Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

  [Now, let's deal with the scum who tried to kidnap Neoma.]

Nikolai glared at the humanoid cat standing in front of him and his daughter. "Who are you?"

"I'm your nightmare, Your Majesty," the white humanoid cat said in a voice that obviously didn't belong to a human. It sounded muffled as if it was coming from under the ground. "I'm here to take everything away from you."

"Argh," he complained, acting like he was about to throw up. "Are you a novelist? I don't like the way you talk."

"Papa Boss, don't be like that," Neoma scolded him. "That person is doing his best as Gin's underling. Plus, he didn't hurt me so he must not be that bad."

He gave his daughter a blank stare. "Why are you defending your kidnapper?"

"I'm not," the little rogue said defensively. "I'm just being logical."

He was about to scold her when he felt the presence of his twin sister.

"Nikolai, don't scold my cute niece," Nichole said, appearing in front of the white humanoid cat. "She's correct. Our new recruit here is just following our orders."

"He's from my clan but he's very different from me," the black cat called Gin, if he remembered correctly from the report that he received from Neoma a few years ago, said. Although as far as he knew, the black humanoid cat was supposed to be in an adult form instead of a child's. "Your Majesty, we will never hurt Princess Neoma. So why don't we just join hands and raise her together–"

The black cat wasn't able to finish his sentence because he tried to cut his head using a sharp blade made out of his Mana that he threw while Gin was speaking.

Unfortunately, he failed.

His blade was able to slice Gin's throat but not deep enough to cut his head off. And it was all "thanks" to Nichole who deflected his attack by putting Coat over the black cat at the last minute. His twin sister was able to do that by touched the black cat's neck.

Tsk.

"Brother, calm down," Nichole said with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. "We're not here to fight. I was serious when I said I just wanted to see my niece." His twin sister turned to his daughter. "How are you, Princess Neoma?"

"I was having a good time when you abducted me, Aunt Nichole. I don't like being kidnapped but I'm not as upset as I thought I would be right now," Neoma said in a surprisingly genuine tone. "However, the next time this happens, no matter how "gentle" you treat me, I will fight back. I'm a busy baby girl, Aunt Nichole. Plus…" His daughter's ash-gray eyes turned glowing red when she turned to Gin. "I haven't forgiven you for the trauma you've caused me, Gin. I'm glad Travis didn't succeed killing you." She snapped her fingers. "Tteokbokki, burn that sly black cat."

Nichole and the black cat looked surprised by Neoma's sudden order.

Even more so when Gin began to be engulfed in a red flame.

[Ah, right. Now that I'm already here, Neoma's Soul Beast already woke up.]

He smirked at his little rogue's tenacity.

Nichole and the white humanoid cat tried to help Gin.

But when Neoma clapped her hands once, the black cat was suddenly trapped into a Dome.

All of them were shocked at what his daughter did.

"Neoma, how did you create a Dome for another person?" Nichole asked, surprised and amazed at what his daughter had done. "I could create a Coat for a person next to me by touching them. But I could never create a Dome if I'm not inside it. You were able to do something that none of us has ever accomplished, Neoma. Do you know that this is unprecedented?"

His daughter shrugged nonchalantly. "What, like it's hard?"

The former Princess Royal looked surprised by his daughter's arrogant response.

[Yes, Nichole. Your niece is that arrogant.]

They were all distracted when the white humanoid cat suddenly punched the Dome that Neoma created to entrap Gin.

The Dome collapsed instantly.

Then, the white humanoid cat touched the red flame that was burning Gin. He didn't know what happened but the fire was suddenly engulfed in a black material– effectively extinguishing it and saving the black in the process.

After that, the humanoid white cat carried Gin in his arms.

"Is that a shadow?" he confronted the white humanoid cat, his heart beating against his chest quite hard. For some reason, seeing the shadow-like material made him anxious. "How could someone from the clan of cats use Shadow Technique?"

"That's right, Brother. How can a cat use a Shadow Technique?" Nichole asked in a mocking tone while she was creating a Dome around her and her companions. "But our junior cat here is good at copying other people's techniques, don't you think so?"

It was just a mere replica of the Quinzels' Shadow Technique.

He was about to summon his Soul Beasts to chase Nichole and her companions when all of a sudden, Neoma coughed.

And his daughter coughed up blood.

"Neoma!"

It wasn't him who shouted his daughter's name first.

He turned to the Dome with furrowed brows. Much to his confusion, he saw the white humanoid cat being physically restraint by Nichole from running towards his daughter.

[Why is he acting that way…?]

"Goodbye for now, Brother," Nichole said, she and her companions now being "swallowed" by the Dome, effectively making them appear "invisible" to the human eye. "Please take care of our Princess Neoma."

And just like that, his twin sister disappeared with her underlings.

He didn't bother to chase the enemies.

"Papa Boss, my chest hurts suddenly," Neoma said weakly, then she closed her eyes and leaned against his chest. "It hurts…"

"Shh," he comforted his now unconscious daughter. Then, he gently held her tiny hand and placed it on his chest. "You'll be fine, Neoma. Just absorb as much Moonglow as you need to recover instantly."

