Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

"NO, I don’t have a death wish, Brother-in-law. And that’s why I’m retreating now."

Nero raised an eyebrow when the Ancient Devil’s body suddenly turned translucent.

At that point, he knew that it would be useless to attack the bastard.

But was he really leaving, just like that?

"What did you come here for?"

"I’m looking for Princess Neoma," the Ancient Devil said. "But I’ve already confirmed that my princess is not here, so I have no reason to stay longer."

Nero just kept his mouth shut, neither confirming nor denying it.

Neoma, you really attract lunatics, huh?

Anyway, he chose to ignore the Ancient Devil until the bastard disappeared completely.

And, as soon as the enemy was gone...

"We’re sorry for failing to apprehend the enemy, sire."

Sandford Devon and Raku immediately got down on their knees and bowed their heads towards him while apologizing.

To be fair, Nero didn’t feel the need to scold the two.

It’s the Ancient Devil, after all.

He was about to dismiss his knights when...

"Nero."

It was his father.

Nero heard that his father was working with Rufus Quinzel.

He’s supposed to be at the Quinzel Mansion right now.

But he wasn’t surprised that his father got back to the palace fast. After all, the Quinzel Mansion had a direct portal connected to the Imperial Palace.

"Did the Ancient Devil leave already?"

"Yes, Father," Nero answered politely. "It seems like he’s looking for Neoma. When he realized that Neoma isn’t here, he left immediately."

His father rasied an eyebrow in disbelief. "And you didn’t stop him?"

"Neoma always tells us to choose our battles wisely. Since the Ancient Devil wasn’t here to fight, I let him go. If I provoke him, I may not be able to handle the consequences of him suddenly releasing the Black Ocean that he absorbed."

It wasn’t like Nero was afraid of the Ancient Devil because of the Black Ocean threat.

Like what Neoma said before, the Imperial Family would survive even if the Ancient Devil released the Black Ocean through heavy rainfall.

However, their citizens wouldn’t.

In fact, their empire might get erased from the map.

So, until we figure out how to stop a calamity as big as that, we should tread carefully.

"You’ve matured, Nero," his father said, obviously delighted. He even gently patted Nero’s head. "That’s right. You should listen to your sister."

"Father, let’s go and check on Mother first. She was hurt."

"What?!"

"Mother coughed up blood while fighting Helstor earlier."

His father cursed under his breath before bolting out of the room.

Nero looked over his shoulder, checking on Sanford Devon and Raku. "Go and ask Alucard to treat your injuries."

***

"CALM DOWN, Sister-in-law. I’m not here to fight you."

"Well, I am," Hanna said coldly. "And stop calling me that— you will never become someone important to Neoma."

"Ah, why do you keep on hurting my feelings?"

"You look pretty happy for someone who’s supposed to be hurt."

The Ancient Devil tilted his head to one side. "Well, isn’t it a blessing to feel such strong emotions."

Ah, this one is definitely a pervert.

"Duchess Quinzel..."

Oh, right.

Hanna remembered that the elite squad of the Black Hawk Knights— her family’s private army— came with her to catch the merchant and confiscate the hoarded weapons.

Now the knights were all behind her, ready to attack the Ancient Devil at her command.

I’m not underestimating them, but...

"This is my fight," Hanna said firmly without looking at the knights. "Just make sure that the civilians won’t get harmed."

Before the captain of the squad could respond...

"Hanna Quinzel, I’m here for two things," the Ancient Devil said, suddenly turning serious. "First, I wanted to know if Princess Neoma was with you. And now that I’ve confirmed she wasn’t, it’s time to check the other thing I came here for."

Hanna gasped softly when the Ancient Devil suddenly threw something at her.

Her Shadow Beasts immediately blocked the attack to protect her, but that thing had a life of its own and had quickly dodged her Shadow Beasts.

"Your Grace!"

The Black Hawk Knights immediately ran towards her.

Or, at least, they tried.

However, a huge wall made of Darkness separated the knights from her.

Hanna didn’t have the time to worry about her knights because, all of a sudden, the thing was already right in front of her face.

It was an eyeball.

With red pupils, too.

A minor god?!

Hanna immediately "caught" the red eyeball with her Shadow Veil, just like how Neoma would use her barriers to catch things and trapped them inside the shield.

But she didn’t trap the red eyeball.

She used her Shadow Veil to crush the thing and purify it.

Just like before, the eyeball squirted dark substance that made a sizzling sound when it touched her Shadow Veil. However, it didn’t last long.

