"HOW'S Neoma?

" Nikolai asked while pinching the bridge of his nose. He just received Dion's full report, and he wasn't happy with what happened at Valmento. He wished he could Neoma, but he could only use the communication device in his ear at the moment.

"Has she woken up?

"

"Yes, Your Majesty,

" Dion said.

"But Princess Neoma seems to be in a bad mood.

"

"Her pride must have been crushed.

"

He knew how arrogant his daughter was.

The fact that a crow executive had showed up and declared the cult was giving Valmento and the Hazelden Kingdom to the Crown Prince as a birthday gift must be shocking for Neoma.

Scratch that– Neoma was definitely offended.

"That seems to be the case, Your Majesty,

" Dion said.

"This may be impudent of me, but I believe this experience is necessary for Princess Neoma to grow stronger. Thanks to her encounter with Bram de Luca, Her Royal Highness has become wiser and more creative when it comes to using her powers.

"

The Paladin was correct.

Nobody taught Neoma how to use her Roseheart Blood properly, but she still managed to use it while combining it with her Moonglow. Now he understood why most of the nobles had opposed his relationship with Mona in the past.

The combination of my Moonglow and Mona's Roseheart Blood is terrifying.

"You're not wrong, but don't let Neoma hear that,

" he told Dion, then he leaned against his chair. His office was a mess after his encounter with the crow earlier, but the palace was quiet now. His Azure Dragon had already gotten rid of the crows in the sky.

"As much as I adore my daughter, she's a sore loser. It's one of the ugly traits that she, unfortunately, inherited from me.

"

"Your Majesty is correct.

"

He should be offended that the Paladin easily agreed with him, but he couldn't be angry with the truth.

It wasn't like Dion was wrong.

"What does Neoma plan to do next?

" he asked the Paladin to change the topic.

"Is she going to stay in Valmento?

"

"No, Your Majesty. Princess Neoma intends to return to the Hazelden Kingdom as soon as she recovers enough strength to carry on,

" Dion said.

"Princess Neoma asked me, Lady Avery, and Duke Hawthorne to stay here and clean up the mess. Lewis will return to Hazelden with Her Royal Highness.

"

He let out a sigh.

I know Neoma needs to return to Hazelden to catch Delwyn, but I wish she'd rest first.

If only he could leave the palace and take care of either Valmento or the Hazelden Kingdom to help Neoma, he would. But it wouldn't be wise to leave the palace while his successor was away– especially now that the Royal Capital was in chaos because of the crows.

"Do as what Neoma says, and keep in touch with me,

" Nikolai said firmly.

"I'll give you instructions once my daughter leaves for Hazelden.

"

***

"OH, I'M FULLY charged now,

" Neoma declared, then she looked at the lace ribbon tied to her wrist. The other end was tied to Dion's wrist. The two of them were sitting side by side on the sofa. After all, the Paladin was transferring his divine power to her. The process was similar to blood transfusion, and the lace ribbon was a Divine Item that made it possible.

"Paige, this is so convenient. Where did you get this Divine Item?

"

Paige smiled sweetly at her while untying the lace ribbon around her wrist.

"I stole it from the previous Pope of the East Continent, Princess Neoma.

"

It was okay for the mage to address her that way because only the three of them were in the luxurious tearoom.

Plus, Paige put a sound-canceling spell around the room for their privacy.

Wait, that's not important right now!

"You stole from the Pope?

" she asked, pleasantly surprised.

"You've got balls of steel, Paige.

"

"You were that child?

" Dion asked, and the Paladin looked really shocked.

"The child that stole the Divine Items given by the Sun Goddess to the Pope of the East Continent?

"

"That happened fifty years ago since I've been trapped in Hisa Tree for that long,

" the mage said while undoing the lace ribbon around the Paladin's wrist this time.

"Do people still talk about that?

"

"Of course,

" the Paladin scoffed.

"Lady Avery, you stole Divine Items and not mere toys. Moreover, you stole it from the Pope of the East Continent.

"

Paige smiled innocently, then she put the lace ribbon on a magical black pouch that could apparently store stuff in a different dimension.

"It's not that much of a big deal, Sir Skelton.

"

Neoma thought it was a big deal, but she kept it to herself.

