Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NEOMA was relieved that the end of the "tunnel" that Gin created really took them back to the Royal Palace.

Of course, she didn't want to trust the black cat man. But the circumstance didn't allow her to be too hostile because they had no other means to get out of there. Lewis came there without a solid plan. Apparently, her son's "plan" was to make the whole place explode. She didn't know how he planned to do that and she was too tired to ask.

When she realized that the tunnel led them to the prayer room in Yule's Palace– her father's residence– she thought she could finally rest.

But she was instead greeted by her Papa Boss's sword.

Great.

"Stop," Neoma ordered Lewis in a firm voice that made him stop from attacking the emperor. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sir Glenn was ready to attack Lewis had her son moved from his spot. Thankfully, only her father and the knight were there. Thank goodness Count Sprouse wasn't there. She could handle Papa Boss and Sir Glenn, but the count always got on her nerves. "Lewis, make Rubin sleep."

Rubin looked shocked by her order.

But before the young lord could even protest, Lewis already hit the back of his head. Her son just let Rubin hit the floor.

Oh, well. Nobles have stronger bodies than Non-Mana users anyway.

"Good boy," she praised her son. "Now, I want you to stay put, Lewis. I got this."

Lewis looked like he didn't want to follow her order but in the end, he nodded and stepped aside.

After taming her son, she walked towards her father until the pointy edge of his sword was below her chin. Then, she looked up at her father to meet his red glowing eyes. His eye color changed and that only meant he was on attack mode.

She shouldn't fight fire with fire so she held back and didn't release any amount of bloodlust.

"I will consider this a protocol, Papa Boss," she said. "I came from hell so I know this is only a precautionary measure. I understand that you have to make sure that I wasn't corrupted or possessed by the Devil. And honestly, I'm glad that you decided to do this yourself. If you have asked Count Sprouse to test me instead, I would have been pissed. The count obviously hates me and honestly? Same."

Sir Glenn stifled his laugh.

On the other hand, Papa Boss raised a brow at her. He looked amused, but he still didn't withdraw his sword. "What did the Devil want from you?"

She was in a tight spot.

Bluffing was one of her main points. But when it comes to serious stuff, she knew that she wouldn't be able to lie to her father. He wouldn't be an emperor if he was easily fooled.

So instead of lying, she just decided to not tell the whole truth.

"I didn't meet the Devil," she said. "The only I met was a humanoid black cat named 'Gin.' Apparently, he's the Devil's butler. He was sent to me to convince me to join their side even though they know my real identity."

Sir Glenn looked surprised by that.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lewis turn to her. She could tell that her precious son was concerned about her.

"They know that you're the royal princess?" Emperor Nikolai asked. "Carry on."

"I rejected their offer," she said. She purposely didn't say that Gin called her the future empress. Saint Macaroni– uhm Zavaroni already saw a vision of her taking the throne. If Papa Boss found out that the Devil also wanted her to be an empress, she'd be dead for sure. "My goal is to become a lady of leisure after our contract expires. I don't want to be involved in a political war. I'm too lazy for that."

"And they just let you go after you turned them down?"

"Apparently, today was only an ocular visit," she said. "Gin also said that they don't need Skewer for now because the Devil can't wield it yet. He also said that it would take five more years for the Devil to be fully recovered. But I'm sure that they will definitely come back for me. And once they do, they wouldn't be lenient anymore."

"Hmm…" her Papa Boss said. "The Devil wouldn't be interested in you if they didn't see something valuable in you. After all, you can control the Death's Scythe easily. When I held the scythe a while ago, it didn't stop trying to kill me until I asked it to open up a gateway to hell. But it didn't have the kind of reaction with you. That only means the Death's Scythe has already considered you as its master. I can understand why the Devil is showing interest in you."

"Papa Boss, with or without Skewer, I'm precious," she deadpanned. "You're the only one who doesn't see my value."

"Ah, now I can confirm that you haven't really been possessed," the emperor said, then he put his sword back in its sheath attached to his waist. His eyes also returned to its original color: light-gray– just like hers. "What did they offer to convince you to join their side and for you to turn them down easily? I thought the Devil is good at tempting humans."

"They offered to give me the location of the late empress's body."

That seemed to shock her Papa Boss. Then, anger started to show on his face. The ground shook hard along with his feelings. "So, the Devil is really involved in the disappearance of Juliet's body?"

She just nodded.

Of course, she had no intention of telling her father that the Devil also offered to tell her the truth about her parents in the previous lives that she had.

"Why did you turn down their offer?"

"Well, I don't really care about the late empress," she said bluntly. That wasn't entirely true. She was curious about the late empress because of how attached her father was to her. Still, that wasn't enough for her to join the Devil's side. "Plus, it's the adults' job to look for her body, isn't it? Wouldn't it be a shame if an eight-year-old girl stole that duty from the empire's great noblemen?" She smirked smugly. "Papa Boss, you won't ask for the help of the royal princess that you find inadequate just because she's not born a male, will you? After all, princesses are only good for marrying-off to wealthy families, right?

The emperor clenched his jaw in obvious annoyance.

"Don't expect me to do more than what our contract dictates, Papa Boss," she said with a bright smile. "I'm not the overachiever kind."

"And rightfully so," her father said coldly. "I don't care if the Devil is interested in you. Your position as Nero's proxy won't change. But if you show any sign of becoming greedy for the throne, our contract ends."

"Sure," Neoma said, then she covered her mouth with her hands when she yawned. "Can I leave now, Papa Boss?"

Emperor Nikolai turned his back on her. "You're dismissed, Neoma."

Sc*mbag.

***

"THERE'S a mole in us," Nikolai told Glenn who was walking behind him. "Somebody who knows the royal secret is sharing the information with the Devil."

It wasn't hard to figure that out after Neoma told him about the encounter she had with the Devil's butler. Only a few people knew that she was acting as the royal prince because Nero was currently in a deep slumber.

That meant there was a traitor among them.

He wasn't surprised by that anymore. It wasn't like it was the first time that a spy had infiltrated his palace. But just like before, he would find them at all cost.

"I'll find the mole, Your Majesty," Glenn said seriously. "Just give me your orders."

"Find the bastard," Nikolai said firmly. "Bring them to me as soon as you find them."

***

"PRINCESS Neoma, are you okay?"

Neoma nodded at Lewis's question even though she really felt exhausted.

She might have overdone it when they were still in hell. After all, she had to put her guard up the entire time to make sure that Gin wouldn't be able to attack her. Unfortunately, that meant spending most of her Mana in keeping Tteokbokki's red dragon form for a long time.

"I'm fine, Lewis," Neoma assured Lewis while they were walking towards the pond. Since she would go there to relieve stress by cussing at the emperor, she didn't bring any knight or servant aside from her son. Lewis was enough for her protection after all. "I'm just a little tired."

"Then, we should head back to your palace," Lewis said who was walking closely behind her. "You can cuss at the emperor in your room, Princess Neoma."

"It wouldn't feel the same," she insisted. And then, all of a sudden, she felt a strange burning sensation in her chest. It was painful as f*ck. Not only that. It also felt like it was draining her strength. "Lewis?"

"Yes, Princess Neoma?"

Neoma turned to Lewis and gave him an apologetic smile. "Catch me."

And after that, everything went black.

***

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