Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

"PREGNANCY before marriage–"

"Won't happen, Lord Arche."

Neoma clicked her tongue at Ruto's response to Arche's light warning. "I believe there's nothing wrong with pregnancy without marriage as long as two consenting adults planned it. What's more important is for the couple to be emotionally, mentally, and financially capable of taking care of their babies." She then turned to Ruto with a scowl. "Why were you for firm when you said it won't happen, huh?"

"I'm just being careful, Neoma," Ruto said in a tone as if he were an adult pacifying a child. "Emperor Nero has just ascended the throne. His Imperial Majesty became the emperor without a wife, and that's already enough to cause a controversy. If the Imperial Princess gets pregnant, then the nobles would think you're challenging the new emperor's authority."

Arche nodded in agreement with what Ruto said. "That's also what I'm worried about. In my time, no Imperial Princess had ever reached adulthood because they were actively hunted down by Callisto de Luca. But the case is different this time, especially since the laws have changed and women are allowed to inherit the throne now."

"You don't have to worry about that," Neoma said confidently. "Nero and I will never fight for the throne. And let the nobles talk. At a time like this, the Imperial Family should have complete power over them."

But she wasn't saying that the Imperial Family should act like a tyrant from now on.

Neoma simply believed that they should stop the nobles from putting politics above the well-being of their people.

After all, she knew that during a time of confusion, there were nobles out there who would use this opportunity to weaken the Imperial Family. That was what happened in the first timeline. Hence, she let another person rebuild the empire and left it for good after she ascended.

"The empire remains an impregnable fortress despite the Calamities that passed because the de Moonasterios exist. Knowing that the Imperial Family is as strong as ever prevents other nations and kingdoms from attacking us from the outside," Neoma said. "But an impregnable fortress is weak on the inside, so we must be wary of anyone who might use this opportunity to create internal conflicts. And so, I believe that the Imperial Family must have complete power over the empire until the war is over."

Ruto nodded in agreement. "That's right. In the past, the empire crumbled because the Imperial Family of the time was weak. But that's not the case this time."

Right?

But enough with politics.

[It always makes my head hurt.]

"Babe, are you alright?" Ruto asked worriedly when Neoma pinched the bridge of her nose. "Is your head hurting?"

Neoma shook her head, then she leaned against Ruto. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝔀𝓮𝙗𝓷𝓸𝙫𝓮𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Her man immediately put an arm around her body and gently rubbed her waist up and down as if comforting her.

Hmm.

[My man smells good, as usual.]

"Babe, I want to eat opera cake," Neoma said. "Can you make one for me?"

"Ah, I've already made one for you," Ruto said, gently squeezing her waist. "I've made your top three most favorite desserts because I knew you'd be craving for all of them."

"And what are my top three most favorite desserts?"

"Tiramisu, opera cake, and bingsu."

"Nice. But I actually have two more desserts I love."

"Dulce de Leche flan and sticky toffee pudding, right?"

Neoma gasped, delighted that Ruto knew her so well. "Babe, please cook for me for the rest of your life."

"I will."

She just smiled and wrapped her arms around Ruto's waist.

[Yes, I'm aware I'm acting clingy and cringe but who cares? I deserve this after literally coming back from the dead.]

"Ahem."

Ah, right.

[We have an audience.]

Neoma slowly pried herself away from Ruto before sitting properly, then she faced her ancestor. "Grandpa Arche, Lord Yule informed me that he used his power to help you and Grandma Aruna. But why did you and Grandma Aruna try to make me and Nero fight each other?"

Arche's face lit up. "Oh. Have you realized that it was us?"

Yes, the "creatures" that tried to make Neoma and Nero fight as soon as the two of them returned to the throne room were Arche and Aruna de Moonasterio.

[Of course, I just realized it now.]

"We just wanted to test your love for each other," Arche explained, smiling. "It's necessary to use the technique that Aruna and I would like to teach you."

Argh.

Neoma wanted to complain that she didn't want to be more OP than she already was, but she kept that thought to herself when the door to her bedroom suddenly burst open.

"Neoma!"

"Yes?" Neoma responded to Nero's call, a bit startled because her twin brother rarely yelled. "What?"

"What's wrong with your ancestors?"

"My ancestors are also your ancestors, dude."

Nero marched towards her with a huff.

Ruto, on the other hand, stood up and bowed his head politely towards Nero. "Greetings to the Moon of the Great–"

"Drop it," Nero said, scoffing. "I don't want to accept any greetings from a thief."

"Hey, why is my man a thief?"

"That man stole the heart of the empire's Imperial Princess."

Pfft.

"Even so, don't be rude to Ruto," Neoma scolded Nero, then she grabbed her twin brother's arm and pulled him next to her. "Would you like it if I was rude to Hanna or Dahlia?"

