Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

<"EAT first before your food gets cold.">

"I'm already eating," Neoma said after she just had a spoonful of steamed rice. She was now enjoying the food that Ruto prepared for her while talking to him using a communication device. "We can talk while I eat, right? I'll kill you if you hang up."

Ruto, who was on the other end of the line, chuckled. <"You didn't only get prettier, Neoma– you also got more violent.">

She was momentarily frozen.

[Dammit… Ruto's voice sounds sexier now!]

It was deeper, huskier, manlier…

"I want to see you, Ruto," she insisted. "I want to match your voice with your face."

<"Neoma, you should learn how to be patient.">

She clicked her tongue, then she stabbed an innocent piece of grilled pork using her fork and dipped it in the ssamjang that Ruto made for her. "I'm patient," she said stubbornly. "If I wasn't patient, do you think I'll be talking to you like this after you rejected all my calls? Plus, you didn't even let me in your dreams."

<"Are you upset about that?">

"Of course, I am."

<"I made a whole tiramisu cake for you. Just ask the chef to bring it out once you're done with your meal.">

"Gosh," she complained, even though just the mention of her favorite dessert was enough for her to cave.

Well, in the first place, she couldn't really get mad at Ruto for not responding to her calls all this time. After all, she knew he was always working hard for her. It wasn't his fault that he had a lot of restrictions he had for having the memories of his first life intact.

"Do you think a tiramisu cake is enough to bribe me?" she asked teasingly.

<"Should I send my Bank Crest to you?">

A Bank Crest was the equivalent of a credit card in this world.

"I don't want you to blame me if you go bankrupt, Ruto."

<"It's kind of upsetting that you think I'd go bankrupt easily, Neoma.">

Wow, someone was confident about their wealth, huh?

To be fair, she heard Ruto's family was a big deal on the East Continent.

Plus, Chef Morton Stroganoff was her father's Executive Chef. It was a job that pays a lot, but aside from that, the Stroganoffs also had a chain of famous restaurants all over the continent. And as far as she knew, the Stroganoffs also supplied food ingredients to the noblest households in the empire.

[They're rich RICH.]

And…

Ruto was the sole heir to both House Solfrid and House Stroganoff.

[Oh, RUTO is rich RICH.]

<"Why did you go quiet? Are you calculating my wealth?">

"Yes, since I'm a material girl," she admitted unapologetically. "My dream is to become a lady of leisure after all of this is over. And although I'm already financially stable myself, I don't mind getting spoiled by someone who's also the same."

He laughed softly. <"Good girl. You should accept all the good things offered to you by people you trust because you deserve it. Should I ask my mother to send my Bank Crest to you?">

"Nah, your mother doesn't like me."

<"Your father doesn't like me either.">

"To be fair, my father doesn't like any boys around me."

<"My mother is just a little worried that you have her only son wrapped around your finger.">

"She's wrong, though. If I have you wrapped around my finger, you should have been in front of me the moment I asked you to."

<"If you didn't have me wrapped around your finger, I wouldn't have left your side in order to get rid of the things blocking your way– even if you didn't ask me to do that for you.">

Okay, he had a point…

She couldn't refute his words, so she just put a piece of braised baby potato in her mouth.

<"I gave up our present for our future, Neoma.">

She almost choked on her baby potato.

[Wait, I can't die because of baby potatoes this time!]

She immediately grabbed a glass of water and chugged it down, then she scolded Ruto. "Hey, I'm eating– be careful with your words! I don't want to have another embarrassing cause of death!"

He just laughed it off.

His laugh sounded nice, so her irritation easily disappeared.

[Gosh, why am I such a sucker for this punk?]

<"Are you eating well?">

"Yeah," she said, finishing her bowl of rice first before speaking again. "You have no idea how much I've missed your cooking."

<"Just my cooking?">

"I won't let you hear the words you want to hear from me as a punishment for ghosting me."

<"It's alright. I'm already thankful that you're talking to me even after I "ghosted" you.">

"I'm glad you know that," she said, then she stuffed her face with the delicious side dishes. "So, what are you up to now? Don't even think about lying, Ruston Stroganoff."

<"You sound scary when you call me by my full name.">

She just laughed, then she finished the remaining grilled meat on the plate.

<"I made a deal with William.">

"What kind of deal?"

<"You felt a sharp pain in your chest earlier, didn't you?">

"Yeah," she said. "Did you cause it?"

<"Indirectly. The burning chest pain you experienced earlier was because I forced your Soul Beast to wake up early.">

She raised an eyebrow. "Did you hatch the egg?"

<"It's in the process of getting hatched. I failed to break the egg completely because your Soul Beast's two personalities were fighting internally. You're the only one who could stop them, Neoma.">

She let out a sigh while shaking her head.