It looks like Paige doesn't want to talk more about it, so let's just change the topic.

"Dion, what did Papa Boss tell you after you gave him a report of our situation?

" she asked the Paladin.

"His Majesty said he'll be in charge of the matters here in Valmento once Your Royal Highness leaves for Hazelden,

" Dion reported to her.

"His Majesty told me to follow Your Royal Highness's orders.

"

"Alright.

"

She could call her Papa Boss if she wanted to.

But she didn't have the heart to personally tell her father she lost the fight against the crow bastard. Well, technically, no one actually won because she fainted and Bram de Luca escaped. Still, she knew that the crow bastard went easy on her.

God, this is so sad.

"Lewis and I will leave for Hazelden now,

" Neoma declared, trying to sound upbeat even though she felt ** at the moment.

"I'll return after I play with William and Delwyn. Take care of the things here while I'm playing.

"

Paige and Dion bowed politely to her.

"As you wish, Your Royal Highness.

"

***

"WHY DOES my little sister look gloomy?

"

Neoma, who was spacing out in front of the door of the portal leading to Hazelden Kingdom, snapped out of it when she felt someone poke her cheek.

"Oh, your skin is soft,

" Jasper Hawthorne said, then he continued poking her cheek with his finger.

"And smooth. Can I squish your face?

"

"Oppa, touching the precious body of a royal family member is a serious crime,

" Neoma reminded the young duke jokingly.

"And you're lucky Lewis isn't here.

"

Lewis was inside the portal room to make sure it wasn't infested with Darkness.

The Astello Temple had portals that led directly to the palaces of the kingdoms and nations they had ties with. It was kind of unfair that the portals leading to Valmento that those kingdoms and nations had weren't directly connected to the temple. Yet, the Astello Temple had direct portals leading to their palaces.

"Don't beat yourself because of what happened, Your Royal Highness,

" Jasper oppa said as he stopped playing with her cheek.

"A barely ten-year-old child purifying the Darkness that swallowed up the temple while making the culprit run away half-dead is already a huge feat.

"

She just kept her mouth shut.

Of course, she knew that for her current age, she already accomplished something great. But it wasn't enough if she wanted to bring the enemies down.

"Most of the people think that way, too.

"

Ah, right.

She turned to the young duke.

"You went out earlier, oppa. Have the people calmed down?

"

Her Papa Boss would release an official statement later to soothe the people of Valmento. But she wanted to know the situation outside at the moment. Unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury to check on them personally, so she had to rely on Jasper oppa's report.

"Yeah. They saw Your Royal Highness purify the Darkness and faint after that, so the people are more worried about you more than the incident that took place.

"

She blinked several times, confused.

"They saw me? I mean, I know I purified the Darkness up in the sky. But Valmento is pretty far from the residential areas. How come they spotted me? Did they use a magical device or something?

"

The young duke looked hesitant to give her a full report at first, but he gave in eventually.

"Your Royal Highness, it's not only the people of Valmento who have witnessed your gallant act earlier. In fact, people back at the Royal Capital have seen it, too. And since it was a major incident, I'm pretty sure the news has spread across the entire continent.

"

"What?

"

"Someone recorded you earlier, and they spread that video to Valmento and the Royal Capital,

" Jasper oppa said.

"I believe it was the work of the crow Your Royal Highness just encountered.

"

Bram de Luca filmed her earlier?

Thank goodness she didn't summon Skewer!

Is this what Bram de Luca mean when he said the crows just turned me into the new hero of the continent?

Neoma held her nape when she suddenly felt stressed out.

"Fuck `em crows.

"

***

JENO was surprised to see 'Soju,' Princess Neoma's Water Spirit in the form of a green toad, absorb all the water in the pond.

And Soju's size didn't change.

The pond was located inside a cave that wasn't easy to find. It was deep in the woods, and it was hell traveling by foot because of the snow. But it was pretty rewarding because the cave was fascinating. There were ice gems on the roof and the walls.

Moreover, the water that Soju had just absorbed was sparkling blue.

"I'm full,

" Soju declared. He could hear and understand the Spirit because Soju allowed him and his

"siblings

" to interact with him. It was necessary for working together, after all.

