Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

Huh?

[That annoying voice…]

"Your Royal Highness is still as beautiful as ever!"

Neoma was surprised when Aspen, Ruto's demigod friend, appeared out of nowhere.

But she didn't mind. In fact, she liked how Aspen was in love with her face since it stroked her ego.

And yeah, that was her narcissism speaking.

"Hello, Lord Aspen," Neoma greeted the demigod in a friendly manner. "Fancy meeting you here."

"My father is having a conference with Lord Levi and the other gods in the Upper World," Aspen said in an equally friendly voice. "And Captain Ruto informed me last night that he'll have a slightly serious sparring with you here. I can't miss it for the world."

Neoma just smiled at the demigod's enthusiasm.

[I know Lord Aspen is way older than me, but he acts like a golden retriever. Will he get insulted if I asked to pet his head?]

"Don't."

Neoma turned to Lewis who was giving her a disapproving look. "What?" she asked defensively. "Can you read my mind?"

"I don't have to read your mind to know what you're thinking, Princess Neoma," Lewis said, sighing while shaking his head as if he was so done with her already. "We don't need a family pet. We already have a grumpy old cat at home."

Okay, that was a surprise. "We have?"

"Xion."

She almost choked on her saliva.

And she couldn't decide what was funnier: the fact that Lewis knew exactly what she was thinking, hence suggesting that Lewis also thought Aspen looked like an adorable dog. Or the fact that he called Xion a grumpy old cat.

Neoma nudged Lewis playfully. "Don't talk behind your hyung's back like that."

Lewis sulked a little after getting scolded. "We call Xion a grumpy old cat to his face all the time."

Aww.

[My "children" have grown closer these past five years, huh? They already dropped the honorifics when talking to each other, except for Greko.]

But it wasn't the right time to get touched.

Neoma cleared her throat before facing Ruto and Aspen who were just quietly listening to her silly conversation with Lewis. "We're sorry, we got distracted for a moment," she said. "Anyway, will you be fine, Lord Aspen? Ruto and I will fight for real. I'll protect Lewis, but would you need my protection as well?"

"Oh, that wouldn't be necessary, Princess Neoma," Aspen said cheerfully. "I may look like this, but I'm actually the shield of our group. And I'm also here to make sure that this domain will withstand your fight."

"That's a relief then."

"Princess Neoma, I don't want to sound rude, but are you really sure about fighting our Captain Ruto? I know you're calling it 'sparring,' but a fight between a de Moonasterio and the God Slayer would at least destroy a small kingdom in the human world." The demigod tilted his head to one side, looking innocent. Keyword: innocent. His eyes had a devilish glint in them, though. "I'm sorry to say this, but our Captain Ruto is clearly stronger."

"Aspen," Ruto said in a scolding voice. "Shut up."

"It's alright, Ruto," Neoma said, gently patting Lewis' shoulder to stop her "son" from talking back to Aspen. Then she faced the demigod with a smile on her face. "Lord Aspen, let me give you a "spoiler" of this fight: Ruto will lose because he's stronger than me."

Not that she was admitting Ruto was stronger than her.

[But I NEED Ruto to be stronger than me to win this match swiftly.]

Of course, Aspen just laughed it off. "I see– Princess Neoma is still as arrogant as ever."

"Princess Neoma is arrogant because she has the skills to back it up," Ruto said, grabbing Aspen by the shoulder. "You better create a sturdy shield if you want to survive, Aspen. Our princess here holds grudges."

Aspen seemed to have taken Ruto's warning seriously because the demigod suddenly turned serious.

[Gosh, he takes Ruto's words seriously but not mine?]

"Lord Aspen, good luck," Neoma said, cheering the demigod with both of her fists clenched. "You need that."

***

[HI. MY NAME is Aspen. And I have to say, this is the most boring yet also exciting match that I've seen in my entire life.]

Aspen was watching Captain Ruto and Princess Neoma's fight closely.

The two were just standing opposite each other with at least thirty meters between them before the God Slayer made his first move.

[I heard they're only going to use one attack.]

He supposed rules were needed to be made so Captain Ruto and Princess Neoma wouldn't kill each other in a "sparring."

Hence, Aspen expected the fight to end quickly.

Without further ado, Captain Ruto summoned his ancient bow. Soon enough, a dark purple arrow quickly materialized.

And it looked ominous.

The single arrow pointing at Princess Neoma could destroy half of the Great Moonasterion Empire, and that wasn't an exaggeration.

[That's how powerful the single arrow is!]

Aspen raised his arms, creating layers of shield to protect himself from the impending attack.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the royal princess do the same.

Princess Neoma raised a hand while creating several layers of her famous dome-shaped shield.

Hmm?

[I heard Princess Neoma only creates one layer of shield. Did she panic and create more layers since she knows she'd die if Captain Ruto's arrow hit her?]

