Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

THE PAYMENT that the Ancient Devil asked from Ruto was all the positive feelings that he had for her.

Neoma thought the Ancient Devil simply ate all that love just like how Helstor would eat despair in order to keep himself strong.

But the fucking bastard stole Ruto's feelings for her?

Wait.

[Don't tell me...]

"Do you think you're in love with me just because you have Ruto's feelings for me?" Neoma asked, disgusted. "Gosh, do you know how young I am compared to you? Weren't you born during the Ancient Period or something?"

"Age is just a number."

"And jail is just a fucking room."

"You're not a minor, are you?"

"I haven't even had my coming-of-age ceremony yet."

The Ancient Devil chuckled as if he was amused. "Come on, Neoma. We both know this isn't your first life."

"Come on, pervert. You're at least ten thousand years old," she snapped. "Gosh, why would you even be interested in a baby like me? You should be jailed." She paused, then she shook her head. "Actually, you should be nothing but a relic from the past. Why are people from the Ancient Period like you and Callisto de Luca still roaming the human world when you're supposed to be ashes already? Should I help you rest in peace, super grandpa?"

"He must be a saint."

"Huh?"

"I told youâ€" I have Ruto's love for you," the Ancient Devil said. "Hence, even though you're being very disrespectful to me, I can't get mad at you. In fact, I even find you cute."

[Yes, Officer. This one right here.]

She was already used to getting praised because of her beauty, but it was still creepy to hear that kind of compliment from an OLD MAN who was obviously hitting on her.

[Kids, remember: older dudes who hit on you are creepy.]

She would admit that she sounded like a hypocrite because Ruto was four years older than her. But in her defense, both she and Ruto already lived an entirely different life from this one. Hence, the two of them had the same wavelength already.

Moreover, Neoma and Ruto were on the same footing when it came to power dynamics.

"You didn't even budge," the Ancient Devil said, and he sounded really disappointed. "I have Ruto's feelings for you, and let's be honest: I am more handsome than Ruto."

Objectively speaking, the shell that the Ancient Devil wore was arguably more handsome than Ruto.

However, Neoma's heart wouldn't flutter just because of a pretty face.

[If my heart would flutter each time I saw a beautiful face, then I would have already gotten a heart attack each time I look in the mirror.]

"Your face doesn't give me the piece that Ruto's face does," Neoma said bluntly. "Even if you have Ruto's feelings, I still don't want you."

"And that's what I don't understand," the Ancient Devil said in a slightly frustrated voice. "Don't you want Ruto's love back? If you allow me to love you to death, then I'll make sure to make you feel loved every moment of your life."

She couldn't help but laugh at that. "Is this what they call 'devil's temptation?'"

"You can say that."

"If you offered that to the Neoma of the first timeline, then she would have accepted your offer in a heartbeat," she said while smiling bitterly. "She was that desperate to be loved."

The Neoma of the first timeline would never fail to make her feel sad and bitter. But most of her memories from that timeline were sealed, and she got hints that she was loved before she set the world on fire. Even so, she couldn't be certain.

But she wasn't desperate to find out what happened back then.

And since she was now Neoma version 2.0, she easily got over her little self-pity party before it got worse.

"I already learned to love myself a long time ago. In fact, I loved myself a little too much," Neoma declared confidently. "Plus, many people love me now despite my arrogance that pierces through the sky. I don't need your love, you super ancient grandpa."

"'Noah.'"

"What?"

"My name is Noah Solfrid," the Ancient Devil said, putting a hand over his chest. "This body belongs to a Solfrid who's quite distant from Ruto. But, hey, at least this man has the same hair color as Ruto."

"Ruto's hair color is prettier," she insisted, insulted by the fact that the Ancient Devil thought he had the same hair color as her man! "And if you look closer, Ruto's hair is shinier. I bet Ruto's hair is also softer and smells better than yours."

The Ancient Devil grinned at her. "Would you like to touch my hair to know if Ruto's hair is really softer and smells better than mine?"

"Do I look like a naïve young lady who'd fall for such a petty trick?" she asked, scoffing. "Stop hitting on me, will you? I don't like you, and I'm sure I will never be interested in you in the future."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, so let's drop this stupid conversation," Neoma said, her eyes glowing red now. "Why are you here? What do you want? You're not related to the crows, are you?"

