Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

"NERO, have you calmed down?"

Nero took a deep breath before he turned to Tara, the Queen of the Spirit World. She was also the Fairy Queen, the one that rules the fairy race.

When he first arrived at the Spirit World, Tara appeared as a tiny human-like creature with golden hair and eyes that changed color every minute. The most fascinating thing about the fairy was her butterfly-like wings.

But right now, Tara took the form of a child the same age as him and hid her wings.

"You almost destroyed my castle, Nero," Tara, seated on the chair across from him, reminded him carefully. "If I didn't intervene, my knights would have kicked you out already."

Ah, right.

The reason why he was having tea with the queen in the rose garden was that her palace was currently being fixed by her people.

He was currently in the part of the Spirit World that looked like a duchy. The castle looked a little too archaic in his opinion, but that was something that he expected of the realm that existed between the living world and the afterlife.

"I apologize once again for my rudeness," Nero said, then he lightly bowed to the queen. He wasn't used to bowing his head to anyone except for the emperor. But he was trying to learn humility now. "I am calm now." He paused before he continued. "But it doesn't mean that I have already forgiven William."

While he was talking to Tara a while ago, the little fairies gathered around the queen.

Then, they reported that William, the Grand Spirit, had been summoned by Neoma.

He asked the queen if it was possible to see what was happening in the human world because he was worried about his twin sister. Tara agreed, then she turned the wall of the tea room into a huge observation 'mirror.'

From that 'mirror,' they saw what happened to Neoma.

While they were watching the scene between William and his twin sister, he heard the other fairies' report regarding how and why Neoma ended up summoning the Grand Spirit.

Apparently, Hanna was on the verge of dying.

Well, in the end, both Neoma and Hanna were saved. He just didn't like how his poor twin sister had to suffer first.

Why does Neoma always have to get hurt for the sake of other people?

"Can you please consider forgiving William this time?"

"No," he said firmly, surprising the queen and the other Spirits around them. He just sipped his tea calmly. "I won't forgive anyone who hurt my little sister."

"Aw, don't be too harsh on me."

To say that he was surprised when William suddenly appeared beside him would be an understatement.

Even Tara herself looked quite surprised.

No one noticed his presence until he spoke…

"Do you know how long has it been since a male Roseheart was born?" William, seated on the armrest of his chair, asked while looking at him with glowing dark, blue eyes. "Even though you're half de Moonasterio, I don't hate you."

"Well, I hate you," Nero said when he got over his shock. Then, he sipped his tea to avoid the Grand Spirit's gaze. "In fact, I want to kill you right now."

As soon as he put his teacup down on the table, several ice spears sprouted from the ground and pierced William's body.

But of course, the body that he just pierced was nothing but a fake.

"Don't use your Soul Beast's power on me, Nero Roseheart," William warned him in a cold voice. The fake body that he used disappeared at the same time his ice melted. "Do you know where the Royal Family's Soul Beasts came from?"

He turned in the direction of William's voice and found him standing behind Tara now. The Grand Spirit's expression was grim. But he could tell that the wrath in William's eyes wasn't directed at him. "I don't know," he said. "Is it important to know where the Soul Beasts have come from?"

"You should know because you're a male Roseheart!" William snarled at him. "The de Moonasterios had abducted all the male Rosehearts in the past and turned them into beasts!"

He almost dropped the teacup in his hand due to shock. "Is that even possible?"

"It is because the de Moonasterios have the blood of a powerful god," the Grand Spirit snarled, his voice filled with rage and bitterness. "Your ancestors experimented on the male Rosehearts. That was the result of their obsession with our ability to continue living as a Spirit even if our physical bodies died. Because of that ability, the Royal Family thought that they should turn us into a living yet immortal weapon. Thus, they searched for a way to turn our Spirits into a beast. I don't know exactly how they did that but they succeeded." He paused for a few seconds as if he was waiting for his reaction. When he didn't speak, the Grand Spirit continued. "Apparently, they only experimented on the male Rosehearts because a male Roseheart's Spirit is more compatible with the beasts. Moreover, they needed the females to live and give birth to more male Rosehearts."

"I still can't believe it," he said weakly. For the first time in a while, he felt utterly shocked by a revelation that he hadn't heard before. "If the Soul Beasts are made out of the Spirits of the male Rosehearts, then why are the Soul Beasts serving the Royal Family?"

"Once a male Roseheart is killed and turned into a Spirit, the de Moonasterios would erase his entire memory and implant a new one in his mind," William explained sullenly. "Thus, the Soul Beasts that the Royal Family controls believe that they were born a beast."

