Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

[I'M EIGHTEEN years old now, so it means Ruto is twenty-two.]

No wonder Neoma thought Ruto was manlier than ever.

Aside from his neat face that she liked, she also couldn't ignore how tall and DEFINED his body was.

Ruto was wearing a white linen shirt that was a little tight on the chest area (those poor little buttons barely holding the shirt together). It was because of his wide expanse of chest. Moreover, the sleeves were also rolled up to his elbows– exposing those sexy forearms of his.

Oh, god.

[Ruto and 'sexy' in one sentence? Gosh, my thoughts are getting lewd!]

She couldn't help it, though.

Ruto's long legs were also emphasized by the black pants he was wearing, and those black combat shoes made him look extra cool. The black cloak and black short gloves that completed his outfit also boosted his brooding vibes.

[My man is in his edgy era, and I'm loving it.]

"Are you done checking me out, Princess Neoma?"

"Yes," Neoma answered shamelessly, then she looked up at Ruto's face to look at him straight in the eye. "I'll give you 9 out of 10 points."

Ruto didn't look impressed. "The way you stared made me think you'd give me a ten."

"I would have given you a perfect ten had you looked at me with sparkling eyes," she said, shrugging. "But you're giving me a rather indifferent look, so I deducted a point."

"Am I supposed to marvel at your sight?"

"Of course," Trevor answered in Neoma's place. "You should be thankful to breathe the same air as my Moon Princess."

"Shut it, Trevor," Neoma said, then she turned to Ruto again. "You've really forgotten all the romantic and positive feelings you have for me, huh?"

Ruto nodded. "That seems to be the case."

"Even so, I'm glad that you still remember me," Neoma said. "All I have to do is make you fall in love with me again."

"You make it sound easy."

"I'm Neoma, I find ways," Neoma said, her gaze passing by Ruto. "Let's talk later– they are here."

The Holy Knights, led by Captain Henrik Benedict, finally arrived.

[It's been a while, Egg Benedict.]

Aside from the captain of the Holy Knights, she saw another familiar face.

"Dion Skelton," Neoma said after seeing the current High Priest of the Astello Temple. "I'm here to save you."

As expected, Dion Skelton didn't look like himself at the moment.

[He used to have eyes that look like they contain the universe in them. But now, his eyes look dull.]

Obviously, Dion was being controlled by the crows.

"We'll ask questions later," Dion said in a commanding yet indifferent voice. "Arrest the intruders first."

Henrik Benedict. "As you command, High Priest."

And the Holy Knights began to charge at them.

Aside from the threat of the Holy Knights, the Darkness that emerged from the broken statues had taken the shape of a being closely similar to a giant. In short, it became a huge lump of Darkness acting like a human that it wasn't.

"Trevor, get rid of the Darkness monster," Neoma said, walking past Trevor and Ruto. "Ruto, take care of the Holy Knights– but don't kill them. I'll deal with Dion Skelton."

"As you command, my Moon Princess~"

"I'm only following your order because it sounds reasonable," Ruto said. "It doesn't mean anything."

"I know, Lord Ruto," Neoma said, dodging the Holy Knights coming at her. "You sound defensive, though~"

She would have loved to tease Ruto more, but saving Dion Skelton was her priority at the moment.

Fortunately, Trevor and Ruto were both highly competent.

The Darkness and the Holy Knights couldn't come close to her. Hence, she was able to reach Dion Skelton in time.

But, of course, as a former Paladin, the current High Priest could also fight.

Dion drew his sword as soon as Neoma was within his range.

"Stop," Neoma said in a low and commanding voice. "I don't want to accidentally hurt you, Dion Skelton."

Fortunately, her Alluring Aura worked on the High Priest.

The original name of the technique where a de Moonasterio would suppress the enemy with their aura was 'Tyrannical Aura.'

But Neoma didn't like the name, so she changed it to 'Alluring Aura.'

[It fits me better that way.]

Anyway…

Dion Skelton was frozen in his place.

"You haven't forgotten about Paige Avery, have you?"

For a moment, the spark in Dion Skelton's eyes returned.

[Aww… it's true love, I'm telling you.]

It was only for a moment, though.

Soon, Dion clutched his head with his hands and shut his eyes tight while screaming as if he was in agony.

[Ah, Dion is probably fighting whatever it is that's been controlling him all this time.]

"Don't worry, Dion," Neoma said, putting a hand over Dion's head. "I'm here to save you."

She gathered a huge amount of divine power in her hand, then held Dion's head tighter as she purified the Darkness that corrupted the High Priest's soul.

Dion yelled louder until he collapsed.

When Neoma let go of Dion's head, she realized that her hand had turned black because of the Darkness that she sucked out of the High Priest's soul.

And now, that Darkness was trying to enter her body to corrupt her, probably.

She could feel the Darkness pricking her skin while trying to break in.

