Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

WHAT WAS that…?

Hanna was forced to close her eyes when a blinding light that came out from Dahlia and Nero hit her.

To be precise, the blinding light came from the two's intertwined hands.

[Is it because of the vow?]

Hanna slowly opened her eyes and waited until they adjusted to the light.

And then she saw it.

She saw the glowing blue strings tied on both Dahlia and Nero's ring fingers.

Those blue rings looked like wedding rings.

Hanna unconsciously touched the engagement ring on her finger that she had yet to remove.

[I should return this to Nero since I can't throw away an heirloom from the Imperial Family.]

She was about to remove the engagement ring when she heard Neoma's voice in her head.

To be precise, she suddenly remembered a conversation she had with the Imperial Princess before.

["Hanna, do you know the saying "all good deeds go unpunished?""]

["No, I haven't. Is that a saying from the other world you used to live in?"]

["Uh-huh. It reminds me of you when I saw you treating the protestors in the rally well. I mean, you did a good thing. But it also makes me worry about you."]

["Why are you worried when I'm simply taking care of our people, Neoma?"]

["You know, sometimes, showing kindness to other people could come back to bite you in the ass."]

["Okay, now you just made me more confused, Neoma. Isn't helping others supposed to be a good thing? If anything, shouldn't I get a reward for it?"]

["Nah, don't be naïve. Not every recipient of your kindness would appreciate it properly, so be careful. It will be nice if your kindness will only go unappreciated, but in the worst-case scenario, your beneficial actions might just be met with hostility."]

["You mean I could get hurt even though I did something kind to other people?"]

["Hanna, my precious best friend, shitty things can happen even to the kindest soul out there."]

To be honest, Hanna didn't understand what Neoma meant back then.

But now, she did.

She realized it the moment her teardrops fell on her engagement ring as she fell on her knees. Her shoulders shook hard from crying. She had to hug herself in an attempt to console her broken heart on her own.

[Nero is no longer mine…]

Hanna always said that she was prepared to be the Crown Princess and the future empress, but she never said that she was prepared to be Nero's wife.

And she had a simple reason for that.

She wasn't confident.

Hanna was confident that she could become a good Crown Princess and a great empress, but she was never confident about being loved as Nero's wife. Maybe deep down in her heart, she had always known that was all she was to the Crown Prince.

That Nero couldn't really love her as a woman.

She was just the perfect Crown Princess that the nobles would approve of to him.

She was just the excellent future empress who could lead the empire with him– nothing more, nothing less.

But maybe Nero did love her romantically.

Even so, it wasn't enough for him to choose Hanna completely.

[Nero's heart is always swayed by Dahlia, even though Dahlia has done her best to avoid him.]

To be fair, Hanna knew that Nero also did his best to stay away from Dahlia.

[But fate seems to have another plan for the two, and here we are now.]

"What the hell, Hanna Quinzel?"

Hanna raised her head and, through the blur of her teary eyes, saw Nero standing in front of her while carrying the unconscious Dahlia in her arms. "Is Dahlia okay?" she asked worriedly while standing up and quickly wiping the tears off of her face with her hands. "Did you succeed in making the vow with her?"

"I thought you said you'll be fine, Hanna Quinzel," Nero said sternly, ignoring all her questions. It must mean Dahlia was okay since the Crown Prince didn't lose his mind. "But why are you crying now?"

Hanna smiled sadly at Nero. "I didn't say I'll be fine right away, Nero."

"Had I known you'd cry–"

"Stop it," she said in a cracked voice, holding back her tears once again. "We both knew you had to make the vow with Dahlia. Let's not cry over spilled milk."

"You're the only one crying here!"

"Don't raise your voice at me, Prince Nero."

"…"

As expected, calling Nero by his title was enough to make him come back to his senses.

But Hanna didn't expect the next thing that happened.

Nero cried.

The Crown Prince's precious tears rolled down his cheeks silently.

[I didn't expect to see Nero cry for me…]

"I'm sorry, Hanna," Nero said sincerely, his tears still falling nonstop. "I'm sorry for breaking my promise to you. For not loving you better, for failing to make you the empress. And most of all, I'm sorry for breaking your heart."

Ah, why did Nero have to apologize so sincerely that it reached her heart in the most devastating way possible?

Hanna once again burst out crying. "Please stop apologizing, Nero. You're only making me feel worse," she said between sobs. "It's my decision to break up with you and throw away the crown. I know I might regret it later. But, at least at this very moment, I know I did the right thing…"

[Even though my selflessness came back to bite me in the end.]

"Hanna–"

"Please not another apology, Nero. I made a choice I'm ready to take responsibility for. I accept your apology, so please stop saying 'sorry.'"

"Then allow me to thank you."

That effectively caused her to pause for a moment. "What?"

"Hanna, thank you for standing by my side all this time," Nero said softly. "Thank you for loving me, even when I don't deserve you. For choosing me, even though Neoma warned you that I was a bad choice. You were a great friend, an excellent Crown Princess, and a gentle lover. Thank you for being patient and kind to a cold-hearted bastard like me."

Pfft.

Hanna couldn't believe that she could still laugh in the middle of crying hard. "Hearing that from you makes it sound like I'm an amazing person."

