Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NEOMA COULD die happily now.

But, of course, she didn't mean it literally.

She was just really happy that Audey, the elf prince, allowed her to meet Yurianâ€" the majestic unicorn.

Right now, they were in front of a forest that looked similar to the Hazelden Kingdom's Frozen Woods. The fairies already left the North, and it was now the elves' turn to leave. Fortunately, Yurian agreed to meet Neoma before leaving.

And the best part?

Yurian allowed Neoma to hug her.

"This is such an honor, Yurian," Neoma said emotionally. After hugging the beautiful unicorn, she gently ran her hand through Yurian's silky-smooth and soft mane. "Thank you for letting me touch you."

<"The honor is mine, Princess Neoma. It's such a delight to meet Mona's daughter.">

Oho?

The unicorn addressed her Mama Boss casually.

"Are you acquainted with my mother?"

<"Mona and I are actually the same age. We used to be playmates when I was still living under the Cosmic Tree's care. Sadly, it was over twenty years now since we last saw each other. We didn't get to meet after the elves took me under their wing.">

She was pleasantly surprised by that piece of information. "Then I can't address you casually since you're my mother's childhood friend. Can I call you 'Aunt Yurian?'"

<"You really don't have to speak formally to me since you're a princess, but if that makes you comfortable, then go ahead.">

"Please just treat me as your childhood friend's daughter, Aunt Yurian."

<"If that's what you wish, Princess Neoma,"> Yurian said in a kind voice. <"I'm glad you grew up well. I was actually worried when I heard from the Cosmic Tree that Mona had children with Emperor Nikolai.">

Neoma smiled awkwardly. "I inherited all of my father's bad genes, Aunt Yurian. But it's okay because, at least, I received Papa Boss' beauty genes. Plus, I'm still amazing because I also inherited all of my mother's good genes."

She heard the unicorn laugh softly in her head.

<"You're a pretty strange child, dear.">

"I often hear that, Auntie."

<"Can we meet again, child?">

"Of course, Auntie," she said while nodding eagerly. "To be honest, I've always loved unicorns. It's my childhood dream to meet one, and I'm glad that it finally came true."

[I just had to wait for at least sixty years, but it was worth it.]

<"Little princess, I actually have a runaway daughter,"> Yurian said. <"I don't know if it will reach her, but I'll send her a message for you to meet her.">

Neoma smiled and nodded. "Thank you so much, Aunt Yurian!"

***

"OPPA, I feel bad that I'm leaving all the work to you," Neoma said to Jasper while he was walking her to the portal where Ruto and Dahlia were already waiting for her. "Toni Crowell and her underlings are still keeping quiet, aren't they?"

"It's alright, Princess Neoma," Jasper oppa said. "I can't fully exercise my authority here since the crows were caught in Viscount Morrisey's territory. But I can share how House Hawthorne makes our prisoners talk."

Oh, it was probably torture.

Neoma would often forget that Jasper oppa was a ruthless person.

[It's because oppa treats me well, and he's also nice to my people.]

But the Duke Jasper Hawthorne that the empire knew was a cold and stern ruler. It made sense since he became a duke at such a young age. He had to fight his greedy relatives who wanted to steal his position from him.

[Jasper oppa wouldn't be the youngest duke in the empire if he was kind-hearted.]

"Oppa, I respect you a lot."

Jasper oppa looked confused at first, then he laughed softly while shaking his head. "Thank you, Princess Neoma. I won't let you down."

"Hey, I'm serious."

"I know," he said, still chuckling. "Princess Neoma, when should we report about this incident to Prince Nero? As the Crown Prince, he still has the right to know about the tragedy that occurred here."

"Nero already knows."

"Hmm?"

"The last time I saw Nero, we fought."

"Your Royal Highness won, right?"

"Of course," she said proudly. "I didn't even summon Tteokbokki. It was Grandpa Kingston who fought Zeru."

"Prince Nero's ice phoenix?"

"That's right," she said, nodding. "The ice phoenix was there, but not Sevâ€" the ice wolf."

The young duke paused for a moment before he spoke. "Oh. Did Prince Nero leave his other Soul Beast here in the North?"

"Nero has snippets of his past life's memories," she said. "He also knows that the North is going to flourish soon. In the first timeline, the North even surpassed the South."

This time, her oppa looked shocked. "But the Quinzels are arguably the richest noble household in the empire."

"The territory was mismanaged in the first timeline," she said, snippets of her memories as Neoma Quinzel flooding her mind at the moment. "There was a time when Duke Rufus was sent to several wars continuously. Hence, Duchess Amber was left in charge of managing the territory on her own."

At the time, Neoma Quinzel was in charge of the finances of the Quinzel Estate in the Royal Capital.

However, someone else was in charge of the Evedane Duchy.

