Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

NEOMA could instinctively tell she had turned into a tree.

Well, it was more like she was inside a tree that she could control. She could feel her roots deeply embedded in the snow, and the several branches that she had were moving on her will. It was like she gained several limbs.

She should be weirded out, but to her surprise, she easily adapted to her strange transformation.

[Am I a genius or what?]

"I'm still famished," Neoma whispered to herself while looking at the Darkness in the shape of "water snakes." "They really look appetizing."

[Oh, god. What's wrong with my stomach?]

By the way, she could also see William and Delwyn looking at her with a stupefied look on their faces. If she was in a normal situation, she would have already bragged to her two uncles that she was indeed amazing– just like the main character she was.

But her hunger came first.

She grabbed the "water snakes." But instead of her arms, she felt the branches of her tree form move according to her will. The tree branches wrapped themselves around the "water snakes." Then the branches absorbed the Darkness just like how trees would absorb water through their roots.

Darkness, in its liquid form, should be harmful to a person's body. But as she "ate" the "water snakes," she started to feel full and energized. She could also feel her Moonglow purifying the Darkness she was absorbing.

[More. I need more. These "water snakes" are seriously delicious.]

This time, her roots emerged from the ground and chased the "water snakes" trying to escape from her.

[More…]

But the more she got full, the more she felt exhausted. After all, she was using her Moonglow to purify the "water snakes" she was absorbing. Moreover, her tree form was taking too much of her Mana, too.

[I need more Mana to eat more of this delicious Darkness.]

At that point, she was already turning into a glutton and it was making her lose her mind.

She couldn't think straight. All she knew was she needed to eat more. And so, she found the right people to help her sustain her strength– William and Delwyn.

[Proteins…?]

Neoma, who had already lost her mind to her gluttony at that moment, stabbed the unsuspecting William and Delwyn with her roots. Then the branches wrapped themselves around the two Spirits and lifted them in the air.

William and Delwyn didn't get the chance to fight back because as the two bled profusely, she immediately absorbed their Mana– rendering them weak in the process.

The more she got stronger from William and Delwyn's Mana, the more Darkness she was able to consume. And the fuller she got, the crazier she became. She didn't even care that William and Delwyn were bleeding and probably dying out there.

"Stop this madness, First Star!"

Who the hell…?

She wanted to curse at the intruder. But when she turned in the direction where the voice of a girl came from, she was surprised to see a huge Blue Whale give her a solid "headbutt" (that actually hit the trunk of her tree form)– getting the wind knocked out of her.

The next thing she knew, she was already back in her human form while slumped on the ground and clutching her stomach tight. Then she coughed up a chunk of blood mixed with Darkness. And dammit, her chest hurt like hell!

"I am so, so sorry!" said a very apologetic voice on the verge of crying said. "Are you alright?"

"Do I look alright to you?" she snapped, then she looked up at the owner of the voice.

Then she was rendered speechless, her whole body suddenly went numb and cold from shock.

All-black outfit, long straight hair, big and round lavender eyes.

The Black Witch sitting on the top of the Blue Whale's head looked younger than she remembered, but she wouldn't mistake that angelic face for someone else.

"Dahlia," Neoma whispered to herself in disbelief. [But why is she here?]

"We finally met in this lifetime," Dahlia said as if she was relieved, then she slid down from the Blue Whale's head and landed in front of her. Much to her shock, the Black Witch suddenly got down on her knees while her head hung low. "First Star, I'm here to offer my life to you."

Why though?

***

REGINA groaned when Lewis Crevan's white tail slapped her on the cheek, and it almost broke her jaw. Worse, the impact of his tail hitting her was so strong she was sent flying until her back hit the trunk of a tree.

His tail looked fluffy, but it was as hard as steel.

[This shitty fox…]

Regina spat out a chunk of blood. "How dare you hit a lady on the face?"

"You. Ugly," Lewis said bluntly. "Me don't care."

She knitted her eyebrows because she honestly didn't understand what Lewis Crevan saying.

[Moreover, why is he speaking incoherently now when he was just speaking fine a moment ago?]

"You're calling a face like mine 'ugly?'" she asked, taunting him again to make him lose control. "Are your standards too high because the royal princess is a beauty?"

"This," the shitty fox said, then he pointed a finger at his face. "My standards."

Look at this arrogant boy.

Well, Lewis Crevan was indeed good-looking. But she didn't care about that. To be honest, she was hard to please. Even Rubin Drayton, the arguably "prettiest" boy in the empire, looked average to her.

After all, she knew someone among the crows who might just be the most handsome person in the human world.

"Stop pretending like you don't know the royal princess," she told him. "We already–"

<"Regina, it's time to head back.">

She heard the voice of His Excellency in her head. The fact that he talked directly in her mind instead of sending a crow to her only meant His Excellency was in a position where he couldn't send a messenger to her.

[That means Bram has been defeated!]

Hah!

The audacity of her brother to call her foolish and weak when he was just the same.

"Lewis Crevan, it's a shame, but our playtime is now over," she said, then she pulled out a scroll from the pocket of her robe, then she ripped it.

In an instant, her body turned translucent.

Lewis Crevan clicked his tongue, then he gathered his Mana until two more of his white tails came out. The shitty fox was about to attack her, probably to stop her from running away. But he froze in his tracks when Jeno Dankworth suddenly coughed up a huge chunk of blood.