"Because you are."

"Then I bet you'll regret losing me," she joked. But she half-meant it, actually. "But if you do, you should still wish for my happiness."

"I won't do anything that would hurt you again, Hanna," Nero promised in a soft voice that he rarely used on other people. "This is the last time."

The last time, huh?

"Then can I confess my feelings for you for one last time?"

The Crown Prince nodded, obviously trying to hold back his tears.

"I love you, Nero," Hanna said, smiling through her tears. "Thank you for being my first love, my Crown Prince."

Nero burst into tears again. "It's an honor to be loved by you, my Crown Princess."

***

[AH, Prince Nero's Mana has stabilized.]

Ruto was relieved to know that the kids had taken care of the problem on their own.

If Prince Nero had already calmed down, then it only meant that Dahlia and Hanna Quinzel worked together to keep the Crown Prince sane.

"Will you please stop attacking me already?"

It was Callisto de Luca who spoke.

Ruto didn't listen, of course.

He continued hitting the barrier that the half-god made with his lightning arrows.

Unfortunately, he couldn't use his full strength because he didn't want the entire place to collapse on the children below.

He couldn't tell if those kids were injured or not, so he was being careful.

[Once Prince Nero and the ladies come up here, I'll attack properly…]

Ruto's thoughts were interrupted when a blob of something pink suddenly jumped out from the black hole between him and the throne area where Callisto de Luca and Larissa were– and then "it" charged at the demigod, breaking the barrier nonchalantly with hundreds of ice daggers around "it."

He only saw a blob of pink because the movement was so quick his eyes barely followed it.

But it wasn't a "blob of something."

"Who gave you the right to sit on my throne, you peasant?"

It was, of course, Prince Nero.

[He looks calm, but I bet the Crown Prince is seething inside.]

Prince Nero grabbed Callisto de Luca by the neck, then he casually threw the demigod away without even giving Callisto de Luca the chance to speak.

Before anyone in the room could react, the Crown Prince then grabbed Larissa by the neck.

"Don't kill her, Prince Nero," Ruto said in a hurry because he could tell that the Crown Prince was about to exorcise the Spirit God. "Neoma wants to kill that thing with her own hands."

Prince Nero clicked his tongue, then he threw Larissa towards Ruto. "Then make sure that pathetic thing wouldn't escape."

Ruto was too disgusted to touch Larissa with his hands, so he just snapped his fingers.

And then Veton, his Elemental Guardian, appeared in his original form.

Veton was a giant Thunderbird, so all he had to do was open his beak and swallow Larissa.

It happened so fast that the Spirit God couldn't even scream.

But Ruto was no longer paying attention to Larissa because history was happening right in front of him.

Prince Nero sat on the throne and claimed it.

The Crown Prince was the first to ever do it while unmarried.

[And the throne accepted Prince Nero.]

Ruto clenched his hands tight when the Moonglow around Prince Nero suddenly grew bigger and brighter.

[He has absorbed Neoma and Emperor Nikolai's Moonglow already…]

Then the Moonglow scattered around Prince Nero's body quickly gathered around his head.

And, in just the blink of an eye, the majestic emperor's throne appeared on top of the Crown Prince's head.

No, His Imperial Highness was no longer a mere prince.

But, for someone who had just become the new emperor of the greatest empire the world, Prince Nero looked miserable.

[Not that I care.]

"Congratulations, Emperor Nero," Ruto said, slightly bowing his head towards the new emperor. "Congratulations on becoming the new Moon of the Great Moonasterion Empire."

***

[IT'S GONE…]

Nikolai smiled sadly while looking at his hands.

The Moonglow that he used to possess as the emperor had already vanished from his body. Fortunately, the Moonglow that the older Neoma gave to him to extend his lifespan remained.

Losing his own Moonglow made him feel bittersweet.

It wasn't because he wanted to cling to the throne.

[I just feel bad that I handed the throne to Nero when the empire was in such a dire state.]

"Congratulations, Emperor Nero," Nikolai whispered to himself, clenching his hands tight. "I'll do my best to support you, my precious son."

***

NEOMA fell to her knees when all the Moonglow in her body disappeared just like that.

Gosh.

[My Moonglow has no loyalty whatsoever.]

Well, it wasn't like she didn't expect it.

The Moonglow was the kind of divine power that should only manifest in the emperor and the rightful heir to the throne. But since the throne couldn't choose between Neoma and Nero, both of them received the blessing of the Moonglow.

[And that cut Papa Boss' lifespan shorter.]

"We have a new Moon."

Neoma raised her head and saw Yule extending a hand to her. "My baby brother has finally become the new emperor," she said, smiling. She accepted the Moon God's hand and let him pull her up. "The Great Moonasterion Empire should enjoy the reign of its last emperor."

"You also said that earlier," Yule said while letting go of her hand. "What exactly do you mean by that, Nene?"

"The next ruler of the empire wouldn't be an emperor but an empress regnant," Neoma said confidently. "And the empire that the future empress regnant would rule might not be called The Great Moonasterion Empire anymore."

[I think Baby Pink Empire sounds good, BP for short.]

Right?

***

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