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n

"AH, THERE it is,

" Jeno said after Lady Kimchi landed on the branch of a tree with a huge thunderbolt mark carved on the trunk.

"Princess Neoma told us to find the tree with a carved thunderbolt on it.

"

nXion, who was standing next to him, yawned while stretching his arms.

"So, what are we going to do now that we've found the tree?

"

nHe opened his hands politely.

nAs if on cue, Lady Kimchi jumped from the branch. But instead of landing on his hands, the Fire Spirit, in the form of a lizard, landed on the top of his head.

nOh, okay. Lady Kimchi enjoys resting on my head, huh?

n

"Princess Neoma left Lady Kimchi in our care to do one thing,

" Jeno said, then he pointed his finger at the tree.

"Lady Kimchi, please burn that tree down.

"

nApparently, something would appear after the marked tree burned down.

n

"Damn, our Princess Neoma is really something,

" Xion said while laughing in excitement.

"Now she wants to create a man-made wildfire, huh?

"

n***

nRUTO is really crazy, huh?

nNeoma meant in a good way.

nWatching the trees forming a circle in the middle of the woods, separated from the other trees, amazed her. It was amazing because the fire burning the marked trees down wasn't affecting the other trees in the woods.

nIn short, it looked like the space where the marked trees were burning was separated from reality. After all, she could sense a barrier similar to her Dome. It was also the reason she didn't feel hot, even though there was a big fire in front of her.

nThank goodness.

nShe didn't want to create a man-made wildfire, after all.

n

"Welcome back, Your Royal Highness.

"

nJeno and Xion greeted her politely while bowing their heads to her.

n

"Good job, Jeno and Xion,

" Neoma said cheerfully, then she looked at her Spirits. Kimchi was sitting on top of Jeno's head, while Soju was on top of Xion's head.

"Kimchi, Soju, both of you worked hard as well. Thank you, everyone.

"

nJeno and Xion looked delighted by her praise, and so were her Spirits.

nKimchi hopped and landed on her right shoulder, while Soju did the same and landed on her left shoulder.

nNow, let's see…

nShe looked at the center of the space surrounded by the burning marked trees.

nIn the middle of it, there was an elevated snow-covered ground. On top of it was a floating and burning coffin-like glass. And it was melting already.

nOkay, it's time for the main character to work again.

"

n

"Jeno.

"

n

"Yes, Your Royal Highness?

"

n

"I'm going to use Skewer, and doing so will awaken my demonic power, which is also a Darkness attribute,

" she said seriously to the Marksman.

"I need you to cover the entire mountain well with your mist. I don't want outsiders to see what's going on here.

"

nJeno bowed to her.

"I received Your Royal Highness's order.

"

n

"Very well,

" she said, then she turned to Xion.

"A crow **ed me up earlier. He recorded my fight with the Darkness that swallowed up the temple. Xion, I don't want the same thing to happen here.

"

nXion, who seemed to have caught on easily, nodded firmly.

"I will check on every nook and cranny of the mountain to make sure no one is spying on us. And I will particularly be careful of the crows.

"

nShe smiled at how fast Xion was to catch on.

"The crow I fought in Valmento was in his human form. Half of his physical appearance resembled a de Moonasterio a bit. But he also disguised himself as a brunette young man with significant divine power. He looks innocent, so be careful if you met someone like that here.

"

nThe assassin nodded.

"`Got it, Your Royal Highness.

"

n

"One more thing, his blood is made of Darkness,

" she added.

"If you met this particular crow, bring him to me alive. But I also won't mind if you bring him half-dead. As long as he could talk, that's fine with me.

"

nXion smirked, then he bowed to her.

"I received Your Royal Highness's order.

"

n

"Very well,

" she said, then she turned to Lewis.

"And for you, Lewis–

"

n

"I'll stay with you, Princess Neoma,

" Lewis said firmly, then he raised an eyebrow at her.

"You don't have any complaints, right?

"

nJeno and Xion looked shocked by Lewis's rude manner of speech towards her.

nNeoma, on the other, was too stunned to react.

nHere comes Lewis's bad boy era.

n***

n

"SOJU,

" Neoma said, then she pointed to the sky.

"Water attack.

"

nSoju laughed at her order, then he hopped in the sky as if there was an invisible staircase up there.

"As you wish, our dear Princess Neoma.

"

nAnd then, soon enough, it started to 'rain.'

nIt wasn't really raining, of course. Soju just literally spat out the magical water that she asked him to absorb. The reason she left Soju in Jeno's care was for the Water Spirit to retrieve the water needed to extinguish the fire that served as Delwyn's prison.

nThe marked tree around the coffin was actually burning with a sealed fire within. To free the fire, the marked trees had to be burned down by a powerful fire. Kimchi was a strong Fire Spirit, so she knew Kimchi's fire would do the job.

nAnd I'm right.

nAfter the trees were burned down, the last thing she needed was to extinguish the fire. Only the water in the frozen cave could put it out. It was the water Soju had absorbed earlier.

nI'm glad Jeno and Xion managed to work with Kimchi and Soju well.

n

"Princess Neoma, dangerous,

" Lewis said, then he stood in front of her protectively.

"He's awake.

"

nHer fox could only be referring to one person– Delwyn, the Ice Spirit.

n

"Yeah, I can tell,

" she said, while looking at the melting glass coffin. She could see a figure getting up. The smoke from the fire was yet to vanish, so her vision was a little blurry. Still, she could see the little movements of the newly awakened Ice Spirit.

"I wonder if he's handsome.

"

nLewis let out a sigh.

"I hope the Ice Spirit is as ugly as an ogre.

"

n

"Nah, I bet he's handsome,

" Neoma said while laughing, then she turned serious.

