Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

"Kill the Red Dragon and the world will end right away."

Haaah.

Why would this red sphere appear and just say something so stupid out of the blue?

[The lord is testing my patience again, I see.]

Neoma raised her clenched hand– ready to throw a punch. "No, thank you."

But, all of a sudden, the red sphere exploded before she could even punch it.

And then the broken pieces of the beautiful gem turned into letters.

Those letters then formed words– words from the ancient language, to be precise.

The next thing Neoma knew, she was already reading the full prophecy about the de Moonasterio's first empress regnant and the Red Dragon who needed to die for her to ascend the throne.

[What ancient bullshit is this?]

<"The first woman sitting on the Throne would also be the same woman responsible for the end of the world.

The blood of the Red Dragon she had to slay would be her red carpet– scorching and withering the world with fire and poison.

The toxic fumes released as the dragon decayed would choke the land and all the nearby living creatures.

The entire landscape would then be transformed into a blighted wasteland where bleached leviathan bones loom upwards out of the ground– a clear warning for everyone who would dare step foot on the land that was once ruled by the de Moonasterios, the strongest bloodline in the human world.">

LOL.

"Is this the prophecy that scared the shit out of my ancestors?" Neoma asked, half-amused and half-irritated. "Then it seems like I already fulfilled the prophecy in the first timeline. I mean, the slaying the Red Dragon part."

After all, there were dragon bones buried under the Larissa Palace.

It was pretty strange, though.

[When Ruto turned back time for me, then the Red Dragon should have been revived. But I was clearly told that Tteokbokki was the last Red Dragon in the world. That's why Lord Manu had to bring Tteokbokki to the Dead World in order to raise him faster.]

It happened during the time Neoma found out that her Mama Boss was stuck in a huge block of ice under the Black Ocean, and the only thing that could melt the ice was a Red Dragon's fire.

If another Red Dragon existed in that timeline, then people around her would have informed her about it. Especially William who had a weird obsession with Mama Boss. But that didn't happen, and so they ended up raising Tteokbokki in a hurry.

So, Neoma's big brain reached a conclusion.

"The Red Dragon and I must have met in the first timeline and made a pact," Neoma said to the weird eye floating in front of her. "In the first timeline, I didn't have a Soul Beast. Well, I thought it was only because I didn't get to awaken. But, later in life, I found out I was born with a dead Soul Beast."

And she could still remember what the Neoma of the first timeline had said to her before: ["I was born with a dead Soul Beast. The red dragon with you right now was the "Soul Beast" that Commander Yoan got for me when we tried to free the Soul Beasts in the past."]

Neoma belatedly realized that her memories about getting a Soul Beast in the first timeline was still blurry, even though she had retrieved most of her memories already.

Gosh.

[My life is so full of mysteries.]

Oh, well.

[I'm sure there's a reason why Ruto didn't tell me.]

The amount of trust Neoma had in Ruto was scary, but what could she do?

[He has power over me as much as I do over him.]

"So, what's the point of all of this?" Neoma asked the red sphere (possibly a god's eye) lazily. "Did you come out on purpose? Or did you only come out because we accidentally unburied you after destroying Larissa Palace?"

<"Did you not understand the part that says the Red Dragon can help you destroy the world?">

"Yes, and?"

<"…">

"Hey, do I look like a lunatic who'll cause the world to end just because I'm bored?"

<"Yes.">

"Ouch," Neoma complained lightheartedly. "I know I already have a record for destroying the world. But, hey, I won't kill my brother for that."

<"We're not talking about Nero de Moonasterio here.">

"I'm talking about Tteokbokki, dummy. He's my brother, too."

<"…">

"Anyway, if you have nothing else to say, can I leave now?"

<"You're wasting this opportunity to learn the truth.">

"How can I trust something that I've just met?" Neoma asked, scoffing. "If you want to share more important stuff with me, then earn my trust first."

She felt like she already had this kind of conversation with someone else before.

But what could she do?

[I attract weirdos like this.]

Neoma's thoughts were interrupted when she felt a sound similar to a glass breaking.

When she looked up, she saw the dark and starry sky breaking apart.

Long cracks appeared all over the surface, causing the entire thing to collapse.

At the same time, the red sphere that seemed to be a god's eye, began to fade as if it would vanish anytime.

