Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

"YOUR MAJESTY, we need to address the nobility and the common people as soon as possible."

Nikolai heard the frustration and urgency in Kyle Sprouse's voice but he chose to ignore it.

He was lazily seated on the comfortable windowsill of his room while having a glass of red wine. Staring at the full moon outside his window, he wondered why Neoma was yet to wake up after three days. His daughter absorbed a huge amount of his Moonglow a while ago.

It was enough to weaken him and render him bedridden for a full day, but not enough to make Neoma open her eyes.

[Little rogue, you have to wake up soon before I go on a rampage myself…]

"Your Majesty, the Royal Tower is on a strike. They demand to know who killed Madam Hammock," Kyle continued nagging. "Of course, House Hammock and House Wisteria also wanted to know the same thing. But other than that, House Hammock, House Wisteria, along with House Hawthorne and House Dankworth, demand that you release their children, Your Majesty."

Ah, right.

He threw Lewis Crevan, Juri Wisteria, Jeno Dankworth, and Jasper Hawthorne at the Red Sky Tower. There was also a child that Juri Wisteria and Jeno Dankworth insisted to be brought with them instead of being grouped with the other children from the camp. When the two insisted that the young Healer was Neoma's "new adopted son," he had no choice but to allow the boy to go to the Red Sky Tower.

It was a fancy prison for nobles. But it was just like any other luxurious tower. Of course, the only difference was the "guests" weren't allowed to leave until he says so.

As of right now, the tower was heavily guarded by Dion Skelton and Jeanne Audley.

Geoffrey Kinsley was the one ȧssigned to temporarily take over Glenn's position. It should be Dion's job. But he decided to keep Geoffrey by his side instead of sending him to the tower because he had another job for the best "researcher" among the Paladins.

"Your Majesty, let's at least release the children first," Kyle said in a pleading voice. "Especially Lady Juri Wisteria. House Hammock and House Wisteria insist that they won't bury the late Madam Hammock if we don't release the young lady. Let the child grieve properly for her grandmother, Your Majesty."

"I gave Juri Wisteria the chance to attend her grandmother's funeral," Nikolai said, tired of Kyle's nagging now. "It was her choice to stay with her friends in the tower as long as Neoma is still unconscious."

It seemed like the children were punishing themselves for what happened to Neoma.

According to Jeanne's latest report, the children bȧrėly touched their food. They were more concerned about Neoma's condition than their own.

[You found good allies, Neoma.]

Kyle let out a deep sigh. "There's one more problem that we need to face urgently as well, Your Majesty."

"What is it?"

"Saint Zavaroni's betrayal."

He turned to the count. "Has the news reached the temple already?"

"They would know even if we don't report to them," the count said while shaking his head. "Saint Zavaroni isn't the only blessed man in the temple, Your Majesty. High Priest Wellington is also the favored child of Lord Yule. When His Holiness betrayed the Moon God, the High Priest received the heartbreaking message from the heavens."

Ah, of course.

Compared to Saint Zavaroni's warm and overwhelming presence, High Priest Wellington's existence was bȧrėly noticeable. But now that the saint was gone, the High Priest might just become the next leader of the temple.

"High Priest Wellington just sent us a notice a while ago, Your Majesty," Kyle said in a distressed tone. "They will use their official portal to enter the Royal Capital."

That would be a problem.

The "unofficial portal" that connects the temple to his palace was only used by Saint Zavaroni when the saint wanted or needed to visit the Royal Palace.

But the official portal of the temple that connects to the Royal Capital was only used for official and urgent businesses. Moreover, the official portal wasn't hidden so the citizens of the empire would be the ones greeting the High Priest and his escorts once they arrived.

[Ah, it will be noisy.]

"The children will be kept locked up in the Red Sky Tower until Neoma wakes up," Nikolai said firmly. "Prepare everything that needs to be prepared to greet the High Priest, Kyle."

Kyle let out a deep sigh again before bowing. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

***

NEOMA was hungry as soon as she opened her eyes.