"I won't associate myself with people you hate," the Ancient Devil said, still smiling "sweetly" at her. "And I'm here because you're here."

Aigoo.

[It's me and my sinful beauty again.]

***

"THAT'S NOAH Solfrid's body," Duckie, in his duck form, informed Ruto nervously. "He was the reincarnation of my previous owner."

As soon as he felt the weak presence of his previous owner, he ran to the castle walls.

Ruto was already there when he got to that place.

The young lord was eerily calm while watching Princess Neoma interact with the being who stole Noah Solfrid's body.

He couldn't take the silence anymore, and he broke it by telling Ruto what he needed.

"To make sure that I wouldn't meet the reincarnation of my previous owner, the heavens sent me details of his new identity," Duckie continued with his explanation. "Apparently, Noah Solfrid was reincarnated as the illegitimate son of one of your distant relativesâ€""

"I don't care about that," Ruto said, rudely cutting him off. "Even if that person was reincarnated as a Solfrid, there was no way he was born with purple hair. Only I could possess this hair color among the Solfrids because only I received both the blessings of Lord Levi and the Sun Goddess."

"Then is that person's hair dyed...?"

"That could only be the explanation as to how he achieved to have a hair color slightly similar to mine."

"But why would he do that?"

"Because he's trying to be me," Ruto said in a calm yet scary manner. "He already stole all my positive feelings for Neoma, and now he's trying to imitate how I look."

"He's probably trying to charm Princess Neomaâ€""

He abruptly stopped mid-sentence, but it was already too late.

Duckie realized his mistake as soon as Ruto released his bloodlust that came in what seemed to be sparks.

Yes, literal sparks.

He slowly avoided the young lord because he was afraid to get fried by the little yet deadly sparks that surrounded his body.

"I'm sure Princess Neoma wouldn't be charmed."

"Neoma likes pretty faces."

"Huh?"

Ruto turned to Duckie with a blank look on his face, but his dark purple eyes were glowing menacingly. "Who's more handsomeâ€" me or that Noah Solfrid?"

Duckie didn't want to die, so there was only one correct answer. "You, of course."

"Don't lie."

He couldn't believe it.

[What do you want me to say, then?!]

"Young man, looks will fadeâ€""

"The de Moonasterios age really, really slow."

"What's more important is the beauty insideâ€""

"How can a God Slayer, a being with a license to kill other life forms, possess a kind soul?"

Duckie shut his eyes tight while trying to calm himself down. "My new owner..." He opened his eyes and nodded at Ruto who was looking intently at him, obviously waiting for his love advice. "Jasper Hawthorne has a face that suggests he might be a ladies' man, so why don't you go to my new master and ask him for some love advice? What does a duck know about love anyway? Male ducks are bastards towards female ducks, you know?"

"I don't need love advice," Ruto, who seemed to be more agitated now, said grumpily. "Wait here and protect the castle with your new master."

Tsk.

[Humans of this world, let us all pray together that Ruto and Princess Neoma don't fight because if they do, they might accidentally end the world.]

***

"AH, I'm afraid I must take my leave now."

Neoma was relieved to hear that, but she was also pissed because she felt like she should lock up the Ancient Devil for some reason. But she set her personal feelings aside in the meantime. "Are you running away because Ruto is approaching us?"

And her man was approaching them FAST.

"This isn't the right time for me and Ruto to meet," the Ancient Devil, who now called himself 'Noah Solfrid,' said while his body was turning transparent. "You, Ruto, and I will soon meet again on a bigger stage." He bowed to Neoma like the gentleman he was trying hard to become. "See you later, Neoma."

"If you have a death wish, then feel free to come and find me again."

Noah Solfrid just laughed softly before he completely vanished.

[Tsk.]

"That Ancient Devil has some good teleportation skills, too," Neoma mumbled to herself. "Why am I not allowed to learn something as convenient as teleportation, huh?"

"You didn't know why?" Ruto, who landed gracefully beside her, asked even though he looked pissed at the moment. But he was obviously not angry at her, so she didn't mind. "You're not allowed to learn it anymore because when you gained your teleportation skills in the first timeline, you made the Upper World your personal vacation house."

***

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