw his sword when his eyes met a pair of glowing golden orbs.

[Oh.]

"Lewis Crevan?"

It had been five years since he last saw the fox boy. After all, for the last five years, he had always covered his face in order to protect his memories.

"You're Lewis Crevan, right?"

Silver hair, golden eyes.

And that face…

"It's me," Lewis said, his voice deeper and huskier than Jasper remembered. "You must have forgotten my face since it's been a while."

"No, it's not that I forgot your face," Jasper said while shaking his head. "It's just that I can't believe how ridiculously handsome you've become."

Rubin Drayton had enjoyed his fame as the most handsome young man in the empire.

But Lewis could probably snatch that title away from the bastard.

"Is that surprising?" Lewis asked, tilting his head to one side. "My face is Princess Neoma-approved, after all."

If someone else said those words, they would sound like they were bragging.

[But Lewis said it as a matter-of-fact. He even looked innocent. Well, he's not wrong since Princess Neoma approved his looks a long time ago.]

Wait, this wasn't the right time for this.

"I'll ask why you're here later, but for now, I need to go back to where I left Hanna Quinzel."

"No, I'll go," Lewis said indifferently. "I want you to do something for me, Hawthorne."

"Listen to this disrespectful brat," Jasper complained after the fox boy called him casually by his last name. "I'm your uncle, you know?"

***

[IS IT really Lewis?]

Hanna wasn't sure because this was the first time she had seen Lewis' face after five years.

In order for Lord Ruto's spell to last longer, Hanna and the rest were forbidden from seeing Neoma and Lewis' faces. They weren't also allowed to mention Neoma and Lewis' names out loud.

Although Hanna had seen Lewis' physical changes in his body through the countless video call meetings that they had for the last five years, she still couldn't believe that the person in front of her was really Lewis.

[I'm not into looks like Neoma is, but it's hard not to comment on Lewis' appearance when he has THAT face.]

"Lady Hanna?"

Hanna was distracted when she realized it wasn't the right time to be talking since they were being attacked everywhere. Hence, she grabbed Lewis by the sleeve of his robe (carefully avoiding touching his skin directly) before she created a Shadow Ring.

It was a technique similar to Neoma's Dome.

"Regina Crowell isn't alone," Hanna said. Now that they were inside her Shadow Ring, they could talk freely even though the barrier was being attacked relentlessly. They just couldn't see what kind of attack the shield was receiving because her Shadow Ring was, well, dark since it was made of shadows. "We need to fight them soon, but I need to know why you're here first, Lewis. Did something happen?"

"Prince Skylus sent us a message a few days ago," Lewis explained. "He said I must go to the Royal Capital and take you away from here."

"Is that a prophecy?"

"Most likely," he said. "Judging by the fact that Regina Crowell attacked you today, it's safe to assume that you can't continue living here while acting like your memories of Princess Neoma were erased."

She already thought that was the case.

But she was worried about her parents.

"If I leave now, I'm sure Regina will make it look like I died," Hanna said worriedly. "She'll probably swallow up my inheritance once I disappeared."

"I have a plan."

"What?"

Hanna was distracted when a strong force hit the Shadow Ring, causing it to have long cracks all over.

[It's going to break!]

She was about to tell Lewis to get ready when the unthinkable happened.

[Huh?]

Much to Hanna's surprise, Lewis gloved hand gently grabbed her by the arm, then he pulled her closer.

"Please excuse me, Lady Hanna."

She was wondering what it was all about.

Then Hanna got the shock of her life when Lewis suddenly carried her in his arms. Of course, she panicked.

"Hey, Lewis," Hanna said, her eyes widening a bit. "You hate physical contact…"

"Lady Hanna and Princess Neoma are the exceptions," Lewis said, then he looked up as if he was waiting for the Shadow Ring to completely break apart. "About my plan…"

"Y-Yes?"

Lewis turned to Hanna. "I will kidnap you."

"Excuse me?"

Lewis smiled at her playfully.

Oh.

Hanna was a little blown away by his smile.

After all, Lewis rarely smiled– let alone smile like he was up to no good.

She was about to ask the fox boy what he was up to when, suddenly, white bandages appeared out of nowhere and covered his face quickly.

"It's Paige's magic," Lewis explained, calling Lady Paige Avery casually now. "I need to cover my face for another reason."

Hanna didn't have the time to ask what Lewis meant by that when the Shadow Ring finally collapsed.

That was when she realized Lewis didn't come alone.

And Regina Crowell brought someone with her, too.

Rubin Drayton was there, and the young lord was protecting Regina Crowell from the bullets coming out of nowhere by slashing them with his swords.

Bullets…?

