Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

MONA was enraged.

As if it wasn't enough to see Neoma burn herself just to destroy the device that tried to steal her daughter's egg cells aka Beads, now she had to witness Nero get abducted under her nose.

Pillars of Darkness emerged from the floorâ€" destroying the courtroom.

If Neoma didn't place barriers to protect the nobles inside the courtroom, then those people would have been hurt when the pillars of Darkness emerged out of nowhere.

"These damned pillars of Darkness..."

Mona immediately calmed down when she heard Nikolai growl angrily while slicing the pillars of Darkness with his sword.

[Golden rule: one of us has to stay sane in emergencies like this.]

Since Calypsoâ€" Nikolai's weaponâ€" was a Holy Sword, cutting the pillars of Darkness was the same as purifying them.

Now that the pillars were taken care of, Mona moved to save her precious son.

She couldn't use Nydiaâ€" her main weaponâ€" because it was currently in Neoma's possession. However, she didn't really need her staff.

After all, her entire body was full of purifying energy.

Mona just grabbed the snake-like Darkness around Nero's body, then ripped them away from her son with her bare hands.

The moment she touched those things, they sizzled because of her purifying ability.

"Nero, are you alright?" Mona asked worriedly after she freed her son from the Darkness that tried to take him away. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm alright, Mother...." Nero said, then he paused and looked around. "For now, at least."

She understood what her son was talking about.

A new batch of pillars of Darkness appeared after Nikolai got rid of the first ones that emerged from the floor earlier. And it seemed like the pillars were trying to crush them as those things moved closer to them.

Noâ€" the pillars of Darkness were obviously targeting Nero.

Those things had also pushed her son's knights away from them. Fortunately, Nero's knights seemed to be capable of protecting themselves from Darkness.

[We just have to focus on protecting Nero, then.]

"Don't worry, son," Nikolai assured Nero. "Your mother and I won't let these dumb things take you away from us."

Nero's face turned red as if he was embarrassed, then he turned his gaze away from them. "I'll be fine even if I'm alone," he said grumpily. "But I'm more worried about Hanna and..."

It was obvious that Nero was worried about Neoma, too.

[But it seems like our Baby Pumpkin is too stubborn to admit that he cares about his twin sister.]

Mona was suddenly reminded of the term that she learned back on Earth.

[Nero is a 'tsundere,' it seems.]

"We're also worried about Neoma, but we can trust your sister, son," Mona assured Nero. "Neoma's people will protect her and Hanna."

***

"WE ARE the Order under Princess Neoma's command," Paige announced in a calm yet clear voice. "I ask everyone to please cooperate with us for your own safety."

She didn't want people to panic, but it was too late to hide the truth from them.

The giant screens outside the courthouse already showed that Princess Neoma and the rest were getting attacked by pillars of Darkness.

And Darkness was also oozing out of the courthouse.

Hence, the people were getting scared.

"This way, please!" Greko, who was riding on a cloud with Jeno, said in a loud and clear voice. "We just need everyone to step away from the courthouse. We promise to protect you, so please trust and follow us!"

Ohh.

Paige didn't have to worry anymore when the people who saw and heard Greko began to move one by one.

[Greko's innocent face is really convincing.]

Right, their maknae/youngest managed to win the hotheaded mermaids over. Hence, dealing with humans should be easy for Greko.

"We can leave it to Greko and Jeno to lead the people to safety," Juri, who was standing on a cloud next to Paige, said. "Go and purify the leaking Darkness, Paige. I'll protect you while you do it. Xion is currently watching out for enemies."

Paige nodded in agreement. "Yes, let's do that."

***

NEOMA didn't have time to deal with Calyx's bullshit, so she grabbed the crow bastard by the collar and threw him in Lewis' direction. "Knock him out, Lewis."

She knew her "son" would want to redeem himself after Calyx's injuries healed miraculously.

And Vespera also blocked Calyx way so that the crow bastard couldn't go after her.

She was grateful since her priority at the moment was Hanna.

