Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

TSK.

Nero clicked his tongue inwardly after dismissing the remaining members of the Twelve Golden Families.

This time, they were joined by the other marquis families of the empire.

Some of them were begging him to delay his coronation day that was scheduled to happen in two days. They made the excuse of fearing that the omen the fake church spread might come true and scare the people again.

They made a valid point.

But, of course, he still didn't budge.

[They're scared because most of them went bankrupt because of Hanna's manipulation of the market.]

"Your Imperial Majesty, may I go and see Princess Neoma now that she's awake?"

Nero's calm yet cold ash-gray eyes landed on Duke Jasper Hawthorne's face.

[I was able to dismiss the scaredy-cat Rubin Drayton even though he's a duke now, but Jasper Hawthorne is quite formidable.]

"Neoma isn't that well yet to receive guests."

Jasper Hawthorne had the audacity to scoff at the emperor. "Your Imperial Majesty, I know Princess Neoma well enough to know that she'd be working as soon as she opened her eyes. I bet Her Imperial Highness is already working to prevent the omen from coming true."

"Tsk."

This time, Nero openly clicked his tongue at the young duke.

"Then I'll take it as permission, Your Imperial Majesty. I'll go and see Princess Neoma now," Jasper Hawthorne said haughtily while standing. "See you at the next assembly, Your Imperial Majesty."

Nero scoffed. "You won't be invited again next time."

The young duke just smirked before leaving the conference room.

[Neoma's people are all cheeky.]

But Nero could never scold her twin sister's people because he didn't want to upset Neoma.

[At least I know they're loyal to my twin sister.]

Nero was about to leave the room when, suddenly, a cold breeze made him stop.

Zeru and Sev, his ice phoenix and ice wolf respectively, came out without being summoned.

And then two familiar figures occupied two of the seats on his right side.

"Hello, little emperor."

"So, you're the new owner of the ice phoenix and the ice wolf."

Tsk.

Nero inwardly clicked his tongue when Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio appeared in front of him. "I'm sorry, but I'm really busy right now–"

"Neoma is headed this way," Arche de Moonasterio said, smiling. "If you still don't have time for your precious twin sister, then you may leave."

Nero went back to his seat immediately. "I always have time for Neoma."

Aruna de Moonasterio scoffed. "The little emperor acts just like you, Brother."

"Then it's a relief," Arche de Moonasterio said. "They'll master the soul switching technique in just a day."

Nero knitted his eyebrows. "Does Neoma want to learn that technique now?"

***

[SO FUCKING handsome.]

Neoma couldn't stop her shallow thoughts when she came across Rubin Drayton on her way to meet Nero in the conference hall.

She was momentarily entranced by Rubin Drayton's out-of-this-world beauty.

"Greetings, Your Imperial Highness."

Neoma raised her head. "Let's skip the pleasantries, Duke Drayton. Congratulations on bringing down your father. You did the right thing."

Rubin Drayton raised his head, beaming. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

"I heard you've been frequenting the palace to see me. Is there a reason why you wanted to see me?"

Rubin Drayton's face turned red. "Uhm, I just want to know if you're feeling better now, Princess Neoma. I was worried about you after I heard you were asleep for the past few days."

Ah.

[He's being sincere.]

To be honest, although Neoma already knew that the one who tormented her in the past was Dilan Crowell wearing Rubin Drayton's skin, she still couldn't help but feel awkward around her ex-fiancé.

[It's long been over between us.]

So long that aside from admiration for Rubin Drayton's handsome face, Neoma didn't feel anything else for him.

[No anger, no pity– nothing.]

Neoma simply felt indifferent.

However, that didn't mean she didn't appreciate the young duke's feelings.

"Thank you for worrying about me, Duke Drayton. As you can see, I'm well now," Neoma said politely. "You must be busy attending to your duties as the new duke." She raised her clenched hands and gave Rubin Drayton her business smile. "Fighting."

Rubin Drayton looked disappointed that Neoma was already dismissing him, but he nodded politely and bowed his head. "See you later, Princess Neoma."

"Yes~"

The young duke then finally left.

"That was pretty cold, Princess Neoma."

Oh.

Neoma smiled when she saw a familiar face. "Jasper Oppa."

Jasper smiled back at her and bowed politely. "I'm glad to see you well now, Princess Neoma. I was just about to visit you in your palace."

Aww.

"Oppa, I really want to catch up with you. But I'm afraid I can't do that today."

"I realized that after seeing you here. You wouldn't come here if you don't have an urgent business with the emperor," Jasper Oppa, quick-witted as ever, said while gently patting Neoma's head. "Invite me for tea later, okay?"

Neoma smiled and nodded. "Will do, Oppa."

***

HMM?

[The whole party is already here?]

Neoma looked over her shoulder. "Lewis, guard the door. Make sure no one can enter, not even Mama Boss or Papa Boss."

Lewis bowed his head politely. "As you command, Your Imperial Highness."

"Thanks."

Lewis then opened the door after he announced her arrival.

Neoma entered the room, not surprised to see Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio there already with Nero. She was a bit surprised to see the ice phoenix and the ice wolf attached to the ancient twins, though.

Oh, right.

[The ancient twins used to have the ice phoenix and the ice wolf as their Soul Beasts.]

"Hello, little princess."

"Let's get this done and over with, Neoma."

Gosh, look at the opposite greetings.

Arche was warm, while Aruna was already in business mode.

"Neoma, did you call them here so they could teach us the soul-switching technique?" Nero asked curiously while getting up from his fancy seat. "Is it necessary for us to learn that technique now?"

"Yep."

Neoma then naturally took Nero's fancy seat since it was the only reason why Nero stood up in the first place.

There were many other seats in the room, but that one was the fanciest.

So, of course, Nero would only offer the best seat for Neoma.

"What for?" Nero, who sat on the armrest of Neoma's fancy seat, asked. "Are we going to switch souls for your plan?"

"Yep~" Neoma said, then she turned to their ancestors. "We're ready to learn, Grandma, Grandpa."

"Are you sure about this?" Arche asked worriedly. "You're both grown adults now, so this technique might be a little awkward for the two of you. Aruna and I have been switching souls since we were toddlers, so we already got used to each other bodies."

Huh? freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"It's not like they're going to see each other naked for long," Aruna said casually. "They just need to switch souls for a certain mission."

Oh.

Neoma and Nero belatedly realized what Aruna and Arche were talking about.

[Switching souls also means switching bodies…!]

***

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE SUDDEN HIATUS.

February hasn't been kind to me.

I was scammed at work, I had to fight my bank to return my money, and five out of our six puppies passed away from parvo, and I recently sprained my wrist (thankfully, the left one and not my dominant hand).

The loss of our puppies hit me pretty hard, so I got into a slump. I'm so sorry for wasting your coins.

The only stories I was able to update this month were <My First Life as an S-Class Guide> and <Let's Not Divorce> because of the MGS. I'm so sorry about that. BTW, <Let's Not Divorce> is about to end, and it has some minor spoilers about how Royal Princess ends. You may want to check it out.

Anyway, I'm hoping for your kind understanding.

I'll make it up to you. :(

---sola_cola

***

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