Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

It was the breakfast that she requested for today. Her food came along with a letter from Chef Stroganoff, the Royal Chef. As usual, he scolded her again because chicken apparently didn\'t "fit" pancakes. In return of granting her request this morning, the chef demanded that her lunch later would consist mostly of vegetables and beef.

I should finish my breakfast since I was scolded for this.

But she still couldn\'t get her mind off the mistake that she made.

I shouldn\'t have asked about the black crow with red eyes in front of Papa Boss. I should have waited to be alone with Saint Zavaroni first. Gosh, is it because nobody should be perfect that I have to have a flaw?

Oh, she was talking to herself because her Papa Boss didn\'t join her for breakfast. The emperor was still in his room while talking to Saint Zavaroni.

And so, she had the dining hall to herself. Well, not literally. Alphen and Stephanie stood behind the door. There were also royal guards outside the hall. Was it just her or the security around the Royal Palace tightened even more?

"Princess Neoma, I apologize for being late."

Neoma smiled when she saw Lewis enter the dining hall. "Good morning, Lewis."

Her soon looked fresh and haggard at the same time.

He just obviously took a bath but it seemed like he dressed up pretty quickly. No wonder Alphen was looking at Lewis with a disapproving look on his face.

Lewis used to be a butler so Alphen must be disappointed in my son.

"You\'re not late," she said so that Alphen and Stephanie wouldn\'t look down on Lewis. "I told you last night that you can come in late. You almost died because of the mission that I gave you. I\'m not a cruel employer to make you work early after that."

If Lewis was confused by her lies, he didn\'t let it show. He just bowed politely at her, then stood quietly behind her.

"Alphen, Stephanie, you may leave us now," she told the head butler and the head maid. "Please tell the guards to leave as well. Since Lewis is already here, I\'ll be fine. And we need to talk about a confidential mission so make sure that nobody is eavesdropping on us."

Alphen and Stephanie bowed and talked at the same time. "As you wish, Your Royal Highness."

A few seconds later and she was finally alone in the dining hall with her son.

"Are they gone?" she asked Lewis. "Can you tell if anyone is eavesdropping on us?"

Lewis looked at her and nodded. "No one\'s around."

"Good," she said. "Lewis, I made a huge mistake."

Her son just looked at her blankly but she knew he was listening intently at her.

"When Gin gave me a nightmare, he actually brought me back to my first life."

He flinched at that remark. Ah, he must have remembered when that stupid Gin revealed that his adult version mauled her face. "Princess Neoma, you relived your awful first life?"

"Yeah," she said. She purposely didn\'t mention that she had to relive it quite a few times because he knew Lewis would feel bad again. And it wasn\'t important anyway. "Thanks to that, I noticed something that I didn\'t in the past. I saw a black crow with red eyes that seemed to follow me wherever I go."

Hearing her own words made her wonder about something.

Did Gin send me back to my first life because he wanted me to notice the things that I failed to see then?

That actually made sense even if it sounded ridiculous.

After all, her crazy aunt wanted her to become the empress. Gin seemed to be loyal to the Devil so he probably wouldn\'t intend to hurt her without a valid reason. But still, she wasn\'t that dumb to trust a demon. For Pete\'s sake, she couldn\'t even trust her own father.

"So, thinking that the black crow with red eyes is just a family crest from a household that hates the royal family, I stupidly asked Papa Boss and Saint Zavaroni about it," she continued with her story. "Guess what, Lewis?" She looked around before she leaned forward and whispered: "Apparently, it\'s the symbol of a cult that targets the de Moonasterion princesses."

Her son scowled, obviously annoyed by the fact that something was threatening her life again. "I\'ll look for them."

"Nah, don\'t," she said, then she sat properly again. "I mean, I was already in my teens when they found me in my first life. Maybe they don\'t know about my existence yet in this lifetime. If you actively look for them, you might give away the fact that Nero has a twin sister."

"But Princess…"

"Lewis, have you forgotten who your mother is?"

"I never met my mother."

Okay, that made her sad.

"I am your mother, Lewis," she said, then changed the topic before Lewis could deny it again with his famous phrase. "And since I\'m Neoma, I have other ways to investigate that creepy cult without them noticing me."

Her son tilted his head at one side. "How?"

"Through Rubin Drayton and Regina Crowell," she said. "You remember Regina Crowell from the story that I told you, right?"

The anger in Lewis\'s eyes as he nodded confirmed it.

He must be mad at Regina for what that bitch did to me in my first life.

"I can\'t help but think that Regina Crowell may somehow be involved with the cult," she said. "I didn\'t notice it before but now, I realize that it\'s weird how Regina Crowell seems influential back then when she was just a lowly noble. And how did she know about my evil plan towards Nero? Heck, she was even there as I was dying. Someone or something might have told her about my movements back then. She couldn\'t have done all of it alone."

He nodded in agreement.

"But Regina Crowell is around our age in this lifetime," she said. "She\'s also a child like us so it\'s possible that she might not have been in contact with the cult yet. But I don\'t want to be complacent so I need to check on her soon. Too bad Rubin isn\'t in the palace anymore."

The day of her crowning ceremony, Rubin already returned to House Drayton.

"But I\'m sure we\'d meet at the Moon Festival," she said. "I hope he brings Regina Crowell with him."

"Princess…"

"Hmm?"

"You\'re always busy these days."