He couldn't tell because Princess Neoma was wearing a stoic face at the moment.

And that gave him goosebumps.

Princess Neoma wore an eyewear similar to a pair of eyeglasses, but with a darker glass. Even so, Aspen could clearly see the royal princess' glowing red eyes.

Again, he felt a shiver down his spine.

[Those barriers are sturdy enough to protect the entire empire!]

If the single arrow was enough to destroy half of the empire collided against the shield sturdy enough to protect the entire empire, what would happen?

He got his answer soon after.

Captain Ruto released the single arrow with a blank look on his face.

The single arrow shot into the air as quickly as lightning would, hitting the first layer of Princess Neoma's shield.

CRACK.

Then the single arrow pierced through the first layer of the shield, hitting the second one.

CRAACK.

Then the third layer.

CRAAACK.

And the cycle continued until four more layers of Princess Neoma's shield broke into tiny pieces.

CRAAAAAAACK.

Aspen smiled, already seeing Captain Ruto's victory. "Only one more layer…"

There were two things that made him stop talking.

First, Aspen realized that the pointy edge of the single arrow had already touched the final layer of the shield. However, the single arrow couldn't pierce through it. Heck, the single arrow wouldn't even scratch the barrier.

[It's as if the final layer of the shield is the REAL Dome and the others were just bait.]

He was in deep thought when Princess Neoma suddenly turned to him, smiling.

Aspen suddenly trembled.

[Wait, is this fear?]

"Lord Aspen, you're right – Ruto is stronger than me," Princess Neoma said, removing her eyewear to look at him– her glowing red eyes turning into little crescent moons. The beautiful royal princess was still beautiful, but the coldness in her eyes scared the hell out of Alphen. "That's why this is my win."

***

NEOMA turned away from Aspen after giving him a piece of her mind, then she turned to Ruto– her smile fading away. She was only using one hand to control her Dome. But, for her second attack, she had to raise her other hand. "Ruto, I forgot to tell you the name of this attack."

Ruto didn't say anything, but she could tell that he was gathering the rest of his remaining power to defend against her second attack.

Clearly, he knew that she wasn't done yet.

[But I bet he doesn't know what's coming for him.]

Neoma smiled. She wasn't counting her chicks before the eggs hatched. But she was going to win– all because Ruto was stronger than her. "This is called 'Twin Domes.'"

As soon as she mentioned the name of her technique, the pieces of the shields that the single broke earlier suddenly floated– and then they flew at Ruto's direction as if they were little darts headed to the board.

But while in the air, the broken pieces gathered together until their real form was revealed.

It was a new Dome– and it was as powerful and sturdy as the Dome that was currently protecting Neoma and Lewis from the single arrow.

"Ruto," Neoma said, smiling apologetically at him. "You remember the rule, don't you? We're only allowed to use ONE attack."

Ruto just glared at her, then he tried to avoid the Dome.

But it was already too late.

The Dome was quicker than Ruto, swallowing the God Slayer who now looked like a fish trapped in a round aquarium.

That was just the beginning, though.

Neoma clapped her hands together. "Crush him."

And then the Dome began to "fold" itself with the intention of squeezing the victim inside.

***

RUTO realized that she fell into Neoma's trap as soon as he found himself inside the Dome.

The royal princess' famous shield was now slowly folding itself with the intention of crushing him.

Now he understood why Princess Neoma reminded him of the rule.

[But even if she didn't remind me of the rule, I have no choice but to still do what she EXPECTS me to do.]

After all, he didn't have enough power to recreate the single arrow that he created with all that he got.

[Tsk.]

Ruto, who would get crushed inside the Dome if he didn't do anything, had no choice but to summon the single arrow that he released earlier.

After all, it was the only thing that could break Neoma's Dome.

[This Dome is slightly weaker than the Dome protecting Neoma at the moment.]

And he knew why the Dome that trapped him was weaker than the royal princess'.

[She really wants to kill me, huh?]

Ruto curled a finger, summoning the single arrow. "Come back."

With his command, the single arrow suddenly spun around and flew towards his direction in lightning speed– hitting the Dome right away.

And then it happened.

"Sorry, Ruto."

As soon as the single arrow touched the Dome that was trying to crush him to death, the Dome suddenly COLLAPSED. It caused an explosion since the collision still created an intense impact. But it wasn't the only problem.

The real dilemma came after that.

Ruto didn't have time to avoid the single arrow.

In short, he was hit by his own powerful attack.

Ah, Ruto finally understood why Neoma said that she would win because he was stronger than her.

This was why.

For the first time in a long while, he felt seriously pissed.

[Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio!]

***

NOTE: Hi! I posted a drawing/fanart of Neoma and Trevor (with their matching ear cuffs!) on my k/ofi page (k/o-fi .com/sola_cola)~ Please check it out~ And you may buy me coffee if you can to help me win the May challenge. Thank youuu~ T_T

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