[Tteokbokki and Crimson are acting like brats again, huh?]

"Okay, I'll deal with them after my meal," she said. "But why did you wake up Tteokbokki instead of waiting for the egg to hatch naturally?"

<"We don't have the luxury to wait for that long, Neoma.">

Oh, right.

[I've been complacent recently.]

<"I made a deal with William when I offered to wake up your Soul Beast,"> Ruto continued with his report. <"I asked him to enter the Headmaster's consciousness and manipulate him to delay the last match up to two weeks.">

She knitted her eyebrows. "The match will be delayed for two weeks? But that's when the classes are supposed to begin, Ruto.">

<"Yes, the match will happen on the first day of the class. It won't affect the opening of the classes, since the match is only done to determine this year's freshmen representative. And wouldn't it be more exciting if the new student representative gave their speech after winning the match?">

"But why do you want the match to be delayed for two weeks?"

<"Because I need time to hunt down Calyx Dalton and kill him.">

"Ruto, why are you doing god's work again?"

She wasn't even surprised that Ruto already knew about Calyx Dalton.

At this point, she was already used to him knowing the things happening around her. The only question she had was why did he have to shoulder everything?

<"God's work? But no god has ordered me to kill him.">

"Not literally– it's just a meme," she said, then she changed the topic. "Ruto, this is my fight with Calyx Dalton. I already know that he's a crow, and I also know that I can deal with him. I appreciate that you're doing god's work for me, but I don't like it when you do things that I can manage on my own. I feel like you're underestimating me."

<"Neoma, I'm not underestimating you,"> Ruto said gently. <"But killing Calyx Dalton is something that I must do. Please trust me on this.">

"But I really want to fight Calyx Dalton," she said stubbornly. "I have a personal grudge against him."

<"Neoma…">

"Well, I said that I wanted to fight Calyx Dalton. But to be honest, Duke Quinzel is looking for him, too. It's not like I can stop His Grace after he personally heard the crow psycho threaten Hanna."

<"I believe I'll find Calyx Dalton before Duke Quinzel does.">

Ruto sounded as stubborn as her.

"You should really tell your mother that you're not wrapped around my finger, Ruston Stroganoff."

<"You're scaring me again, Neoma.">

"I'll call you by your full name until I see your face again."

<"I made you upset, didn't I?">

"I'm not upset just because I wanted to fight Calyx Dalton," she said. "I'm upset because I feel like you don't care about yourself as much as you care about me. You always put your life in danger, Ruston Stroganoff."

<"Because I can't put yours on the line– I don't want to. It's too dangerous for you because there are so many individuals who want to harm you. If I can lessen the threats around you, then I'll do it because my purpose in life is to keep you safe.">

"Well, that's exactly how I feel, too– I also want to protect you because you're one of my people, Ruston Stroganoff."

<"Should I take a photo of myself and send it to you?">

She bit her lower lip to stop herself from smiling.

Ruto was obviously trying to pacify her by "selling" himself to her.

[Gosh, he's so cute.]

<"I can't say anything about how I look now since I can't see my own face, but I had an impressive growth spurt. I probably tower over you now, Neoma.">

Okay, that almost made her salivate.

Since she was tall for her age, she wanted someone taller than her.

"Ruston Stroganoff, I don't want a whole body photo unless you're sending me a life-size cardboard cutout of yourself," she said. "Just send me a picture of your face. I want to see your face, okay?"

<"Okay. Are you still upset with me?">

"Yes, I'm still upset with you, Ruston Stroganoff."

<"You're making me want to return to the palace and beg for your forgiveness while kneeling and crying at your feet.">

That made her smile.

She knew that Ruto wouldn't do what he just said, but she was satisfied with the fact that he felt guilty for stressing her out.

"Keep feeling that way until the day you can apologize to me in person, Ruston Stroganoff."

<"What can I do for you to at least stop calling me by my full name, hmm?"

She couldn't see his face, but she could imagine him giving her puppy dog eyes by just listening to how he talked in a cute tone.

"Well, maybe if you call me every day, I can forgive you little by little."

<"I'll do my best to–">

She heard a loud explosion in the background, almost making her heart drop to the floor.

"Are you alright?"

<"Don't worry– I just blew up some annoying pests.">

Why did she have a feeling that those "annoying pests" were human beings?

[Is he seriously fighting while talking to me?!]

<"I'll call you later, Neoma,"> Ruto said gently. <"Have a pleasant evening, my Moonshine.">

"Hey, take care," Neoma said, still worried even though she knew Ruto was strong enough to protect herself. "Hurry and come back to me soon, Ruston Stroganoff."

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