She let out a deep sigh. "I know, right? I have a feeling that the whole empire will collapse without me," she said. But of course, that was just an exaggeration on her part. "Anyway, during the festival, let\'s play to our hearts\' content."

His face finally lit up as he nodded.

"Oh, it\'s going to be more fun because Nero will join us," she said. "I heard from Papa Boss that Trevor will make it so my twin brother can enjoy a week with us before they leave again."

Her son suddenly turned gloomy.

"Don\'t be like that, Lewis. Please get along with Nero," Neoma said while patting Lewis\'s back. "Nero is your uncle after all."

Lewis let out a frustrated sigh. "Prince Nero isn\'t my uncle."

***

"WE CAN\'T ignore Princess Neoma\'s bad dream, Your Majesty," Saint Zavaroni told him. "The dreams of a royal family member like her could sometimes turn out to be premonitions. Especially since Princess Neoma has Roseheart blood in her."

"I know that," Nikolai said, then he sipped his tea before he continued. "I just didn\'t expect Neoma to see that kind of dream. Not after I eradicated the whole cult before Nero and Neoma were even born."

That was right.

He killed the leader of the cult along with its core members after Nichole died. During that time, he still had Commander Gavin Quinzel by his side. The commander, Glenn, and the White Lion Knights took care of the remaining members of the cult.

"We must check if there were survivors, Your Majesty," His Holiness said. The cult had something to do with Nichole\'s downfall so he understood the saint\'s keen interest in the matter. "I don\'t want Princess Neoma to end up like the Princess Royal."

And the saint gave him a pointed, knowing look.

Ah, right. Even though they both knew that he tried his best to save Nichole back then, the saint still resented him. It wasn\'t like he didn\'t understand why His Holiness felt that way.

After all, he was in the same position.

It\'s easier to blame other people for your pain instead of admitting that you were also a part of the reason why you got hurt in the first place.

"The possibility of the cult having survivors is low, but I will have my men investigate it," he said. "I have a theory different from yours, Your Holiness."

The saint sipped his tea before he asked. "What do you have in mind, Your Majesty?"

"A fake cult," he said. "The cults had influenced a lot of people in the past. They had believers from all walks of life. But ever since their group was dubbed as a threat to the empire, their believers hid and tried to separate themselves from the cult to avoid punishment. But I believe they still exist even now. If the "cult" suddenly appears now, I have a reason to think that they\'re nothing but a fake."

"Even so, the ideals that the cult spread during their peak were harmful," Saint Zavaroni said worriedly. "If our theory turns out to be true, then it must mean that Princess Neoma\'s life will be in danger once the public finds out that we have a royal princess."

"I will make sure that the people who know Neoma\'s identity will keep the royal secret to their grave," Nikolai said firmly. "The cult must never be resurrected again."

***

"OH, MY future wife and son are here."

"Princess Neoma," Lewis told her. "Permission to kill."

Neoma just laughed it off, then she gently patted Lewis\'s head before she faced Trevor. It seemed like the talking book was waiting for her because he was standing in front of Nero\'s room. "Trevor, if you don\'t stop harassing me by calling me your future wife, I will castrate you with Skewer\'s blade."

Trevor looked shocked by her threat, then he laughed. "Hey, I\'m not harassing you."

"You are much, much older than me even if I combine my ages from all the lifetimes I lived," she reminded him dryly. "Flirting with me is a predatory behavior, duh."

"I am not that old, Moon Princess," the talking book denied. "But I don\'t want you to take my family jewels so I will behave myself."

"Good," she said. "Anyway, I owe you an apology."

"For what?"

"I failed to protect H1 and H2."

"Huh?"

"The hell dog you call \'Kuro,\'" she said, then she slightly bowed to him. "I\'m sorry for failing to protect the poor dog."

The fact that she always loses H1 and H2 never stopped bothering her.

Even when the third head appeared, she still intended to look after the hell dog. But she couldn\'t and it made her feel guilty. Especially since she was asked by the owner to look after it.

Plus, she got attached to the hell dog.

"Princess Neoma, please don\'t bow to me," the demon boy said. "I\'m sure you did your best to keep them safe. I should have told you that Kuro is the easiest item to steal because he\'s literally the gates to hell."

She raised her head to face him. "Is he still alive?"

"That, I can assure you."

"Thank goodness," she said in relief.

For some reason, Trevor smiled at her as if he found her cute. "Despite your foul mouth and princess attitude, you\'re kind-hearted, my Moon Princess."

"My kindness doesn\'t apply to people like you though," she said. Then, she made "gun fingers" at him. "So you better not annoy me or else, I\'ll hit you with the ddu-du ddu-du."

Trevor and Lewis both looked at her with a confused look.

After all, she sang the latter part of her sentence. It took her all she got not to move her hips and dance the iconic movement that came along with that part of that famous Kpop song. Well, she was good at acting but she was kind of bad at dancing pop.

She just flipped her imaginary long hair before she acted like nothing happened. "Anyway, please move aside. I want to see Nero."

"Too bad, Moon Princess," Trevor said in an exaggerated sad voice while looking at her with a fake pity on his face. "Prince Nero told me not to let you in. Apparently, he doesn\'t want to see you right now."

Oh my gosh.

Did she just hear a crack in their supposedly tight sibling relationship?

This can\'t be happening, Neoma thought to herself. I\'ll be the one to be hit by the ddu-du ddu-du if Nero ends up hating me again!

***

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***

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