"Take care of the young lord before he dies," Regina said while laughing, then she waved at the shitty fox. "Don't worry, we'll meet again. And…" She smiled, her green eyes glowing in mischief. "Tell the royal princess to protect her "place" until we return to reclaim it for the true heir to the throne."

***

[DAHLIA is the real main character here.]

Neoma was mesmerized while looking at Dahlia.

The Black Wicth's beauty was only second to hers.

Moreover, her "background" was literally sparkling because of the crystal-clear "water" behind her. The Blue Whale also looked cute despite its enormous size. Plus, she could tell that the Blue Whale wasn't an ordinary Spirit.

Overall, she felt like she was looking at Dahlia inside a pretty frame in a webcomic.

[If my first life was a novel, I would have been the villainess while Nero would have been the male lead. Naturally, Dahlia would have been the female lead.]

But why was the main character kneeling in front of her? Plus…

"Why are you offering your life to me?" Neoma asked, confused. "I don't need it?"

Dahlia got up, then she waved her hands.

The next thing she knew, a transparent aquarium suddenly fell from the sky and trapped them inside.

[Wow, this aquarium is really big since it managed to contain the Blue Whale.]

Moreover, the crystal-clear "water" inside the aquarium was actually Mana. It was warm, and she didn't feel threatened, so she stayed calm.

[Anyway…]

Behind the Black Witch, she saw William and Delwyn inside a round fish tank. The two men were unconscious. She also noticed that the water inside the round aquarium turned red because of blood.

"Don't worry, First Star," Dahlia assured her gently. "The Grand Spirit and the Ice Spirit are being treated. The sparkling water inside the round aquarium is a healing potion I created a while ago. I specifically made them for Spirits who possess temporary physical bodies they use in order to stay in the human world."

She raised an eyebrow at the Black Witch. "That's nice," she said carefully. "But why do I feel like you came here prepared because you already know what's going to happen?"

"I wasn't aware of what exactly was going to happen," Dahlia explained. "The Stars only give me clues, not a detailed explanation."

"The Stars?"

"The Constellation of Stars, to be precise," the Black Witch said. "They sometimes talk to me and ask me to do things for them in order to protect our world."

"I see," she said. "So, you already know my real identity?"

Dahlia bit her lower lip as if she was hesitating to speak.

"Is this aquarium soundproof?" she asked while looking at the transparent fish tank.

[It has the same vibes as my Dome.]

"Yes, this is soundproof," the Black Witch said as if she was shy. Her face even turned red. Why was a strong individual like her look so awkward? "I apologize for trapping you here without your permission. I just wanted to keep our conversation private."

"No need to apologize, since you did the right thing," she said with a shrug. "Do you know my real identity?"

Dahlia slowly nodded. "It's an honor to meet you, Princess Neoma," she said, then she bobbed a curtsy to her. "My name is Dahlia, and I am the last Black Witch of this continent." She smiled shyly at her, then she lowered her eyes to the ground. "But it seems like Your Royal Highness already knows who I am."

"I have the memories of my past lives," she said bluntly. She wasn't being reckless by revealing her secret like that. It was just that she had a feeling Dahlia already knew who she really was. "Do you have the memories of your previous life, too?"

The wisdom and calmness in Dahlia's eyes couldn't belong to a child living her first life.

She knew because the Black Witch had the same look as she had, just like Ruto who also remembered his first life.

"I don't remember my past life the way Your Royal Highness does," Dahlia confessed, then she raised her head to look at her in the eye. "But each time I complete a request from the Stars, they give me a fragment of my past life's memories as a reward."

The Moon God.

The Sun Goddess.

And now, the Stars.

[I wonder what these supposedly powerful divine beings are thinking by sending children to solve their problems. This situation reminds me of the anime and some webcomics I consumed in my second life where the universe relies on teenagers to save humanity from the bad guys.]

"But to be honest, most of the memories I retrieved revolve around Prince Nero," Dahlia said shyly. "There's one thing that connects me to Your Royal Highness, though."

"Really?" she asked curiously. "What is it that connects me to you, then?"

"I am one reason for your eventual downfall, Princess Neoma."

"Excuse me?"

"The Stars prophesied that I'll be one of the people who will make you fall from grace in the near future, Princess Neoma," Dahlia said in a sad voice, her eyes already brimming with tears. "So before it happens, Your Royal Highness must kill me now."

Neoma let out a deep sigh, then she looked up at the night sky and raised both her middle fingers at the stars. "Fuck you all."

***

Author's Note for this chapter: BIG THANKS TO ANTONIQUE FOR THE MAGIC CASTLE GIFT. Huhu I'm so touched. Thanks to the exposure Royal Secret: I'm a Princess! received because of the special gift, the story gained a lot of collection/readers today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. :')

It's fun to read the comments of the new readers. They're hating on Nikolai so bad. Kekeke.

But to be honest, I don't regret making Nikolai the scumbag that he was in the past.

You see, I was one of the readers who got addicted to trending "cold/heartless/tyrant father dotes on cute daughter" trope. But no matter how fond I was of the said trope, it made me question why the supposedly cold/heartless/tyrant father suddenly softened up to their daughter just because the daughter was cute?

I mean, I enjoy the fluff, but I just thought I wanted to see a bad father-daughter relationship get better gradually instead of having the father adore the daughter right off the bat. Having said that, I still love the doting cold father and cute daughter trope. Haha!

Anyway, I decided to write something I'd like to read so I created Nikolai de Moonasterio. He sure made your blood boil in the beginning, huh? Haha! Thank you for not dropping RS despite Nikolai's horrible personality. <3

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Hi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

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