"Our job here is done, so let's go.

"

Jeno nodded politely.

"I understand, Lord Soju.

"

The Water Spirit belonged to Princess Neoma, so it was only right to use polite speech when talking to it.

Soju then hopped so high and landed on the top of his head.

Since he was already used to it, he didn't mind. He went out of the cave with the Water Spirit sitting on the top of his head.

"That was pretty quick.

"

It was Xion who spoke.

The assassin was squatting down in front of the cave while puffing a cigarette between his fingers. There were also unconscious wolves around him.

Ah, yes.

They encountered a pack of wolves on their way to the cave. Xion took care of those.

"You didn't kill the wolves, did you?

" Jeno asked the assassin.

"Princess Neoma told us not to kill them since apparently, the wolves of the North don't attack humans unless they needed to protect their home.

"

Princess Neoma seemed to have a soft spot for wolves, especially wolves who lived in a snowy mountain, for some reason.

"I just knocked the wolves out, including the alpha,

" Xion explained, then he puffed a smoke out of his mouth.

"I'm not an imbecile, you know? I listen well to Princess Neoma, kiddo.

"

"I'm not a child,

" he said firmly, then he frowned while looking at the cigarette in Xion's hand.

"Princess Neoma may be older inside, but her physical body is that of a child. Second-hand smoke is bad for the health.

"

"That's why I don't smoke around our master.

"

"But it's okay to smoke around me?

"

He puffed another smoke and smirked at him.

"I thought you're not a child?

"

"It's not like only children get affected by second-hand smoke.

"

"Ah, dammit. You nag too much,

" Xion complained, then he thrashed the cigarette butt on the cave wall. After that, he stood up and faced him.

"Happy now?

"

"I would appreciate it if you spray some perfume since you smell like–

"

"Lady Kimchi,

" Xion said, summoning Princess Neoma's Fire Spirit and cutting him in the process.

"Please come out.

"

This damned assassin definitely did that on purpose.

He didn't have the time to complain because Kimchi, Princess Neoma's Fire Spirit in the form of a lizard, materialized on top of Xion's head.

Of course, there was a reason why Princess Neoma entrusted her Spirits with them.

"Lady Kimchi, please help us find the trapped Ice Spirit,

" Jeno said, then he bowed his head.

"We leave it to you.

"

***

"SO FUCKING cold,

" Neoma said while walking on a trail in the snowy mountain. That was the direction Xion and Jeno sent to her. She just needed to find their exact location.

"The palace and the kingdom's capital are both warm, but it's freezing here.

"

Her clothes were adorned with Fire Mana Stones that kept her warm. If she didn't have those, she would have already been frozen to death.

Lewis took off his jacket and put it on her shoulders.

"Hey, you'll be cold,

" she said while trying to shake the jacket off of her shoulders since she didn't want her precious

"son

" to get sick because of her.

"It's okay, Princess Neoma,

" Lewis said, then he pulled the jacket up when it slipped off of her shoulders.

"I'm a fox, so my body is naturally warm. I don't get cold easily.

"

"Are you sure?

"

"Yes, Princess Neoma.

"

She smiled at him warmly.

"Thank you, Lewis.

"

"Mm,

" he said while piercing a hole in her face.

"Are you still bummed about losing?

"

Ah, there he goes again with his impolite manner of speech.

"Of course, I'm a sore loser,

" she said with a huff.

"I've always believed defense is the best offense, so I focused my everything on perfecting my Dome. I didn't pay much attention to training my physical body because as a de Moonasterio, my brute strength comes naturally. But after losing to that crow bastard, I want to change my style of fighting.

"

He tilted his head to one side.

"How?

"

"I'll fight like how you do,

" she declared.

"And I'll test it out on William and Delwyn later.

"

Lewis knitted his eyebrows.

"I don't think it would be wise to experiment in a fighting style when you're facing two individuals who wanted you dead, Princess Neoma.

"

"I will still proceed with Plan A,

" Neoma assured Lewis, then she smirked while looking at the big fire in the woods in front of them. She was certain it was Kimchi's fire. They must have already found Delwyn's

"cage.

"

"I guess it's time to summon Uncle Scumbag.

"

***

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