"Duchess Amber was growing weak at the time, so she handed her authority to another person," Neoma said bitterly. "She handed it to Regina Crowell."

She didn't care that Duchess Amber handed her authority to Regina instead of her because it happened during the time she found out about Rubin and Regina's illicit affair.

Instead of caring about the Evedane Duchy, Neoma Quinzel wasted her time finding the Black Witch. Shortly after that, she was killed by Nero. That was when the memories of her first life ended.

[The rest was sealed.]

"No wonder the North surpassed the South," Jasper oppa said while shaking her head. "The crows probably stole from the Quinzels using Regina Crowell."

"That's what I thought, too," Neoma agreed with her oppa. "I wasn't in my sane mind back then, while Duke Rufus was barely present during that time. Hence, it would have been easy for Regina Crowell to bring House Quinzel to ruins."

Of course, she wasn't so sure about that.

[In the snippets of the past that I retrieved a few years ago, Ruto and my Four Pillars brought me back to life. Hence, Hanna could have been alive back then. I'm sure Hanna wouldn't let her family fall from grace.]

"Princess Neoma, is Prince Nero's ice wolf hiding somewhere here?"

"I can feel its presence, but it's hiding really well while watching us from afar," she confirmed while nodding her head. "And aside from Sev, I'm sure Count Lucchesi already sent a secret message to his son."

Jasper oppa gasped as if he just remembered something important. "Right. Count Lucchesi's son is Prince Nero's secretary."

"Yep," Neoma confirmed, smiling. "I bet Melvin Lucchesi is already having a breakdown at the moment."

***

"YOUR ROYAL Highness the Crown Prince, I respectfully resignâ€""

"Rejected," Nero said without even looking up to look at Melvin, his secretary, who was trying to hand in his resignation letter for the nth time already. He was already annoyed by the report that he was reading. Hence, his secretary adding to his list of problems wasn't appreciated. "Melvin, don't annoy me. I'm already upset that the woman claiming to be my twin sister has exercised her power on the North as if she was a recognized member of the Royal Family."

Yes, that was the content of the report that he was reading at the moment.

The report was sent by Count Tyler Lucchesi, Melvin's father.

But even if the count didn't send an urgent letter, he would have still found out what happened to the North because Sev was there.

[My ice wolf witnessed everything.]

He was actually about to send Raku and Sanford to the North as reinforcement, but he changed his mind when Sev informed him of the appearance of his so-called twin sister.

"I wanted to know what she'd do, so I let her act as she pleased."

But now, he was pissed at the result.

"She's trying to pull the lords of the North to her side," Nero said bitterly, then he raised his head to frown at Melvin who looked depressed after his resignation letter was denied. "It seems like she also knows the secret of the North."

When he said 'secret of the North,' he was talking about how the North would flourish into a rich territory soon.

"Are you talking about the weird dreams that you would often have, Prince Nero?" Melvin asked, and he still looked depressed. "The dream where the North surpassed the South when it comes to wealth and influence?"

"You sound like you don't believe it."

"Well, House Quinzel rules the South, so..."

He couldn't blame Melvin for thinking that way.

Even so, he also couldn't ignore his dreams.

[Those dreams also led me to Dahlia...]

Ah, he should stop thinking about another woman when his engagement with Hanna would be announced officially soon.

"Prince Nero, what are we going to do about the North?" Melvin asked worriedly. "Duke Hawthorne is already there. I can't believe that the cold and vicious duke is working with the self-proclaimed princess."

"Duke Hawthorne is working FOR my alleged twin sister," he said, correcting his secretary. "Do you think that woman is the type who would work WITH someone else? Not at all. She looks like the bossy type."

"Why are you being defensive of her, Prince Nero? If she turns out to be your real twin sister, then she might challenge you for the throne."

"I'm not defensive of her?"

"You are, Prince Nero," Melvin said in a tired voice. "Please let me resign already."

"No," Nero said firmly, then he stood up. "Let's talk about this laterâ€" I'm going to visit Hanna first before she forgets what I look like."

"Your Highness, are you sure we should just gloss over what happened to the North?"

"The Northern Lords haven't sent a formal report yet, so I'll just pretend I don't know anything."

"We will just let the self-proclaimed princess act as if she's a real member of the Royal Family?" Melvin asked worriedly. "I know I shouldn't question your decision, Prince Nero. But the self-proclaimed princess scares me..."

Well, the "self-proclaimed princess" was indeed scary.

[She's scary because I can tell she doesn't give empty threatsâ€" she's the real deal.]

Even so, every fiber of his being seemed to be looking forward to meeting the arrogant woman again.

And he knew they would again sooner than expected.

"Don't worry, we'll meet her again soon," Nero said while headed towards the door. "I have a feeling that she's going to crash Calyx's banquet."

[I would if I was herâ€" and I have a feeling that we think alike.]

***

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