n

n

nNEOMA waited for Nero to fall asleep before she left his room.

nShe groaned in frustration when she realized that her body felt very heavy. It must be because some of her Mana was transferred to Nero.

nTo be honest, she didn't know how the Mana transfusion was done. She was asleep the whole time, so was her twin brother. She didn't feel any pain but now that everything was over, the exhaustion from that long night has finally caught up to her.

nNo matter how mature her mind was, her body was still that of a baby.

n

"Your Royal Highness,

" High Priest Wellington greeted him when she came out of the room. He had three Holy Knights behind him.

"I will escort you to where His Majesty is waiting for you.

"

nNeoma nodded, too tired to talk now.

nAnd so, she walked side-by-side with the High Priest. It looked like he noticed that she was exhausted so he didn't make a small talk anymore. Plus, their trip was only a short one.

nA few moments later, she realized that their destination was the door that Emperor Nikolai used to get to the temple. And lo and behold, the sc*mbag was already waiting by the door with Saint Zavaroni. There were plenty of Holy Knights behind them.

nAh, it's time to go home.

n

"Your Royal Highness, please accept this,

" Saint Zavaroni said, then he squatted in front of her to match her eye level. Then, he extended his hand to her. There were three candies with colorful wraps on his palm.

"These candies are infused with my Mana. If you eat one before every meal tomorrow, the fatigue you feel right now will disappear.

"

n

"Thank you, Your Holiness,

" Neoma said in a tired voice. And since they were surrounded by other people, she still forced herself to smile brightly.

"I will make sure to remember to take these candies tomorrow.

"

nOr later, since it was already past midnight.

n

"Please take care of Lady Nara, Your Holiness,

" she said. The saint and the High Priest knew the truth, but probably not the Holy Knights.

"She's my favorite cousin.

"

n

"We will take care of Lady Quinzel,

" Saint Zavaroni said with a smile.

"Have a safe trip back to the palace, Your Royal Highness.

"

n

"Thank you, Your Holiness.

"

nThe saint just smiled and stood up.

nAfter that, she turned to High Priest Wellington and thanked him. After that, she politely thanked the Holy Knights for taking care of her while she was in the temple. Then, she bid them goodbye like a well-mannered kid that she should be while posing as Nero.

nBut of course, her sc*mbag of a father just stood there like a statue.

nGosh, he can't even say goodbye to everyone properly.

n

"Let's go, Prince Nero,

" Emperor Nikolai said curtly.

nShe almost rolled her eyes at his rudeness. But then, despite her exhaustion, her mind was still very active. She just thought of something brilliant.

"Papa, I'm tired,

" she said in the sweetest voice she could muster. Then, she raised her arms to let him know that she wanted to be carried.

"I'm afraid my short legs will slow us down at this rate.

"

nThe emperor looked at her as if he was asking if she was serious.

nShe smiled sweetly as a response– a smile reminding him that they had a deal where they would act like they had a good father-and-

"son

" relationship in front of other people.

nHer father got the message.

nHeh, got `ya.

nEmperor Nikolai let out a sigh, then he leaned down to pick her up. He held her by the waist and lifted her.

nNeoma had a feeling that he would drop her on his shoulder as if she was a sack of potatoes. So before he could do such evil thing to a tiny baby like her, she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. Then, she pretended to yawn.

"I'm going to take a nap, Papa,

" she said, then she buried her face against his neck. She hated to say this but damn, despite the emperor's trash personality, he smelled very good. But you know, despite her father's warmth, the way he held her in his arms still felt cold.

"Good night.

"

n***

n

"YOUR HOLINESS, you gave the royal princess your blessing, didn't you?

"

nZavaroni smiled at Dave Wellington's question. Right now, they were on their way to the prayer room. They would pray for Prince Nero's fast recovery before they sleep. That had been their routine ever since His Majesty entrusted the royal prince's life to them.

n

"You can tell?

" he asked the High Priest.

nHigh Priest Wellington nodded before he answered.

"I noticed the divine glow around Her Royal Highness before she left. I'm pretty sure that it came from you, Your Holiness.