Stephanie, her loyal nanny, cried when she finally woke up. She learned from the head maid that she had been unconscious for three days. But she didn't feel like she was knocked out for that long because she still looked and felt "fresh."

[Stephanie probably gave me sponge baths and dressed me up while I was unconscious as if she was playing with a B*rbie doll.]

"I'm really glad and relieved that you're finally awake, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie said while wiping her tears off of her face with a handkerchief. "Should I inform His Majesty?"

"No," Neoma said firmly, then she stretched her arms. Surprisingly, despite being bedridden for three days, she didn't feel weak. In fact, she felt fully recharged. "I'm hungry, Stephanie."

The head maid's face lit up. "I will go to the kitchen and tell the head chef to prepare a meal for you, Your Royal Highness."

"But Ruto's kitchen is in my father's palace, isn't it?" she asked curiously. "Are you going to Yule's Palace just to tell him to cook for me? I'll just call him."

"Ah, Chef Stroganoff is no longer in charge of your meals, Your Royal Highness," the maid said hesitantly. "From now on, Blanco Palace's head chef is back as your executive chef."

Okay, she was shocked and anxious after hearing that. "But why? What happened to Ruto?"

"Nothing bad happened to Chef Stroganoff, Your Royal Highness," Stephanie ȧssured her gently. "Our palace was informed a while ago that the young Royal Chef is bound for culinary school now."

The shock and anxiety that she felt a while ago turned into a full-blown panic.

[Ruto, you can't leave without saying goodbye to me properly!]

And she couldn't let him go just like that.

"Mochi," Neoma said, summoning the Wind Spirit that she could feel within her. "Bring me to where Ruto is now."

***

It was dark and her freefall was going too fast. Thus, she didn't have the chance to check her surroundings. All she could tell at the moment that she was about to fall into someone else's precious and luxurious garden.

And oh, there was a fancy carriage that she might just crash once she landed on it in a few seconds…

[Dayum, Mochi!]

She really thought she would crash down the fancy carriage. So even though she knew that she wouldn't be hurt because of her sturdy body, she still prepared herself mentally.

But she soon realized that she didn't really have to prepare for anything.

In just the blink of an eye (quite literally in this sense), she found herself safe and sound in the arms of Ruto.

Yes, he caught her before she crashed down.

[This is so cliché. I've seen this "scene" in many romance anime, romcom movies, Kdramas, and even in webcomics. I almost puked every time I see this scene before. But now that it happened to me…]

Well, it wasn't bad.

If the loud and fast beating of her heart wasn't any indication.

"Neoma," Ruto said, calling her name as if he was scolding her. If he called her by her real name, then she was certain that they were alone in that place. Thus, it was safe for him to address her that way. "Are you okay?"

Oh, she thought he was going to scold her so she was touched when he showed his concern first.

But the excitement in her heart was soon replaced by confusion when she looked at Ruto's face properly. She didn't notice it a while ago because she was too busy asking her heart to calm the fuċk down. But now that he was looking at his face…

"Ruto, what happened to your face?" Neoma asked worriedly. "Why do you have a huge burn mark…"

A huge burn mark?

[Wait…]

Looking closely at it, she realized that the huge burn mark that devoured half of Ruto's face was similar to the one that she had before.

And that huge-ass burn mark disappeared on her face all of a sudden.

She wished she was dumb, but she was afraid that her big brain already connected the dots. Of course, she was curious how it happened. But she was overwhelmed by the fact that Ruto may have sacrificed himself to return her beauty to her.

[But how…?]

"Did you meet the Devil?" she asked, then she gently grabbed him by the collar. "Ruto, did you ask the Devil to give me back my beauty in exchange for yours?"

"I'm not beautiful," Ruto said casually. "I was told I have an average face so a burn mark wouldn't really change anything."

Look at this smartass vaguely responding to her…

[He obviously did it for me.]

Ah, she didn't ask Ruto to do it for her and yet, her heart fluttered.

"I will take responsibility," Neoma declared firmly. "If no one marries you because of that huge ȧss burn mark, I will take responsibility, Ruto Stroganoff."

***

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***

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