Dahlia had successfully pried the fake Empress Dowager away from Hanna who dropped to the floor unconsciously. The Black Witch tried to catch Hanna, but the fake Empress Dowager attacked Dahlia.

Then a black hole opened up on the spot where Hanna collapsed.

Then several hand-shaped Darkness emerged from the floor, dragging Hanna down into the black hole.

[The audacity!]

"As if I'd let you kidnap Hanna," Neoma said, stepping into the black hole. Some of the hand-shaped Darkness that she stomped on was purified right away. After all, she enveloped her entire body with Moonglowâ€" her divine power that also served as a purifying aura. "You do not have the right to touch the Quinzel Princess."

She stomped her other foot, causing the remaining hand-shaped Darkness to completely vanish after getting purified.

"Princess Neoma!"

It was Duke Rufus Quinzel.

When Neoma raised her head to look around, she realized that everyone in the courtroom was getting attacked by Darkness.

Mama Boss and Papa Boss were protecting Nero.

Uncle Glenn was protecting Aunt Brigitte and the children.

Jasper oppa, Duckie, and Gin were also busy fighting the pillars of Darkness. And so were Count Sean Dankworth and Marquis Lawford Gibson.

Fortunately, the nobles that she "locked up" in her Domes were safe.

[These damned pillars of Darkness probably leaked out. I hope Trevor and my other "children" are taking care of it.]

"Hanna..."

When Neoma turned to Duke Quinzel, she found him carrying the unconscious Hanna in his arms.

Darkness in gas form was leaking out of Hanna's slightly parted lips.

[Tsk! Those crow bastards...]

Neoma was pissed off.

She knew that her allies could take care of the Darkness attacking their forces. Even if she did nothing, they would come out victorious. She knew all of that, and yet there was this nagging feeling in her chest that she missed something.

[Hanna was staring at Calyx quite intently earlier...]

The Quinzel Princess had Darkness attribute.

Although Neoma also possessed Darkness attribute, she couldn't use it to its maximum potential since she was a de Moonasterio. Hence, she would admit Hanna was the better Darkness attribute user between them.

Her cousin must have noticed something that she missed.

But before that...

"Namoo," Neoma said, opening her hand. Soon, the small wooden capybara materialized above her palm. "Go and eat the Darkness that entered Hanna's body."

She then put Namoo on top of Hanna's stomach.

"Hanna will be fine, Duke Quinzel," Neoma said in a hurry. "I'm sorry, but please take care of Hanna for a moment, Your Grace."

"I understand, Princess Neoma," Duke Quinzel said, nodding. "Don't worry. I'll watch your back, too."

Neoma smiled in gratitude before turning her back on Duke Quinzel.

She turned around to see Lewis and Vespera still dealing with Calyx. This time, it seemed like none of the two's attacks were hitting the crow bastard.

[I knew itâ€" Calyx intentionally let Lewis beat him to a pulp earlier.]

She knew that Calyx was strong, but she was pretty sure Lewis was stronger.

[So why can't Lewis land a decent hit on Calyx now?]

She could tell that Lewis was also getting frustrated.

Hence, Neoma stared at Calyx quite deliberately.

[Hanna definitely saw something strange in that bastard.]

And that was when Neoma's eyes met Calyx's glowing red eyes.

Oh.

For some reason, her body suddenly moved on its own.

Before Neoma knew it, she had always summoned Skewer and was swinging the Death Scythe towards Calyx.

Lewis and Vespera automatically got out of her way when the two saw her attack the crow.

But it wasn't Calyx that she was targetingâ€" it was the shadow that came out of the crow bastard's brooch.

[Is that the thing Hanna was keeping an eye on?]

That seemed to be the case.

Soon, the shadow that came out of the brooch took the form of a human. And, eventually, its form became clear.

Neoma's eyes opened wide. "Callisto de Luca?"

Callisto de Luca, in a normal-looking human form instead of his usual wax-like form, smirked at her as he blocked the blade of her Death Scythe with an ancient dagger.

She recognized that dagger.