The eyeball was the one that actually got melted while inside the Shadow Veil.

When Hanna clenched her hands tight, the Shadow Veil successfully crushed the eyeball inside.

And then it disappeared just like that.

"Ah, so you can really purify Malice."

Hanna lifted her head and saw the Ancient Devil smile as if satisfied by her ’demonstration.’ "So, that was the second thing you wanted to confirm?"

The Ancient Devil was just about to respond, but...

SWOOSH.

Huh?

It suddenly rained of arrows— every single one targeting the Ancient Devil.

When Hanna looked up at the cliff behind her where the arrows were coming from, she saw flags with a familiar insignia.

House Drayton?

Yeah, it must be the knights of House Drayton.

After all, the one leading those knights while holding a golden bow was...

"Duke Rubin Drayton?"

Hanna was quite impressed.

Since when has Duke Drayton become dependable?

***

IT’S the real Ancient Devil.

Ah, it wasn’t like Neoma had met a fake Ancient Devil.

What she meant was she felt like the Ancient Devil standing right in front of her right now was the "complete" version of the one she had seen before?

In short, this Ancient Devil is so fucking powerful.

Was it because that bastard absorbed the Black Ocean?

"It’s been a while, Princess Neoma," the Ancient Devil greeted her with a smile. "Did you have fun playing in the Dead World?"

Ah, he knew.

"It was fun," Neoma said bluntly as if she were reciting a line from a textbook. "You weren’t there, after all."

She really meant every word, but the Ancient Devil just laughed it off.

What a thick-skinned bastard.

"Why are you looking for me?"

"To see your beautiful face, of course, my princess."

"Now that you’ve seen my very beautiful face, you may leave."

"Don’t be like that, Princess Neoma," the Ancient Devil said, raising an eyebrow at her. "You know that we need to talk, don’t you?"

"I have nothing to say to you, though."

"But you already know what I did with the Black Ocean. I saw the unicorn at the palace earlier. So, I’m sure she had already told you what happened."

Ah, so this bastard had gone to the Imperial Palace, too.

But seeing how the Ancient Devil didn’t mention fighting, then...

Nero must have exercised patience.

Neoma was proud of her baby brother.

Good job, Nero.

"Princess Neoma, don’t you think you should be negotiating with me instead of ignoring me like this?" the Ancient Devil asked in a "playful" tone. But, obviously, this bastard was threatening her. "If we reach an amicable agreement, then I’ll hand over the Black Ocean to you instead of releasing it to drown the empire to death."

Ah, so Neoma’s hunch was right.

This bastard is really planning to release the Black Ocean as rain.

Hmm.

Should I build a huge ship or something?

Or maybe find a floating island to evacuate the citizens?

Ah, decisions, decisions.

"Princess Neoma, the way you ignore me is really starting to annoy me now."

Ah, the atmosphere around the Ancient Devil had changed.

Makes me want to annoy the hell out of him even more.

"Did you expect me to beg you just because you absorbed the Black Ocean?" Neoma asked, sneering. "Hey, if you think you can threaten me that easily, then you really don’t know me that well. I have already set the world on fire once. What made you think I’d sacrifice myself to save the world?"

Ah, she was bluffing.

But, honestly? Maybe not really.

Of course, she would do everything she could to save as many lives as possible.

However...

"If we die, we die. If my destiny is to die by drowning in the Black Ocean, so be it," Neoma said bluntly, as someone who had long forgotten how to fear death. She had already died twice, after all. Maybe third, if she counted the time that she ’died.’ "So, if that’s the outcome that you want, then go ahead and release the Black Ocean."

I’ll make sure you all drown with me, though.

"Princess Neoma, you know that I don’t like playing boring games," the Ancient Devil said. He was still smiling, but his eyes were dead serious. "Why don’t we sit down and talk more about the matter at hand?"

Neoma was about to dismiss the Ancient Devil, but...

"Don’t you know that my Moon Princess doesn’t do negotiations without me, huh?"

Ah, finally.

Neoma looked over her shoulder, looking up at Trevor, who was suspended in the air. "Hey, I don’t like looking up at other people."

Trevor laughed, but he quickly descended.

As soon as the Sorcerer’s feet landed on the ground, he knelt in front of Neoma while looking up at her with sparkling eyes.

"I’m awake, my Moon Princess."

And Trevor’s face was glowing, as if he had been rejuvenated.

"Good," Neoma said, smiling. "Now, get back to work, my dearest chingu."

***

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