Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

673 A SIDE QUEST (2)

THE ROOM was eerily quiet.

Jasper didn't want to admit this, but he was the only person in the room who had a hard time withstanding the pressure coming out of Princess Neoma.

[It's… getting harder for me to breathe…]

Princess Neoma was sitting on the chair next to the bed while listening to Duckie's story.

The royal princess was exuding authority and dignity– from the way she sat on the chair as if she was sitting on the throne, up to the way she looked while listening intently.

[It's a grace that only a true royal could possess…]

Jasper clutched his chest discreetly while trying to breathe.

This time, he wasn't the only one affected by Princess Neoma's silent anger.

Even Miss Dahlia took a deep breath.

"Babe," Lord Ruto said, placing a hand on Princess Neoma's shoulder. "Calm down."

Jasper winced at Lord Ruto's poor choice of words.

[Lord Ruto, if you told a lady to calm down, she'll only get angrier…]

But, contrary to what he thought at first, Princess Neoma actually calmed down.

[Huh? It worked…?]

The heavy pressure that lingered in the air because of Princess Neoma's silent anger disappeared in an instant.

Princess Neoma turned to them. "Is everyone alright?"

Jasper and Miss Dahlia both nodded politely and answered at the same time, with the same words. "Yes, Princess Neoma."

"Very well," the royal princess said, then she turned to the duck again. "Duckie, what made you say that the people who invaded this town are creating a fake Elemental Guardian? And how is summoning the Hell Knights related to that?"

"Elemental Guardians are beings that are loved and blessed by Nature," Duckie began his explanation. "To be precise, the fairies, the elves, and the mermaids were chosen by Nature to look after the Elemental Guardians. Before me, the Thunderbird, the Blue Whale, and the White Lion were chosen as the Elemental Guardians, the fairies, the elves, and the mermaids gave us difficult trials before we received their approval."

Jasper was fascinated by the things that he had heard from the duck.

He didn't know much about the Elemental Guardians despite being a duke who was supposed to be knowledgeable about creatures living on the continent.

[Elemental Guardians aren't popular creatures on the Western Continent because we have the Royal Family's Soul Beasts. To the people of the empire, everything else pales in comparison. That's how much Soul Beasts are loved by our people.]

"The people who imprisoned the people of this town have also kidnapped a large number of fairies, elves, and mermaids," Duckie continued with his explanation. "They are forcing the fairies, the elves, and the mermaids to pour their blessings into the poor creature that they are trying to turn into an Elemental Guardian."

"What creature is that?"

"I didn't get to see it clearly because I was caught right away, but I believe it was a horse, Princess Neoma," the duck answered the royal princess' question. Then the duck hesitated before he continued. "The people trapped inside the dark barrier were all asleep. But they're slowly dying, Your Royal Highness. I don't know what exactly is happening, but the victims are releasing Darkness in gas form as they sleep."

Jasper knitted his eyebrows.

[Can humans produce Darkness?]

That sounded worrying.

[Helstor, the God of Eternal Darkness, is either feared or ignored by humans. But even so, the other gods haven't persecuted Helstor because he hasn't done anything to threaten the human race. He wasn't the one who started the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period, after all.]

Moreover, Helstor was kept alive to protect humans who were born with the Darkness attribute– just like the Quinzels.

[It was to show that having a Darkness attribute doesn't make a person evil.]

But if Helstor was the one behind all of this, then humans would begin to fear Darkness again.

[And Darkness attribute users might get ostracized yet again just like in the past.]

"Those horrible people are feeding the poor horse the Darkness released by the sleeping victims."

"Wait," Princess Neoma said. "Are you saying that those fuckers are forcing the kidnapped fairies, elves, and mermaids to pour blessings into the artificial Elemental Guardian, and at the same time, they're also feeding it with Darkness?"

The duck nodded. "Exactly, Princess Neoma."

"Darkness isn't really inherently evil," Lord Ruto said. "Hence, even if the blessing and the Darkness get mixed inside the fake Elemental Guardian, it wouldn't pose a problem. Just like how the former Emperor Nikolai, who also inherited the Darkness attribute of the Quinzels, lived fine despite having divine power and Darkness attribute inside him. The only drawback was Emperor Nikolai couldn't use the Shadow Manipulation Technique because his divine power was stronger than his Darkness attribute."

"But I can use my Darkness attribute since I can wield Skewer just fine~"

"It's because you're special."

Lord Ruto said it so indifferently, so Jasper couldn't understand why Princess Neoma while smiling broadly.

"It seems like they're trying to create a fake Elemental Guardian that can wield Darkness," Miss Dahlia said carefully. "But I still don't understand how summoning the Hell Knights is related to this."