The sharp blade and short handle covered with ancient texts from the dead Solanian Language glowed with divine power coming from its userâ€" Callisto de Luca himself.

[It's the dagger that could kill a de Moonasterio...]

"It seems like you recognized the Moonblood right away," Callisto de Luca said, amused. "Did your little lover tell you about the Moonblood?"

The damned half-god was correct.

It was Ruto who "introduced" the Moonblood to her a few years ago.

[But the Moonblood in Ruto's possession is just a replica that he modified to kill de Lucas, too. This Moonblood, however, is the real deal.]

"Really? Ruston Stroganoff showed the Moonblood to you?" Callisto de Luca asked, laughing. "Are you not offended that your lover possesses a weapon that could kill YOU? I didn't know you were a pushover."

"It doesn't bother me because Ruto can't kill me even if he has the weapon capable of killing my bloodline."

"That's funnier," Callisto de Luca said in an amused tone. "It doesn't bother you because you're confident of your strength and NOT because you're confident that Ruston Stroganoff wouldn't use the Moonblood on you. Then does it mean you expect your lover to betray you?"

"It's not betraying me when he's just doing his job. But let's stop talking about my ex-man when he's not here," Neoma said, annoyed because Callisto de Luca was making valid points. She was just being stubborn about it. "Tteokbokki!"

Since the shackles around her wrist were finally melted, Tteokbokki was also freed from his seal.

As soon as she called her Soul Beast's name, Skewer's blade was engulfed with red flame.

Callisto de Luca, much to her shock, just stabbed Skewer's blade with the Moonblood.

Three things happened all at once.

Skewer's blade CRACKED, and the Death Scythe suddenly became so heavy that she was forced to drop it to the floorâ€" and the spot where Skewer dropped was shattered.

Then Tteokbokki's flame was extinguished just like that.

Finally, Neoma coughed up blood as if she was the one who got stabbed. And before she could even recover, she found herself getting strangled by Callisto de Luca.

[This fucker...!]

"You smell like Aruna," Callisto de Luca said, his eyes turned glowing red. "Why do you have Aruna's scent? Where is she? She's still lingering around, isn't she?"

Neoma smirked, then she grabbed Callisto de Luca's throat. As if she'd let the bastard know about Aruna de Moonasterio's whereabouts. "Stop breathing, you fuckface."

It wasn't just a threat.

She was literally yet discreetly stealing Callisto de Luca's breath away. To be honest, she didn't want to use that technique. But, for some reason, she couldn't use her other abilities.

[It seems like it has something to do with the Moonblood's effect.]

Fortunately, she could still use her abilities as a premium "air purifier."

That technique had worked on a minor god before, but she wasn't sure if it would work on Callisto de Luca since he had lived that long for a reason. Fortunately, it seemed to have worked because the old bastard's face contorted in pain, then he began to grasp for air.

But Callisto de Luca's grip around her neck didn't loosen up.

It looked like the old bastard was trying to snap her neck before she completely stole his breath away.

[Goddammit...]

Neoma was about to use brute force when she saw a familiar figure behind Callisto de Luca.

Oh!

"How dare you?" Papa Boss growled angrily, grabbing Callisto de Luca by the nape. "Let go of my daughter!"

The blade of her Papa Boss' swordâ€" Calypsoâ€" pierced through the old bastard's chest.

[Serves you right, fuckface.]

Blood trickled down the corner of Callisto de Luca as he smirked, completely letting go of Neoma's neck in the process. "Nikolai de Moonasterio, our biggest disappointment." The old bastard turned to Papa Boss. "The crows truly loved you as the emperor, so why did you have to choose your family over absolute power?"

"Because I hate you to the point that I abandoned the throne out of spite," Papa Boss said bluntly. "I could be that petty."

Neoma almost rolled her eyes.

[Papa Boss and his ridiculous comebacks...]

"Hey, I'm here to pick you up."

Huh?

Neoma looked up and was surprised to see another crow who just arrived in the courtroom, floating in the air while surrounded by shadows. "Regina Crowell."

***

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