"The audacity," Neoma said, scoffing. Then she clenched her hand tight. As soon as she did that, the Darkness vanished and her hand returned to normal. "How dare you try to corrupt the one who inherited Lady Roxana's Light?"

***

[RUTO got himself a harem while I wasn't looking, huh?]

It was a joke, of course.

Neoma just found it ~interesting~ that Ruto was traveling the continent with two girls who were familiar to her.

The first one was Dahlia.

"Why aren't you looking at me, Miss Dahlia?" Neoma asked carefully. "Did I do something wrong?"

Right now, Neoma was in the drawing room of the temple with Dahlia.

She asked Trevor to guard Dion Skelton and the Holy Knights who were still unconscious.

Ruto and the other ~lady~ who came with him to the temple were outside. Apparently, the two were trying to contact the remaining members of their group.

"Princess Neoma didn't do anything wrong," Dahlia said while looking at her hands instead of looking at Neoma. "I just feel guilty. After all, if it wasn't for my ability that the crows stole from me, this world wouldn't have forgotten about Your Royal Highness."

"I fail to see how it was your fault, Dahlia," Neoma said, shrugging. "It wasn't your fault that the crows kidnapped you to steal your ability."

"But if only I was strong enough to escape…"

"If you put it that way, then it was my fault because I failed to protect you."

Dahlia raised her head to look at her while shaking her head firmly. "It's not Princess Neoma's fault! It was the crows!"

"Right?" she said, smiling. "The crows are the root of evil in this world, so let's not blame each other for something that has already happened."

Dahlia bit her lower lip. "Are you not mad at me, Princess Neoma?"

"I'm not," Neoma said, laughing. "Why would I be?"

"But I don't know the counter spell for my own ability."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, girl. Trevor is already working on the counterspell, and he's about to finish it."

Dahlia suddenly burst out crying as if she was relieved. "Princess Neoma is really cool."

Neoma laughed while handing a handkerchief to Dahlia. "I know, right?"

Their moment was cut short when the door burst open.

Ruto entered the room with the other ~lady~ that he came with.

"It's been a while, Princess Neoma," Phoebe Willows greeted her cheerfully. "You're all grown up now, huh?"

Phoebe Willows– Ruto's almost fiancée.

[When the cat is away, the mice will surely play.]

Since Neoma disappeared from the world, it looked like Levi did his best to put Phoebe Willows beside Ruto.

[But I wonder how Phoebe Willows remember me?]

Did Ruto protect the child's memories of her?

"You're right, Lady Phoebe," Neoma said calmly. "It's been a while, and I've grown into a Visual Goddess."

Phoebe's smile froze. "Visual Goddess? What does it mean?"

Neoma pointed at her face confidently. "This."

Fortunately, Phoebe understood what she meant by that. But the child obviously looked displeased. "You dare call yourself a goddess of beauty when Lady Astrid already exists?"

"And who is that?"

"Lady Astrid is the TRUE Goddess of Beauty!"

"Is there a rule that says only one Goddess of Beauty is allowed to exist?" Neoma asked innocently. "What can I do? I also have god-tier beauty."

"It's blasphemous to compare your beauty to the Goddess of Beauty!" Phoebe yelled angrily. "Your arrogant pierces the sky, Princess Neoma!"

"I know," Neoma said, still calm. "I'm hoping the bad gods above get pierced by my arrogance."

Phoebe looked at a loss for words.

Dahlia, on the other hand, snorted as if the Black Witch was trying to hold back her laughter.

Okay, now it just looked like she was trying to bully Phoebe Willows.

In her defense, she was simply expressing her confidence with her face.

[But I should stop my teasing here. Phoebe is still a child. I should be the bigger person since I'm older.]

Neoma noticed that Phoebe Willows seemed to be close to the Goddess of Beauty, though.

[Are they BFFs?]

"Fine. I admit your beauty is comparable to Lady Astrid's beauty," Phoebe said, smirking. "But what use does your beautiful has when Lord Ruto has already forgotten about his love for you?"

"It's okay," Neoma said, then she looked at Ruto. "I have Ruto's permission to seduce him anyway."

Heh.

[Did you really think I would just sit and do nothing while I'm perfectly aware that Ruto would slowly yet surely forget his love for me? As I said earlier, I'm Neoma and I find ways.]

Phoebe looked stupefied. "What do you mean by that?"

Ruto, who also looked confused, knitted his eyebrows while looking at Neoma. "I gave you permission to seduce me?"

"You probably don't remember, but you hired me to seduce you once you've lost all your love for me, Ruto," Neoma said, smiling. Then she pulled out the precious contract from her Lynx Ring– aka her "inventory." She showed the important piece of paper to Ruto. "We made a LOVE CONTRACT because we both expected that your father will mess with your memories once you forget about your feelings for me, my dear jagiya."

***

NOTE: BUCKLE UP, Y'ALL! The romance part of the story is here! >:>

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