Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"REALLY?" Neoma asked Ruto. "I used my teleportation ability to visit the Upper World plenty of times in the past?"

"Yes, that's what you did in the past," Ruto said indifferently. "You annoyed the gods since you kept blowing up their estates every time you were mad at them. Hence, they banned you from coming to the Upper World again. And some of them even sealed your abilities to teleport."

"Tsk," she complained, clicking her tongue. "How dare those petty gods dull my shine?"

"Don't be upsetâ€" you didn't lose your ability to teleport completely," he said as if he was trying to pacify her. "Don't you find it odd that gods and other celestial beings could summon you easily?"

"Isn't it, like, normal for them to do that?" she asked, confused. "I've always thought it was totally normal for them to summon humans via dreams because they could do so."

"It's not normal," he said while shaking his head. "After the Absolute Darkness disappeared, all the major gods decided to ascend to the Upper World and never step foot on the human world again unless they have to. And since the gods have been quiet since the Ancient Period ended, the faith of the people in gods has weakened overtime. Well, still strong enough to keep them powerful, but not as powerful as they were at the beginning of the Ancient Period. As a result, it's difficult for gods to communicate to humans who aren't devoted to them."

"So, gods are not omnipotent?"

"Not anymore," he said bluntly. "As you already know, the gods in the Upper World are slowly dying because of the polluted air up there."

"Ah, I see."

"I see that you don't care," Ruto said while shaking his head, smiling. "Anyway, the gods and other celestial beings find it easy to summon you to your domain because of your ability to travel across different dimensions."

Neoma covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "Really? I'm that OP?"

"You already know that you're overpowered, don't you?"

"Of course, but you said I should wait for other people to compliment me."

He sighed, then he raised his hand as if he was about to pat her head.

Hence, he looked shocked.

"Don't misunderstand," she explained right away. "This time, I want to pat your head."

He looked horrified by what she said. "Why?"

"Did you hear what the relic from the past said earlier?"

"Relic... from the past?"

"The Ancient Devil. Ah, he calls himself 'Noah Solfrid' now," she explained. "He's from the Ancient Period which was at least ten thousand years ago. If he isn't a relic from the past, then what is he?"

He nodded in agreement. And despite how "serious" he tried to be, it was quite obvious that he was holding back his laughter. "Right. He's nothing more than a relic from the past."

"I'm Neoma, I'm always right."

"Of course," Ruto said, then he bent his knees and lowered his head. "And because you're Neoma who's always right, you may touch my hair."

[Aigoo... he still lets me do whatever I want.]

Neoma smiled, happy that her man had to bend his knees because he was taller than her. <3 "Okay, I'll touch your hair now," she said, then didn't hesitate to comb her fingers through Ruto's purple hair. "As expected, your hair is so soft." She slightly bent down and sniffed in his hair. "And it smells really nice."

Come to think of it, out of all the unique and natural hair colors in this world, she found purple the prettiest.

[Mama Boss' coral pink hair comes close.]

Although she was pretty from head to toe, she had to admit that her white hair was bland.

"It's too bad that our children won't inherit your hair color since all de Moonasterios are born with white hair," Neoma whispered to herself. She was just talking to herself, and she gasped when she realized that she talked out loud. "Omo, omo. Why am I talking about children that we may or may not have in the future? Am I having a baby fever now?"

"Why are you worrying about that when I already told you that I can't have biological children?"

"We can always try, you know?" she said. "Aunt Nichole and Uncle Dominic are doing their best to conceive a child. They didn't even hesitate to let go of their powers in order to achieve that."

Ruto held her hands before he stood up straight, then he raised his headâ€" still holding her hands LIKE HE SHOULD. "What triggered your baby fever, babe?"

She scrunched up her nose. "I wish I know."

"Don't talk about wanting to have a baby WITH ME in front of other people, okay?"

"Why not?"

"Do you really not know what would happen TO ME if you do that?"

She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing.

Of course, she knew that her family and "children" would kill Ruto.

"Don't worry, Rutoâ€" I will protect you from them."