"An Elemental Guardian needs an owner," Duckie said. "Apparently, summoning the Hell Knights was the easiest and quickest way to "revive" the Commander of Darkness."

"Argh!" Princess Neoma said while rubbing her arms as if she was disgusted. "Gosh, what's with the cheesy names? 'Commander of Darkness?' Are we in a shounen manga or what?"

"Does it matter?" the duck complained lightly. "Princess Neoma, do you know who the Commander of Darkness is?"

"He's the agent of whoever it was that created the Absolute Darkness during the Ancient Period."

Duckie looked surprised. "You know…?"

Princess Neoma scoffed. "Duckie, did you forget I'm the one and only royal princess of the empire? Plus, I received the education of a Crown Prince. Of course, my big brain would have memorized the history of our empire."

"I do not doubt your intelligence, Princess Neoma," the duck insisted in a frustrated voice. "I'm asking why the hell are you still calm even after you heard that those bastards are trying to summon the Commander of Darkness through the Hell Knights? Worse, those bastards are going to make the Commander the owner of the fake Elemental Guardian!"

"The Commander of Darkness failed to cover the world in Absolute Darkness," Princess Neoma said nonchalantly, then she put a hand over her chest proudly. "But I am someone who once set the world on fire. I succeeded, so I win. That means I'm stronger than the Commander who failed his task."

Jasper and Dahlia were a little confused about Princess Neoma's logic.

But Duckie just nodded as if he understood. "I almost forgot that there was no sane de Moonasterio in history. Why did I even get my hopes up?"

Princess Neoma just ignored the duck, then she turned to Jasper. "Oppa, the Northern Region is governed by the nobles who belong to the Neutral Faction, right?"

Jasper nodded. "I already sent them a message, Princess Neoma. I'm just waiting for their response."

"Oppa."

"Yes, Princess Neoma?"

"Tell those Northern lords to come and meet me later," the royal princess said while standing up. "I can't believe how poor this part of their territory is when those fucking lords are living well."

[Ah, Princess Neoma is pissed.]

That gave everyone in the room, except for Lord Ruto, the goosebumps.

Jasper bowed his head politely. "I will deal with the Northern lords accordingly, Princess Neoma."

"What the fuck is Nero doing as the Crown Prince?" Princess Neoma murmured to herself, her bloodlust leaking out. "I heard he destroyed the demon worshippers in the North before, but why are there still fuckers roaming around here?"

Jasper knew what Princess Neoma was talking about.

[A few years ago, Prince Nero went to the North to get rid of the demon worshippers. That's how he gained two of his subordinates. One was the demon pretending to be human, and the other was Count Luchessi's son who became Prince Nero's secretary.]

Jasper wondered out loud. "Could this group be the remnants of the demon worshippers that Prince Nero wiped out before?"

"It might be possible," Princess Neoma said. "That's what we're going to find out."

"I understand, Princess Neoma," Jasper said, nodding. "I will ask the Northern lords for more information later."

"Very well, oppa," Princess Neoma said, then she turned to the duck. "Hey, Duckie."

"What, Princess Neoma?"

Instead of getting offended, it seemed like the royal princess was relieved to see that Duckie still had the energy to talk back rudely.

[But, of course, we know Duckie is only acting tough in front of us.]

"There are kind people in the world who say that the best revenge is to be happy. And to be happy, you apparently have to forgive the people who wronged you," Princess Neoma said. "Perhaps forgiving and moving on might give you peace of mind. But unfortunately, I hold grudges. The only way I could sleep peacefully at night is after I fucked up the scumbags who wronged me. How about you?"

Duckie's eyes turned sharp. "Let's fuck them up, Princess Neoma."

***

TONI WAS the person chosen by Lord Helstor himself to create the new Elemental Guardian, and to summon the Commander of Darkness who would become the owner of the Elemental Guardian that she created.

Everything became easy because Lord Helstor provided her with all the things she needed for the summoning.

Right now was the moment of truth.

The altar in front of her had a pile of corpses that almost touched the roof. Those bodies looked charred because of the Darkness that they produced. It was the perfect offering for the Commander of Darkness.

But she must summon the Hell Knights first.

[Because the Hell Knights will serve as food for the Commander.]

"Come, the brave Hell Knights!" Toni yelled while laughing in excitement. "I, Tony Crowell, summon you to do my bidding!"

"Of course, you're a fucking Crowell."

Huh?

She was confused.

The empty altar where the Hell Knights should be appearing was now occupied by someone else.

White hair.

Pale skin.

Glowing red eyes.

Toni gasped out loud. "A de Moonasterio?"

***