[Ah, Lord Jeno is probably hiding somewhere.]

"Tsk," Lewis complained while glaring at Rubin Drayton. "Ugly."

Hanna covered her mouth with her hands when he giggled. "Lewis, you're the only person on the continent who'd call Rubin Drayton 'ugly.'"

"He is," Lewis insisted, then his cold gaze fell on Regina. "Her, too."

Hanna turned to Regina and remembered that Nathaira– her Shadow Beast– fighting the crow's strange Shadow Beast.

[It looks like a deformed giant snake.]

But the strange Shadow Beast was pretty strong because it was pushing Nathaira backwards.

Hanna raised her hand to control Nathaira.

"Lady Hanna, don't," Lewis said. "Don't fight the crows."

"Huh?"

"I'm kidnapping you," Lewis explained, then he looked at her with glowing gold eyes. And that look in his eyes looked mischievous. "So you can't use your full strength."

Oh.

Now she was starting to see the big picture.

Hanna smiled while shaking her head. "Should I pretend to have fainted?"

"Later."

"Okay, I got it."

Hanna ordered Nathaira to come back.

But, before that, she asked the Imoogi to give the weird Shadow Beast a hard slap on the face using its tail.

The weird snake-like Shadow Beast was sent flying after getting hit by Nathaira on the face.

"Good girl," Hanna praised her Shadow Beast that was coming near her. "You did a great job, Nathaira."

The closer Nathaira got to her, the smaller she became until the Imoogi turned into a cute snake. Then the Shadow Beast snaked around Lewis' leg and climbed up his body until it reached Hanna.

After that, Nathaira crawled on Hanna's body until it reached her neck.

The Imoogi wrapped itself around Hanna's neck and became a tattoo that looked like a choker. And then it vanished to the naked eye.

"Hanna Quinzel."

It was Regina Crowell who called her, but the crow was looking at Lewis.

"That man," Regina said. "That's Lewis Crevan, right?"

"Shut it," Hanna said indifferently. "I don't want to hear Lewis' name coming out of your filthy mouth."

Regina sneered. "You're being harsh, dear cousin. What's wrong with mentioning Lewis– mff!"

The crow wasn't able to finish her sentence.

After all, Hanna grabbed Regina's face. To be precise, she used her shadow. Thanks to elongated arm of her shadow, she was able to grab Regina's face even though the crow was a few meters away from them.

"I told you to shut it," Hanna said firmly, closing her fist tightly because her shadow mimicked his physical actions. Hence, the shadow grabbed Regina's face tighter. "You don't deserve to utter his name."

Hanna would have liked to at least slap Regina.

But Rubin Drayton sliced off the arm of Hanna's shadow– causing Regina to be freed. Then the young lord threw a dagger at them.

Lewis slightly turned his body and used his white tail to block the dagger– sending it flying back to Rubin Drayton.

[It's cute seeing Lewis use his tail like that!]

Rubin Drayton managed to move his head in time to avoid the dagger, but the blade still managed to graze his cheek.

And it bled easily.

Lewis let out a smirk. "Heh."

[Uhm, Lewis, you kind of look corrupted right now…]

"How dare you?" Rubin Drayton snapped, his blue eyes glowing menacingly. "How dare you hurt the face of the most handsome person on the entire continent?"

"You handsome not," Lewis said in a broken sentence. "Ugly personality. Ugly face. Ugly all."

Hanna held back her laughter.

[Lewis talks in broken sentences when he hates the person he's dealing with.]

Their short banter was quickly interrupted when, suddenly, they felt an intimidating aura from the person both Hanna and Lewis knew all too well.

"Lady Hanna," Lewis whispered to her. "It's time."

"I know," Hanna said, then she closed her eyes to pretend that she had fainted. [Good luck, Lewis."

"Lad, give me back my daughter while I'm still asking nicely."

Yes, it was Duke Rufus Quinzel.

[Father, how did you get here?]

***

JASPER let out a sigh of relief.

As per Lewis' request earlier, he brought Duke Quinzel to that area as fast as he could. He used a teleportation scroll to get to the Royal Moon Academy where the older duke was, then he used a teleportation scroll again to bring Duke Quinzel to the slums.

Since he had a good reputation as a fellow duke, the patriarch of House Quinzel didn't doubt him when he said he saw Hanna Quinzel being abducted by the Pirates of the South.

That was the part Jasper didn't quite get.

[Lewis, why are you abducting Lady Hanna?]

***

MERRY CHRISTMAS to those who celebrate it! Sorry for the short chapter and late update, we had a family reunion. And I know y'all miss Neoma. We'll see her next chapter kicking some butts. You'll get to see how much Neoma has grown in the last past five years. Hooray!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

***

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