He clenched his hands.

All this time, she saw Zev, his Soul Beast, as nothing but a weapon. But now that he heard the truth from William, he felt his chest tightened.

"How did you escape from that kind of fate, William?" Nero asked carefully. "Are you the only one who survived?"

"I used to be a Soul Beast," William confessed sulkily. "I was turned into a Blue Serpent once."

"Then, how did you return into your original form?"

"Luria, the first matriarch of House Roseheart, discovered the horrible experiment that the de Moonasterios towards the male Rosehearts," the Grand Spirit explained. "When Luria found me, my transformation process hasn't been completed yet. My physical body already died for a while so she wasn't able to revive me. Fortunately, she was able to undo the spell that turned me into a Soul Beast. Thus, I was able to return to my Spirit form." He fell silent for a while, his jaw clenched. "But I was the only one who was saved back then. I was the only survivor of that terrible experiment."

"Does it mean that the male Rosehearts that have been turned into a Soul Beast could no longer be saved?"

William nodded, a bit of sadness in his eyes softened up the anger on his face. "When our kin lost their memories as humans, they also lost the ability to hear the voices of the Spirits. Worse, when Luria talked to the Soul Beasts that we managed to find in the dimension where the de Moonasterios hid them, they self-destructed after they learned the truth."

"The plan to keep the male Rosehearts as Soul Beasts is so meticulous," he commented. "It seems like they really don't want to let them go."

"When we tried to expose the Royal Family of that time, they framed House Roseheart for treason," the Grand Spirit said. "That's the beginning of the downfall of our family. Although our family wasn't executed back then because of the other families that stood by us, House Roseheart's reputation never recovered."

Ah, now it made sense why the Rosehearts were hated by other families until now.

The Royal Family probably ruined the Rosehearts' reputation so badly.

"That's the reason why Luria came up with another plan to stop the de Moonasterios from experimenting on the male Rosehearts," William continued with his story. "She put a spell on our clan that would prevent female Rosehearts from giving birth to male children." He paused before he continued speaking while giving him an amused look. "Nero Roseheart, you're the first male Roseheart born after more than a century."

"Ah."

"What a weak reaction," Tara, the queen that he and William almost forgot, said with a soft laugh. "Nero, do you feel more attached with the de Moonasterios than with the Rosehearts?"

"I don't care about either," he said bluntly. "I'm only attached to Neoma."

"That filthy bug is more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart," the Grand Spirit spat. "Don't get too attached to that."

He glared at William. "The more you insult Neoma, the more I will feel detached to the Rosehearts."

William looked frustrated by what he said. "Didn't you just hear the story about what the damned Royal Family did to our kin?"

"So what?"

The Grand Spirit was rendered by his retort.

"Neoma wasn't the one who killed the male Rosehearts and turned them into Soul Beasts," he said firmly. "Why are you taking it out on my sister? Moreover, why are you taking it out on the de Moonasterios who weren't involved in that experiment?"

William's bloodlust oozed.

That didn't stop him from talking though.

"I understand why you're angry and I'm not trying to invalidate your feelings," he said. "But that doesn't give you the license to kill innocent people. Because even if you kill all the remaining de Moonasterios in the world, it wouldn't bring back the dead."

William snarled at him. "You–"

"William," Tara said sternly, then she turned to the Grand Spirit. "Go inside and cool your head. I will talk to Nero."

The Grand Spirit glared at him for a few more seconds before he turned to the queen and bowed.

After that, William finally left and went inside the castle.

"I apologize for William's rudeness, Nero," Tara said, then she sipped her tea before she talked again. "He really gets worked up when his past is brought up. Moreover, he must have been excited to meet a male Roseheart after being lonely for almost two centuries. He's probably frustrated that you're not showing any interest in your mother's side of the family."

"William has no reason to be frustrated because I'm not interested in my father's side of the family as well," he said. "I'm only interested in Neoma."

"Do you like your twin sister that much?"

"I dislike anyone except her."

He didn't dislike Hanna.

But he realized that if something bad happened to Neoma and Hanna at the same time, he would still prioritize his twin sister over his fiancée candidate.

The queen smiled warmly at her. "It seems like Neoma is a great person."

"She is," he said. "That's why I'm not happy that you didn't open the doors of the Spirit World for my twin sister."

"It's not like we don't want to invite her," the queen said. "We simply can't."

"You can't?"