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

"

n***

n

"I GUESS they're twins,

" Bram de Luca said hanging upside down at a tree branch like a bat. His Excellency's crow was sitting on the same branch, too.

"The Crown Prince and the hidden royal princess, I mean.

"

nHe and His Excellency just arrived at the snowy mountain of the Hazelden Kingdom. Unfortunately, they couldn't go deeper into the woods because of the thick mist hiding the woods. He could barely feel the presence of the people hidden in the mist.

nBut his gut feel was telling him the 'Crown Prince' was there since the young 'prince' didn't go straight to the Hazelden Palace.

n

"If the royal princess is pretending to be the Crown Prince, then it only means they resemble each other a lot– enough for Her Royal Highness to pull it off,

" he said, then he crossed his arms over his chest.

"And if the royal princess is pretending to be the Crown Prince, it only means the real successor in a position where he couldn't fulfill his duties yet. He must be hurt and currently recovering in a safe place.

"

n<

"I can only think of one force strong enough to harm the real Crown Prince,

"> His Excellency said. <

"It must be the work of the Devil.

">

n

"That's what I thought, too,

" he agreed while nodding his head.

"If the crows exist to get rid of the royal princesses, the Devil exists to kill the de Moonasterio male heirs.

" He clicked his tongue.

"This is why I keep telling Your Excellency to prioritize hunting down the Devil.

"

n<

"We still need the Devil's ability,

"> His Excellency reminded him. <

"He's the only person who could resurrect the dead perfectly.

">

nHe couldn't refute that.

n

"Still, it's annoying that the Devil keeps on getting in our way,

" he said.

"I can't believe we almost lost the Crown Prince of this generation.

"

n<

"As long as the real Crown Prince is still alive, our purpose still stands,

"> His Excellency said in a patient tone. <

"What should we do about the royal princess?

">

n

"We can't kill the royal princess yet, since Nikolai de Moonasterio needed an heir to maintain his power over the nobles,

" he said. He had already thought about what to do while they were on their way to the Hazelden Kingdom earlier.

"Moreover, the royal princess of this generation appears to be special. I'd like to watch her for now. We still have three more years left before 'they' return, anyway. What do you think, Your Excellency?

"

n<

"I agree with your decision,

"> His Excellency said. <

"We need to lie low for the next three years, so it would be wise to quietly watch over the royal princess in the meantime–

">

nThe crow that His Excellency was using as a communication device was forced to stop talking when a dagger pierced through the bird's head.

nAt the same time, a dagger hit both of his legs– causing him to plummet to the ground.

nDammit!

nHe didn't feel any presence around him, and he couldn't tell where the flying daggers came from! Something like that could only be a work of a highly-skilled assassin.

nA high-level assassin out of nowhere?!

nIt was annoying how he couldn't feel the assassin's presence, but he could feel a murderous aura directed at him. He just couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

nThis is why I hate dealing with assassins.

n

"Come out while I'm still being nice,

" Bram said while standing up and pulling out the daggers piercing through his legs. He couldn't feel pain, but he could feel his legs shaking. It looked like the daggers were laced with poison.

"What a troublesome assassin.

"

n***

nNEOMA didn't know where to look.

nOn her left side, William was starting to materialize after being summoned. On the other hand, on her right side, Delwyn had fully awakened, and he was now getting out of his glass coffin. Both were very eye candy, but it looked like she was more drawn to the Ice Spirit.

nDelwyn looks like a long-haired, adult version of J*ck Fr*st from the R*se of the G*ardians.

nGod, that face was so her style.

nLewis, who was still standing in front of her protectively, clicked his tongue.

"Annoying face.

"

nIt was annoying for Lewis because Delwyn was gorgeous.

nEven his white robe looked good on him. And the lazy look on the Ice Spirit's face? God, that was so attractive.

nBut she hadn't forgotten that Delwyn betrayed her mother.

n

"Mona,

" Delwyn said while rubbing his eye with his hand. Then he pointed a pale and slender finger in her direction.

"Why did you shrink?

"

n

"Lady Mona Roseheart is my mother,

" Neoma said, her admiration for Delwyn's face fading away as she prepared for the fight.

"As her child, I'm here to make you pay for betraying my mother, Lord Delwyn.

"

n

"Oh, interesting,

" the Ice Spirit said, his gentle and calm blue-jeweled eyes remained dead.

"But child, you're carrying a dangerous Divine Item in you.

"

nHer eyes widened in shock.

nBy dangerous Divine Item, Delwyn could only be talking about the Divine Item that Manu, the Moon Priest, lent her to make the Ice Spirit her temporary Soul Beast.

nHow did he know…?

n

"Delwyn, you traitor!

"

nIt was William, and her Uncle Scumbag ignored her because he was focused on Delwyn.

n

"Long time no see, William,

" Delwyn greeted the Grand Spirit lazily.

"Hey, you know I'm physically weak. I'm especially weak at the moment because I just woke up.

"

n

"So what?

" the Grand Spirit snarled at the Ice Spirit.

n

"I know you want to kill me because I betrayed Mona,

" Delwyn said casually.

"But I'm more scared of the Divine Item the little Mona is carrying.

"

n'Little Mona?'

nWhy do these dudes keep giving me weird pet names?

n

"So, I have a proposal, William,

" Delwyn said, then he yawned before he continued.

"Why don't we work together first to get rid of little Mona, then I'll give you a chance to kill me.

"

nWow.

nShe was too stunned to speak.

n

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea,

" William said, then he finally turned to her.

"If the filthy bug dies, I'll just tell Nero you killed her, Delwyn.

"

nNeoma was appalled.

"Men and their audacity.

"

n***

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

n***

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