Neoma unconsciously absorbed his Moonglow while the black cube where they were trapped was collapsing.

They were safe from the debris because of the Dome that he made.

But he would admit that the barriers he makes weren't as durable as the ones made by Nichole and Neoma. Still, it did its job and protected them from getting hurt by the falling fragments of the broken Black Cube.

Thankfully, despite falling unconscious after coughing blood, Neoma was stable now.

His daughter created a technique that not even Saint Zavaroni had come up with. Although Neoma did it effortlessly, he could tell that the "strange Dome" that she used to entrap the black cat required a huge amount of Mana.

The little rogue had an overflowing Mana.

But using Mana to create techniques didn't only require a person's power. It also required the use of the heart. It was the same reason why Hanna Quinzel couldn't properly use the Shadow Technique: her heart was too weak for her strong Mana.

It wasn't the case for Neoma though.

[My daughter wasn't just prepared when she used a technique that unexpectedly demanded a huge amount of Mana.]

"You'll be fine, Neoma," he whispered weakly. Neoma was absorbing quite a huge amount of Moonglow from him. It was enough to make him feel dizzy. He didn't mind though. "Let's go home for now."

"Y-Your Majesty…"

When the Black Cube completely disappeared, he was greeted by Glenn, Geoffrey Kinsley, Juri Wisteria, and the stalker called Jeno Dankworth. It seemed like the three had somehow secured the area. Thus, no one was around.

"Rara…" Juri Wisteria said worriedly while looking at Neoma. Then, the young lady raised her head to look him in the eye. "Is she alright, Your Majesty?"

"Her life isn't in danger," he announced, then he turned to Glenn. "Arrest Geoffrey Kinsley for disobeying my order, Glenn."

Glenn bowed politely. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

Geoffrey got down on one knee and lowered his head. "Please forgive me for my insolence. I will accept any punishment you deem fit, Your Majesty."

"You better do," he said coldly, then he turned to Jeno Dankworth who looked very confused by what was happening. He debated whether to have the stalker arrested by Glenn. But in the end, he decided that maybe it was a job for Neoma's team. Thus, he turned to Juri Wisteria. "Bring Jeno Dankworth to the Royal Palace and have him detained in a guest room, Juri Wisteria. I'm sure Neoma would order the same if she was awake."

Juri Wisteria bowed to him. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

Nikolai turned his back on everyone. "Let's head back to the Royal Palace now."

***

"THAT WAS His Majesty, right?"

"Silence," Juri Wisteria said while looking outside the window of the rental carriage that she was in with Jeno Dankworth. Then, she turned to the young nobleman seated on the couch across from her. "I do not have the authority to answer your questions."

Jeno Dankworth fell silent, then he lowered his head.

[Hah. He has the gall to be embarrassed after stalking a child, huh?]

"I'm glad that you didn't resist when I apprehended you," she said, then she crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess you still have a conscience in you."

Or maybe he was just intimidated by the Paladins in the carriage in front of them.

[This kid probably knows that he can't escape anyway.]

"Hey, why did you stalk Rara?" she asked curiously. "That's creepy, you know?"

The young nobleman didn't respond to her.

"Hey, Jeno Dankworth."

She was met with silence once again.

"Are you ignoring me?"

This time, he finally responded.

And Jeno Dankworth responded with a loud snore.

Juri's eyes widened in shock. "How dare you sleep on me, you stupid stalker?!"

***

"YOUR MOTHER is in there, Nero."

Nero gulped while looking at the pitch-black "ocean" in front of him and William as they stood on the "shore" with red sand.

He could tell that the "ocean" wasn't simply made of water. It was more of a concentrated Mana than water. Moreover, he could also sense the dangerous sea creatures luring under. For the first time in his life, he felt fear.

"This is the Black Ocean between the world of the living and the dead," William explained, his eyes fixed on the ominous black ocean ahead. "But not anyone could enter this dimension. Moreover, this place has a curse. This is meant to be forgotten by people that the ocean doesn't acknowledge." He turned to him with a serious look on his face. "But you won't forget about this place, Nero. After all, we both have the blood of a male Roseheart."

"I don't understand," he said when he looked up at the Grand Spirit. "Is that Black Ocean a friend that protects my mother's physical body, or a fiend that traps her under?"

"Why don't you find out yourself?" the Grand Spirit said, then he pointed at the sea. "Jump, Nero. Jump and see if you could save your mother who's been frozen under that ocean for many years now."

He clenched his fists tight. "Will I make it alive?"

"I'm here," William said, then he gently patted his head. "Nero, I know that you have what it takes to save Mona. I can't do it alone." Much to his surprise, the arrogant Grand Spirit bowed his head to him. "Please lend me your strength to save my master."

Nero took a deep breath, then he turned to the Black Ocean. His mother was frozen under that cold and unforgiving Mana-like water alone for a long time. That thought was enough to wash his fear away. "Let's save Mother."

*** 

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