"

n

"Actually, Her Royal Highness turned down my blessing,

" he confessed that made the High Priest gasped.

"But I saw something in her that made me want to secretly cheer her on. So I gave her my blessing even though she didn't want it.

"

n

"And I'm guessing you offered none to the royal prince.

"

n

"The men in the royal family are already favored by the society and the empire's law,

" he said firmly.

"I don't want to give my blessing to the future crown prince since he already has what Princess Nichole liked to call as the

"male privilege.

"

"

n

"I don't think it's something a saint like you should be saying, Your Holiness.

"

nHe just laughed it off.

n

"Your Holiness, may I know what kind of blessing did you bestow upon the royal princess?

"

n

"I wish I could give the royal princess the thing that her heart desires,

" he said vaguely.

"Unfortunately, despite my divine power, I'm nothing but a mere human. Still, I want to root for her. So in the end, despite her refusal, I still blessed her with the luck that she needs to survive in the palace. After all, reality is harsh for princesses born in the royal family.

"

n

"Just the mere fact that Her Royal Highness was blessed by you is already a big blessing, Your Holiness,

" the High Priest said.

"It seems like the royal princess caught your attention more than the royal prince did.

"

n

"To be honest, I didn't care about the twin royals before,

" he said. ��But after I met the two of them and saw how different their bond is from the rest of the de Moonasterios, I had a change of heart. From now on, I'll carefully watch over them. I will personally keep an eye on the royal princess.

"

n

"What do you see in Her Royal Highness, Your Holiness?

" High Priest Wellington asked.

"Have you seen something that you haven't told me yet?

"

nZavaroni smiled, not wanting to share the prophecy that he saw to anyone else other than the emperor. After all, Princess Neoma stubbornly rejected her fate. He wanted to see if she would be able to change her destiny like she claimed.

"I just have a feeling that our boring days are now over,

" he said.

"I want to know how Her Royal Highness will change the future.

"

n***

nNIKOLAI was irritated while being forced to listen to Neoma's loud snore.

nGod, what a disgraceful princess.

nNeoma was very different from the late Princess Nichole. His older twin sister was the epitome of elegance. Unfortunately, his own daughter didn't inherit an ounce of elegance from their blood.

nThe royal princess was brusque and rude.

nBut fortunately, she did a good job acting as a proper prince whenever other people were around. The royal princess was indeed a very efficient

"employee.

"

n

"Welcome back, Your Majesty,

" Glenn greeted him when he arrived at the royal princess's bedroom in the Blanco Palace. The knight looked relieved when he saw Neoma sleeping loudly while clinging to his neck like a little monkey.

"Welcome back, Your Royal Highness.

"

nHe ignored Glenn and went straight to the royal princess's bed. Then, he put one knee on the mattress and dropped Neoma on it. Her tiny body slightly bounced because of the softness of the mattress.

n

"Your Majesty,

" Glenn called him in a scolding voice.

"Please be careful with the royal princess. She's still a baby.

"

n

"

"Baby,

" you say?

" Nikolai scoffed.

"You should hear the royal princess's

"colorful

" words when she's talking to me.

"

nHe was about to get up when suddenly, the royal princess grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down. Thanks to his fast reflex, he was able to pin his hands on either side of her tiny head and prevented himself from crashing her.

nMuch to his shock, Neoma suddenly opened her eyes and glared at him.

nDid she hear what I said? Or was she mad because I dropped her on the bed carelessly?

nHis thoughts were suddenly cut-off when all of a sudden, Neoma slapped both of his cheeks with her tiny but heavy hands. He wasn't able to react due to shock. If it wasn't for the loud smack that the slapping made, he wouldn't have believed that it happened.

nWhat the hell just happened?

nOn the other hand, Glenn let out a loud gasp.

nHe could understand the knight's reaction. After all, this was the first time that he got physically

"assaulted

" as an adult.

n

"What are you?

" Neoma asked in a sleepy voice, making him realize that she was half-asleep. The royal princess was acting like a drunkard mumbling gibberish things. It got worse when she smirked. God, he hated how that smirk resembled Mona's arrogant grin so much.

"Yes, you're an idiot sandwich.