<"See you later, Neoma de Moonasterio.">

Neoma shrugged. "I hope you only seek me once you have worthy information to share with me."

***

WHEN NEOMA opened her eyes, the first thing that she saw was Ruto's worried face.

Only then did she realize that he was holding her in his arms.

And they were still suspended in the air.

"Neoma, don't touch things carelessly," Ruto scolded her lightly. "If you're not eating something you shouldn't, then you're touching them. Let's be careful next time, okay?"

"Okay," Neoma said, wrapping her arms around Ruto's neck because she wanted to be more comfortable in her position. "How long was I out?"

"For a minute?"

"Were you the one who got me out of that weird dimension?"

"I just hit the red sphere with a lightning bolt, and then you fainted so I caught you."

Ah.

So, Neoma must have been suspended in the air while unconscious.

She looked around and realized that the both the large red sphere and the dragon's skeleton were gone.

And Tteokbokki…

Neoma knitted her eyebrows. "Where's Tteokbokki?"

Ruto simply looked below them.

When she followed her gaze, she realized that her "children" were already free from the Dome that she created to protect them.

[The Dome probably collapsed when I "fainted."]

"Your Soul Beast fainted as soon as you got spirited away by the red sphere," Ruto explained while descending. "Your "children" caught him."

And Neoma could see that.

Tteokbokki was lying on the ground while Paige and Greko were busy nursing him.

The others stood up and greeted Neoma when Ruto put her down carefully after landing.

"Princess Neoma, don't," Lewis said, frowning. And he really looked upset this time. "Don't protect us when we still can fight."

Oh.

[It's scary when Lewis speaks properly to air his complaints.]

Juri, Jeno, and Xion all nodded firmly in agreement with what Lewis had said.

[If Paige and Greko weren't busy, I'm sure they'll scold me, too.]

"Bad habits die hard," Neoma said as an excuse. "I'm sorry– I won't do it again."

***

NEOMA let out a sigh of relief after Paige and Greko said that Tteokbokki had just fallen asleep due to exhaustion.

However, Ruto immediately shattered her delusion that her Soul Beast was completely fine.

"We should put a barrier in your Soul Beast's room," Ruto said bluntly. "We're not sure if he's going to wake up as your Soul Beast or as the God of Wrath."

Ah, right.

[We have to talk about that soon.]

"Kids, you may leave now," Neoma said to her children. "Commander Ruto and I have something important to talk about."

"I'll stay outside," Lewis said. "Call me if you need me, Princesss Neoma."

[Lewis speaks well these days.]

Anyway, since Lewis was the chosen spokesperson of the day, the other kids seemed to have been at ease after hearing their commander speak up.

Neoma just nodded, and then the kids finally left.

[Such good kids.]

So, now, only Neoma and Ruto were left in the room where Tteokbokki was currently sleeping.

Well, it was Tteokbokki's room in the first place.

"Ruto, I remember the Neoma of the first timeline saying that you "got" her Soul Beast for her," Neoma said, going straight to the point. "Did I kill the last Red Dragon in the world in the first timeline?"

"You did," Ruto said in a quiet voice. "I know you don't remember any of it. But I didn't tell you about it not because of my curse– it was actually the pact that you made with the Red Dragon that prevented me from telling you about it."

"I see," she said, pausing for a moment. "What would happen if I remember the pact?"

"The problem isn't you remembering the pact," he said, and then he glanced at the sleeping Tteokbokki. "The problem is your Soul Beast remembering about it. Once he remembers the past, then he will also remember that he wants to destroy the world. After all, the God of Wrath is now the owner of the Red Dragon's body."

"I see," she said, nodding. "So, the problem is the God of Wrath. I met him a few times. He's crazy, yes. But he's not obsessed with destroying the world."

"It's because the God of Wrath doesn't have the Red Dragon's memories yet," Ruto said, making it clear that the God of Wrath and the Red Dragon were two separate beings. "If he remembers the pact, then the God of Wrath will also retrieve the Red Dragon's memories. And if that happens…"

Ah, yes.

Thank goodness she was good at reading between the lines.

[And my big brain is creative.]

"Boom," Neoma said, clapping her hands. "The God of Wrath will kill himself because the dead body of the Red Dragon is capable of ending the world."

***

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