Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

MONA didn't return to the villa, even though it was the excuse she gave Nero when she ran away earlier.

She was ashamed that she ran away just because of Nikolai.

But she didn't have the time to dwell on that.

[A god's presence…?]

She looked up at the sky when she noticed the strange sensation in the air.

The sky was clear and bright, and the weather in the Hazelden Kingdom remained the same. But she couldn't be wrong. She was certain that a strong divine power was lingering in the air.

[My babies…]

She followed her gut feeling and ran towards where her children were.

When she was near the entrance of the Frozen Woods, the sky roared angrily. And it was never a good sign. Thus, she ran using her maximum speed.

She was still late, though.

[No!]

A bolt of blinding white lightning descended on the ground– and it was about to strike her children who were hugging each other.

She hated that she had to shut her eyes when the lightning's glow hit her eyes.

"Neoma! Nero!"

She immediately opened her eyes when she heard Nikolai call their children's names.

[No…]

In her peripheral vision, she saw Glenn and Queen Brigitte who were able to protect themselves well. Glenn had drawn Ebony– his sword– and created a barrier in front of them.

North– the Black Tortoise– was also standing in front of the royal couple. The Black Tortoise was Nikolai's Soul Beast known best for its defensive skills. The emperor probably sent North to protect Glenn and the queen.

Nikolai, on the other hand, rushed towards their children who were falling to the ground– unconscious.

She moved at the same time he did.

The emperor grabbed Nero first because their son was closer to his reach.

And thus, she caught Neoma.

She plopped down on the ground while cradling her daughter in her arms, relieved that she caught her in time.

"Neoma..." Mona whispered to herself worriedly, then she turned to Nero. Like her, Nikolai plopped down on the ground while cradling their son in his arms. "Nero…"

The fact that Neoma and Nero were unconscious wasn't the only problem.

[Their bodies have become empty shells.]

She raised her head to meet Nikolai's eyes.

He needed to know the condition of their children.

But whatever she was about to say flew out of the window when she noticed that Nikolai was looking at her like she was the only person he could see at the moment.

She hated to admit this, but her heart fluttered.

[Many years have passed and yet, the way he looks at me didn't change…]

"I'm glad that you're back safely, Mona," Nikolai said, then he turned to their children. "Th lightning that hit the children has Yule's Moonglow. It must have been him."

She was a little surprised that Nikolai, who seemed to have been in a trance earlier, snapped out of it. For her, it was a testament to how much he cared about their children. This would sound arrogant coming from her. But in the past, she was the most important person in the emperor's life.

This time, she could tell that Nikolai had become a proper father.

[I should act like a proper mother, too.]

"Neoma and Nero's souls aren't here," Mona informed Nikolai. "They must have been summoned by Lord Yule."

He clenched his jaw hard.

God, that was… sexy.

She screamed internally for having inappropriate thoughts while their children were in a predicament.

[Focus, Mona Roseheart– focus!]

"Nikolai, what happened?" she asked calmly, pulling herself together. "Why would Lord Yule summon our children in a seemingly dangerous way?"

"We're getting punished," he said, pissed. But it was obvious that his anger was directed at the Moon God and not at her. "We're about to commit blasphemy against him, so he probably took the children to reprimand them."

She knitted her eyebrows, confused. "Blasphemy?"

"Let's head to the villa first. I'll explain everything to you there," Nikolai said, then he paused for a moment before he asked hesitantly. "If that's okay with you, of course."

Oh.

Nikolai was being considerate of her.

It was the bare minimum, but it still gave her butterflies in the stomach.

"I understand," Mona said, then she turned to their children and turned to their unconscious children. "Let's bring Neoma and Nero to a warm place first."

***

NEOMA panicked a little when she woke up in her Spirit form.

She thought she had died and gone straight to hell. If not for her gut feeling telling her that she was still alive, she would have really believed that she was already dead.