"

nAn idiot what?

nWait, did this tiny human just call me

"idiot?

"

nAnd right after

"attacking

" and insulting him, Neoma went back to sleep and had the audacity to look like an innocent angel while doing so.

n

"Y-Your Majesty, please forgive Her Royal Highness,

" Glenn said in a nervous voice. The knight must be thinking that he would punish the royal princess for slapping and insulting him. In normal cases, those were enough reasons for Neoma to be punished or even executed for threatening him.

"Children her age usually sleep talk and they often don't know what they're doing when they're half-asleep…

"

n

"Enough,

" he said, then he got up and fixed his clothes.

"I'm not that petty to punish the royal princess for that. It's not like her tiny hands could seriously hurt me.

"

n

"A-Are you sure, Your Majesty?

" the knight asked, still uneasy.

"Your cheeks are very red. It stings, doesn't it?

"

n

"It doesn't,

" he said firmly, not wanting to admit that Neoma's heavy hands did a number on his face.

n

"Shall I prepare some ice for your cheeks, Your Majesty?

"

n

"No,

" he said, then he glared at Glenn.

"Just call the head maid and tell her to change the royal princess's clothes.

"

nHe bowed to him.

"Yes, Your Majesty.

"

n

"Ah, one more thing,

" he said, causing Glenn to raise his head and look at him properly.

"I want to replace all the maids and butlers serving the Blanco Palace and replace them with people from my palace. Tell the head maid that I want her to thoroughly search Princess Neoma's belongings and see if she's reading books that she's not supposed to read at her age.

"

nGlenn blinked in confusion.

"Is there such a book in the palace, Your Majesty? I thought all the banned books in the empire were already burned.

"

n

"I'm not talking about political books,

" he said, annoyed that he had to explain further.

"I'm talking about erotic books, fool.

"

nThe knight, a full-grown man the same age as him, blushed like a virgin maiden.

nGod, I can't believe this is the same man that mercilessly kills enemies in the battlefield.

n

"D-Do you think that Her Royal Highness is secretly reading e-erotic books, Your Majesty?

" Glenn asked, face still very red.

nHe nodded before he gave an explanation.

"I also suspect that the royal princess has seen and heard scandalous things from the servants in this palace. Otherwise, I don't know where else she could have learned about sex.

"

nAnd that was why he wanted to replace all the servants in the Blanco Palace.

nThe knight shook his head.

"The royal princess is still too young to learn about that stuff.

"

nHe nodded in agreement.

"That's true.

"

nAlthough he knew that his children mature faster than average kids, it still came as a shock to him when Neoma mentioned the thing about her mother sleeping with him for his face and body, if he remembered it correctly.

n

"I will make sure that the head maid and the head butler will take care of this matter right away, Your Majesty,

" Glenn said seriously.

"We have to protect Princess Neoma's innocence.

"

n

"Princess Neoma isn't an angel so stop treating her like a fragile glass,

" Nikolai said, then he turned his back on Glenn.

"I'm returning to my palace now so you take care of the rest.

" Using his Mana, he commanded himself to disappear and in just a few moments, he was already back in his own room. Now that he was alone, he touched his cheeks and winced. Neoma's slap stung, but her words offended him even more.

"Why the hell am I an

"idiot sandwich?

"

"

n***

nNOTE: This is the message that I posted in my other story. I just edited it a bit to personalize my message for Neoma's readers.

nI decided to quit

/let go of one of my projects

/jobs to focus on writing Mommy Villainess and Royal Secret: I'm a Princess. But don't get me wrong. I DON'T earn that much here on NovelFull (that's why I'll probably regret quitting one of my jobs later, haha) and I'm not a top author.

nBut I still decided to risk it (even though I needed extra income for surgery fees) because I want to be more committed to what I have started here. I never leave things unfinished. It's for my peace of mind.

nSorry for the TMI (too much information). All I want to say is now that I have more free time than before, I will posten often before the mass release.

nHoping for your continuous support.

nThank you for everything. T_T

n***

nHi. You may now send GIFTs to our Neoma. Thank you~

n***

nPlease ADD my story in your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>

n