"The Moonglow that surrounds your twin sister is too thick," the fairy explained. "Her power as a de Moonasterio is literally blocking the release of her Roseheart Blood. Her current ability to summon Spirits only comes from the 'leak' of her Roseheart Blood. It's a miracle that she was able to summon William with only a drop of her power."

"It's not a miracle," he said with a scowl. "Neoma is great– plain and simple. I am nothing compared to my twin sister."

"Are you selling yourself short, Nero?"

"No," he said. "I'm simply acknowledging my privileges. Everything is handed to me from both the de Moonasterio and the Roseheart side just because I was born a male."

The fairy looked surprised by what he said, then she smiled. "Nero, do you want to change the world for Neoma?"

"Of course."

"Then, I'll help you get stronger," she said. "Stay with us until your body recovers."

His brows furrowed in confusion. "Trevor told me that my physical body will die if my soul doesn't return within five days."

"Don't worry about it," the queen said nonchalantly. "I can freeze your body so it could survive without your soul inside."

The offer sounded tempting.

"Let me think about it first," Nero said, then he paused before he talked again. "May I speak with William again, Your Majesty?"

"Just call me by my name, Nero," Tara said, then she pointed at the highest tower in the castle. "William stays in the Tower of Thorns."

***

"ARE YOU ready to become a proper Roseheart, Nero?"

Nero stopped climbing the staircase when William literally blocked his way. "Are you going to teach me?" he asked when he raised his head to look at him in the eyes. "Are you saying that you want to be my teacher?"

"I don't 'want' to be your teacher," William said, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "But I 'must' teach you. I'm the last male Roseheart born in the family, and you're the first male Roseheart born after the spell was cast. We must work together."

"If you 'must' take me as your disciple, then shave your head first," he said bluntly. "I will send your hair to Neoma to appease her."

"What?"

"I saw what you did to Neoma," he reminded the Grand Spirit. "You ruined her face and burned her hair. That's unforgivable in my book."

The Grand Spirit looked at him as if he had gone crazy, then he laughed sarcastically. "Nero, I can tell that you need me more than I need you."

He pressed his lips together.

Well, I can't deny that.

"What do you need from me?" the Grand Spirit asked with an arrogant smirk on his unnecessarily handsome face.

"The technique that you used to swap Neoma and Hanna's vitality and physical condition is useful," he said carefully. "I want you to teach me that technique, William."

He laughed haughtily. "We're practically relatives, Nero. Why don't you use honorifics before my name?"

"Alright, Uncle," he said, making William smile. "Uncle Scumbag."

William frowned, obviously not impressed when he mimicked the moniker that Neoma gave the Grand Spirit.

He thought 'Uncle Scumbag' would make a fuss.

So he was surprised when he changed the topic.

"I'll teach you that technique and more but it won't be free," the Grand Spirit said. "In return for passing down all my techniques to you, I want you to free all the Soul Beasts in the Royal Family's possession."

Nero raised a brow. "How do I do that?"

"You need the Divine Key to open the cage where the Soul Beasts are locked up, and that key can only be summoned to the living world once a new Moonasterion Emperor sits on the throne," William said casually. "In short, you just have to be the next emperor, Nero."

***

  NEOMA hugged herself when she suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

"Are you alright?" Ruto asked when he noticed her rubbing her arms with her hands. "Are you cold?"

"No," Neoma said while shaking her head. "I just felt like a huge boulder suddenly fell from the sky and literally blocked my way to the flower road that I'm supposed to walk on. And now, that flower path has turned into a rocky road."

"What does it mean?"

"Never mind, you wouldn't understand," she said, then she glared at him when she remembered his question before she got distracted. "I didn't use a pickup line on you, Ruto. You did that when you called me 'Moonshine.' Gosh, why are suddenly being mushy on me?"

"Moonshine is an illegally distilled whiskey."

"Huh?"

"It also means 'nonsense.'"

"What?"

"You're like moonshine because I often catch you doing illegal stuff like trespassing the royal kitchen," he said bluntly. "You also talk gibberish sometimes. But I guess it's normal for your age to be curious and explore your surroundings, and to speak using made-up words."

Ah, so that was why he called her 'moonshine.'

She didn't know whether to be amazed by his 'creativity' or get offended by it. But since she was dealing with a child, she just decided to be benevolent this time.

"Ruto."

"Hmm?"

"I already feel sorry for the girl who will fall in love with you in the future," Neoma said while shaking her head. "You don't have a romantic bone in you, do you?"

Ruto just shrugged, obviously clueless about what she was talking about.

My condolences to you, Ruto's future wifey.

***

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