He laughed softly. "That's reassuring."

"Ruto."

"Hmm?"

"Can we have a sparring one of these days?"

"One minute you want my child, then the next you want to kill me?"

She laughed because it was obvious that he was just kidding. "I wanted to know how LITTLE the gap is between our strengths now," she confessed. "This hurts my pride to admit it, but I know that you could kill me if you wanted to five years ago."

"I can't believe that the prideful Neoma admitted that she was weak compared to me."

"Five years ago," she said defensively. "I'm stronger now, so I want to know if I could beat you in a fight."

"I thought you loved me."

Again, his tone was lighthearted, so she knew he was just teasing her again.

"Ruto, I know that in your current state, you wouldn't hesitate to kill me if you have to," Neoma confessed in a light yet serious tone. "I can't love you with my eyes closed."

"That's wise," Ruto said while nodding approvingly. "Don't trust me too much."

"I know, that's why let's fight later," she said. "I need to find your weakness, so you wouldn't be able to kill me even if you wanted to."

He looked at her, then he smiled while shaking his head. "Is this how lovers are supposed to talk?"

She pouted at his teasing. "We're a special case."

"We sure are."

She just smiled and nodded, then she went back to business mode.

Unfortunately, she couldn't flirt with her man all night because she was a busy woman.

[It sure isn't easy to be the future empress.]

"Babe, I'll be leaving the North early tomorrow since I need to return to the empire for Calyx Dalton's birthday party," Neoma said calmly. "What are you going to do after this?"

"I'm also invited to the First Prince's birthday party."

"You are?" she asked, surprised. "I thought the crows would be wary of you since they know that you haven't forgotten about me."

"It seems like the crows wanted to spread their influence in the Eastern Continent," he explained. "If they wanted to do that, they can't afford to ignore the Solfrid Clan. After all, our kingdom is the strongest kingdom on the Eastern Continent. Moreover, we are considered the home of the Sun Goddess. Hence, they cannot ignore me."

"Gosh, politics is really amazing in this sense," she said while shaking her head. Then she paused. "Ruto, are you only tolerating me because I'm the one and only royal princess of the Great Moonasterion Empire? Are we only dating because of politics?"

"What do you think?"

"Nope," she said without missing a heartbeat. "Of course, I know our relationship is genuine. I just want to make sure that we're on the same page." She glared at him playfully. "Who are you going to the party with?"

"My mother?"

She let out a relieved sigh. "Whew."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Were you worried that I was going to bring someone else to the party?"

"Well, I'd be pissed off, but I wouldn't stop you if you were going to escort Phoebe Willows or the Sun Priestess," she said, shrugging. "I know that both Phoebe Willows and the Sun Priestess would also attend the party. As the Solfrid sole heir, it wouldn't strange for you to escort either of the two ladies. It would annoy me to death, but I understand. Moreover, it's not like I could say anything about it because I also have a different partner."

Hmm?

Did the breeze suddenly get colder?

"Who?" Ruto asked indifferently. "Who's going to be your escort to the party? Lewis? Jasper Hawthorne? Your Soul Beast?"

"No matter who it is in your mind, you're probably wrong," Neoma said playfully. "I bet one hundred gold bars that you can't guess who my partner is going to be~"

"..."

[Yep, the breeze indeed got colder.]

***

NEOMA was actually waiting for Jasper oppa in the library of the castle.

She had some things she needed the young duke to do for her before she felt the North. But instead of her oppa, an unexpected guest arrived.

Although she said it was an unexpected guest, she wasn't really surprised.

"I've been waiting for you, Viscount Morrisey."

Viscount Austin Morrisey, the timid and the lowest-ranked noble among the representatives of the Twelve Golden Family, flinched before bowing his head towards her. "I apologize for coming unannounced, but please grant me permission to talk with you in private, Princess Neoma."

"Of course, I'd allow it, Viscount Morrisey," Neoma said, smiling while crossing her arms over her chest. "How could I turn down the request of the TRUE LORD of the North?"

***

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