Nero just frowned. "It's different. I hate the commander."

"You hate everyone except me."

"Fair point."

"That boy is worse than you, Arche."

Hmm?

Neoma wouldn't say that she was surprised to see Aruna who suddenly appeared next to Arche, but she was a bit concerned. "Now you're making me nervous, Grandpa and Grandma."

She then turned to Ruto and motioned for him to sit down.

Ruto nodded and quietly went back to his seat.

"Do you know what Aruna de Moonasterio said to me, Neoma?" Nero complained. "She said she'll teach me how to make Callisto de Luca fall in love with me! That's so ridiculous and crazy!"

Pfft.

To be honest, Neoma found it a bit funny.

But only because she had an idea as to why Aruna suggested something like that to Nero.

[Even so, I can't let my baby brother know that I find this entire thing funny.]

"Wow, that's horrible," Neoma said, faking her "upset mode." And it worked because Nero looked satisfied by her reaction. "Grandma Aruna, why would you teach Nero a weird technique like that? It's already bad enough that Calyx is in love with him. Now you also want Callisto de Luca to fall for him?"

"Hey," Nero complained. "Why are you dragging Calyx into this?"

"That crazy bastard is in love with you, dude."

"That's gross."

"It is," Neoma agreed, nodding. "That's why Calyx is a pervert. He's supposed to be our uncle, and he's older than us. Yet, his obsession with you isn't normal. I mean, I don't care if he's into men. But incest is a big no-no. And let's not forget the fact that he's been obsessing over you since you were a child. Tsk, tsk."

Nero scowled, and then he shook his head. "Let's not talk about him."

Pfft.

Neoma just shrugged, and then she turned to their grandparents again. "So, what's this about seducing Callisto de Luca? Isn't that old dude obsessed with Grandma Aruna or something?"

"I was just messing with Nero," Aruna said, laughing. "But we're here to pass down the technique that Arche and I invented."

"It was the technique we used to honey trap Callisto de Luca in the past," Arche added. "But I was the one who actually did all the seducing using Aruna's body. And Callisto de Luca had no idea he was flirting with a man back then."

Aruna and Arche looked at each other, then the ancient twins laughed as if they remembered something funny.

[Yep, these ancient twins are evil.]

Neoma, on the other hand, picked up something from what Arche had just said. "Grandpa Arche, you seduced Callisto de Luca using Grandma Aruna's body. Then does it mean…?"

"You've switched souls?" Nero, who was quick-witted like Neoma, asked. "Is that the technique you wanted to teach us?"

Aruna and Arche nodded.

"Grandma Aruna, why didn't you teach me that technique when we were in Korea?" Neoma complained lightly. "You only stayed with us for two years before you ghosted us back then."

"Ah, I'm sorry about that," Aruna said, laughing as if it wasn't a big deal. "Arche had to return to this world back then because his soul had to be near the throne. On the other hand, my soul can't last long without Arche. Hence, I had to return and stick to him to "recharge.""

Wow.

[Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche only stayed with me for a few years, but they've already learned how to speak like me. Gosh. My influence on these people is scary. No wonder I was such a famous influencer in the past.]

"The technique we're going to teach you requires for you and Nero to be next to each other," Aruna said. "But not today."

Neoma and Nero asked at the same time. "Why not?"

"Because you two need to rest first," Arche said, waving his hand. "Sleep and rest for now, children."

***

RUTO caught Neoma when she suddenly fell asleep.

Normally, a sleeping spell wouldn't work on the most powerful de Moonasterios born in history.

However, both Neoma and Nero were physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.

Hence, the current royal twins fell asleep right away.

"Lord Arche, Lady Aruna, I've heard about an interesting story from my divine father before," Ruto said while carefully placing Neoma's head on his shoulder. "It was about the time Callisto de Luca regressed to a child and grew a heart for a short period of time."

Aruna and Arche suddenly burst out laughing.

"Grew a heart?" Aruna said, laughing while patting Arche's shoulder. "Brother, I guess your honey trap was too much that even Lord Levi heard the news of "Callisto de Luca falling in love with Aruna de Moonasterio.""

Arche smiled and nodded. "Commander, have you heard about how Callisto de Luca had fallen deeply in love with me back then?"

"I'm not interested in that part," Ruto said bluntly. "I'm only curious about the part where it said Callisto de Luca regressed to a child. As far as I know, there was no de Moonasterio in history who was born with an ability related to manipulating time."

"Oh, you're interested in that part," Arche said, smiling while nodding. "At the time, we sought the help of someone who could turn even a demigod like Callisto de Luca into a child."

Ruto was reminded of the time Neoma was turned into a baby against her will. "Was it a Crowell?"

"That's right," Aruna confirmed, smiling sadly. "It was Ramona Crowell– my best friend."

***

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