Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

997  UNFORGIVEN

HMM?

Neoma frowned, every inch of her body screaming that Nero was up to no good again.

She had no evidence other than her special connection to her twin brother.

[What the hell is he up to this time?]

"Princess Neoma, is everything alright?"

Oh, right.

She was in the middle of work, so she didn't have time to worry about Nero.

[As long as he's not in danger, I'll let him do his thing.]

Anyways…

Right now, Neoma was suspended in the air— her purple flaming wings keeping her afloat as she gazed down at the frozen lake under her feet.

Uncle Glenn was next to him, riding a crystal wyvern.

[Since it's dangerous for Aunt Brigitte to ride a wyvern and check the Frozen Lake because of how cold it is here, she sent Uncle Glenn with me.]

And Neoma was done checking the Frozen Lake.

[It's one of the biggest lakes in the empire.]

According to what she remembered, the Frozen Lake was 515 km long with a width of 188 km. It had a mean surface elevation of 173 meters above sea level. And it had a maximum depth of 283 meters.

[It's perfect.]

"Princess Neoma, may I know why we must melt the Frozen Lake?"

"Because we need to open a safe path for the merfolks."

Uncle Glenn gasped. "Are the merfolks the allies you mentioned?"

"That's right, Uncle Glenn," Neoma said while nodding. "The crows will definitely target the Hazelden Kingdom soon. I know that your kingdom has a strong military power, but most of your people don't have Mana. The Mana-infused weapons that you have can only do so much."

Uncle Glenn fell silent for a moment, and then he nodded— acknowledging the things that Neoma said. "You're right, Princess Neoma. Some of the knights that I have chosen personally showed potential to become Sword Masters."

"Oh. They can produce aura?"

"Yes, Your Imperial Highness. However, the war is happening soon. Even if I train them harder every day, they still won't be able to reach their full potential in just a few months."

"Do you acknowledge that you need external help?"

"If we're talking about the allies that Princess Neoma trusts, then I won't refuse them."

Neoma chuckled, and then she opened her hand. "Eternal Flame, give me a drop of your power."

She didn't have to wait for long.

A small red flame shaped like a tear drop materialized above her palm.

"This is enough to unfreeze the Frozen Lake," Neoma said, and then she dropped the small red flame into the Frozen Lake. The part of the lake that the tear-shaped flame hit melted right away, and then it sunk. Nothing happened after that, and that obviously confused Uncle Glenn. Hence, she explained. "The Eternal Flame will melt the Frozen Lake as slowly as possible so the enemies won't notice. But, if the time comes that you need the merfolks' help, just ask the Eternal Flame to swallow the Frozen Lake, Uncle Glenn."

"Will it listen to me, Princess Neoma?"

"The Eternal Flame is a sentient existence, so yes, it will listen to you."

Uncle Glenn let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Princess Neoma."

"You're welcome, Uncle Glenn. Please stay safe until I return."

The king nodded, and then his face became worried. "Princess Neoma, please come back safely."

"I will, Uncle Glenn," Neoma said confidently. "My family is here, after all."

[And my man is waiting for me.]

Uncle Glenn smiled and nodded. "We will be waiting for you, Princess Neoma."

***

"HAVE YOU forgotten who took care of you when you were cursed as a child, Emperor Nero?"

Nero raised a brow at Tara, still not moving an inch from where he was seated comfortably. "I haven't forgotten— and that's the only reason why you're still reigning as the Queen of the Spirit World, Tara."

Tara let out a scoff. "You're really no different from Princess Neoma. As expected of you, twins— both of you are colonizers just like your ancestors."

"You're wrong," he said bluntly. "Neoma probably threatened you to steal the throne from you. But, knowing my twin sister, I know she wouldn't do that. She always tries her best to be different from our ancestors, after all. However, I'm not as nice as Neoma."

He pointed at the crown vines around his head. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Stealing the throne from you is as easy as breathing anyway," Nero said haughtily. "The throne acknowledges me. I wonder if this is one of the perks of being born a male Roseheart."

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Tara asked, frustrated. "What did I ever do to you and your twin sister?!"

"You became too greedy, Tara."

Nero remembered one of the things that Neoma vaguely told him about the past.

[Tara stabbed her in the back because this queen wanted Neoma to be an Aether.]

He wouldn't wait for Tara to try and betray his twin sister again.

[Once you betray Neoma, you're already unforgiven in my book.]

Hence, he was here to give the queen a warning.

"You don't like Neoma because she isn't as nice as my mother. Hence, my twin sister never tried to get along with you."

Tara flinched. "What does it have to do—"

"But you find Neoma's abilities useful," Nero said, scoffing. "Tara, stay on your lane."

"I don't know what you're talking about, young emperor."

"Neoma will never take over the Spirit World— but I can and I will if I have to," Nero said, standing up. He already towered over the petite queen. But, this time, he was looking down on Tara on purpose— his glowing red eyes warning her to make the right choice. "If you harm my family in any way, and if you leak whatever is happening here in the Spirit World to the outside world, I will not only steal the throne from you— I will also eliminate every single fairy in the entire world. I won't stop until the fairy clan is nothing but a myth to the future generation."

That was when Tara lowered her gaze, her shoulders trembling from either anger or humiliation.

Nero didn't care.

[This is enough threat to ensure the Spirit World won't betray our family this time.]

***

IT BROKE.

Mona was shocked when Nydia— her rosegold staff— broke into two when she tried to block Nikolai's punch.

But her main weapon breaking wasn't what shocked her the most.

[My husband's arm…]

Nikolai's right arm was covered with blue scales. His hand also changed— it became bigger and his nails also grew longer and sharper.

In short, her husband's arm looked like a humanoid dragon's arm.

[No— it's his Azure Dragon's features!]

"Nikolai, you never borrowed your Soul Beast's power this way," Mona said in disbelief. "You never agreed with how Neoma uses her Soul Beast before…"

The de Moonasterios were known for letting their Soul Beasts fight for them, after all.

"Well, I realized we should keep up with the times, my love," Nikolai said, smiling while looking at his dragon arm. "I learned something valuable from our precious daughter."