After all, the room they were in looked dark and ominous. The floor looked like a giant chessboard, and there were broken chess pieces around. She couldn't see much because the only source of light in the room was the window where the moonlight passed through.

But there was an empty throne blocking it.

"Neoma, are you alright?"

It was Nero, and her twin brother was sitting on the floor while leaning against the broken black knight chess piece.

"I'm alright," Neoma said, then she got and leaned against the surprisingly intact white queen chess piece behind her. "Are you alright, Nero? We're not dead, are we?"

"We're not yet dead," Nero assured her. "But our powers seem to have been nullified." He put a hand over his chest. "I can still feel my connection to Sev, but I can't summon him. I also can't use my Mana here. Can you try if yours would work?"

"Okay."

She tried to summon Tteokbokki– it didn't work. The other Spirits didn't come out, too. Not even Skewer.

"Yeah, I can't also use my Mana," she said, then she looked around. "But I think we're safe here. Even if this place looks ominous, I don't feel any threat. Plus, I think I felt Lord Yule's Moonglow from the lightning that hit us earlier."

Her brother nodded in agreement. "I felt it, too."

An awkward silence ensued after that.

[Ah, right. We fought earlier. And despite being the older one, I acted like a kid.]

"Nero, I was harsh earlier, right?" she said, breaking the awkward silence. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper and cursed." She slapped her mouth gently. "This noona will be more patient and careful in the future."

Nero fell silent for a while before he spoke again. "I'm sorry, too, Neoma. I overreacted."

She smiled, then she scooted over next to her twin brother. "Nero, I was wrong when I spoke harshly. But please consider what I said. I don't want you to end up hurting Hanna and Dahlia."

Her twin brother nodded. "I will be careful not to hurt either of them, Neoma," he said. "I intend to keep my promise with Hanna, but I also want to get along with Miss Dahlia since I chose her to be one of my people. I need her strength, Neoma."

"As long as your reason for keeping Dahlia by your side is platonic, then I won't say anything anymore," she said, then she held Nero's hand and gently squeezed it. "Please be careful with their hearts, Nero."

Nero nodded. "I won't hurt them, Neoma."

"It's touching to see you getting along as usual, Ne-Ne and Ro-Ro."

Neoma and Nero stood up and held each other's hand when they faced Yule who suddenly appeared sitting on the throne.

[Is Yule here to scold us for our plan to commit blasphemy?]

But something was different from the Moon God.

[He doesn't look like he's here to scold us.]

Yule was blindfolded, and there were streaks of bloody tears on his cheeks as if he had just cried blood.

[Lord Yule looks like Gojo-sen… no! Stop!] Neoma scolded herself. [This isn't the time to be a weeb!]

***

NIKOLAI, for the first time after a long while, felt happy and complete.

He still couldn't believe that his whole family was in the same room now.

Nero and Neoma, who were still unconscious, were lying down on the bed while holding each other's hands like usual.

[The twins are really close, huh?]

Mona, on the other hand, was sitting on the chair beside the bed.

[God, she's so beautiful.]

Mona let out a deep sigh. "What's taking Lord Yule so long to return our children?"

"Oh."

He didn't realize he let out that stupid "oh" until Mona turned to her with a questioning look on her face.

"What is it?" she asked gently.

"Nothing," Nikolai, who was sitting on the chair across from Mona, said. "I was just happy to hear you say the words "our children." It finally hit me that our family is really complete now. Thank you for not excluding me, Mona."

She fell silent for a while.

And that made him extremely nervous.

He knew he had a lot to apologize for, so he didn't really know where to begin. Moreover, the fact that he was breathing in the same room as Mona was making him feel weak.

"While waiting for the kids to gain consciousness, let's talk," she said sternly.

He gulped hard. "About what?"

Mona smiled "sweetly" at him. "How about we start talking about how you tried to marry Neoma off to the Draytons when she was still a baby, Nikolai de Moonasterio?"

Nikolai shut his eyes tight while clenching his hands tight.

[I'm dead meat.]

***

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