Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

[8 YEARS AGO]

WHEN NIKOLAI arrived at the rusty mansion of House Roseheart, the servants had already fled. The knights who went first to arrest Commander Gavin Quinzel and Mona Roseheart were already dead. Their bodies were lying around the estate.

Commander Quinzel definitely did this.

Rather, the commander was the only person in the empire who could survive getting hunted down by the most elite order of the empire– the White Lion Knights.

Nikolai turned to Glenn. His personal knight had his full armor on, except for the head gear. He was covered with blood because they were attacked by the people who supported Commander Quinzel in his "rebellion." "Commander Quinzel has reached the point of no return, Glenn," he told him coldly. "You are the vice-commander of the White Lion Knights. How does it feel to see the corpses of your fellow knights who were killed by your very own commander?"

Glenn turned to him with cold, empty eyes. Ah, now that was the face of the infamous "Mad Dog." The vice-commander had softened up recently so he was glad to know that the ferocious beast inside him was still alive. "Your Majesty, give me the permission to kill Commander Quinzel."

Not even a 'please,' huh?

"Permission granted," he said, then he started to enter the shabby mansion. Glenn walked behind him, of course. "But bring him to me before you kill him."

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

He was satisfied to know that Glenn's loyalty still lies with him and not with the commander.

Ah, ex-commander now.

He just arrived at the second floor when he suddenly heard a loud cry of a baby.

Of course, he froze on the spot.

The divine aura that only a de Moonasterio could possess was oozing from the room. That meant the baby was his, no doubt about it.

"Did Lady Roseheart give birth to another child?" Glenn asked in disbelief. "But according to the report that we received, Commander Quinzel already took the royal princess with him when he escaped. So that means…"

"She gave birth to a pair of twins," he said coldly, then he proceeded to walk towards the chamber where the crying was coming from. Well, he was a twin so the fact that Mona Roseheart gave birth to twins didn't shock him. "But it doesn't matter, does it? The Rosehearts could only give birth to females anyway. The empire doesn't need a royal princess, much more two of them."

"I wonder why Commander Quinzel left Lady Roseheart to fend for herself."

He scoffed at that. "Mona is more than capable of defending herself, and Gavin Quinzel knows that very well."

"That's true. But I still don't understand why Lady Roseheart would stay even though she knows that we're coming for her," the vice-commander wondered to himself loudly. "Your Majesty, are we going to kill the Second Star?"

The 'Second Star' was how the second child of the emperor would be referred to. Naturally, the firstborn would be the 'First Star.'

"That depends on Mona," he said firmly. "It seems like she has a death wish for betraying me like this."

The knight fell silent.

He didn't care because he finally arrived at Mona's room.

Despite being raised with proper etiquette all his life, he let his emotions take over. He opened the door without knocking. It took him all the self-control that he had to not break it.

"Welcome, Your Majesty."

Nikolai clenched his fists when he saw Mona, the lower part of her dress drenched in blood, welcomed him while kneeling on the floor. The lowly woman had a baby wrapped in white cloth in her arms.

She looks awful.

It was obvious that Mona was still exhausted after giving birth. He wasn't sure if she should be kneeling right now. But he could tell that the position was painful for her. The beads of sweat on her forehead and the slight frown on her face told him so.

But why does she look beautiful at the same time?

Mona's Camellia-colored hair and pale blue eyes never failed to capture his attention.

"I heard Gavin Quinzel already fled with the First Star," Nikolai said coldly, reminding himself that it was foolish to continue admiring the woman who betrayed him for another man. "If you stayed with the Second Star to beg for my mercy, you may begin now."

"I am not here to beg for your mercy, Your Majesty," Mona said with her usual carefree smile. Still, something else was different. Hearing her call him by his title instead of his name was strange. "I am only here to leave a farewell gift to you. I need to personally hand it to you even if it means risking my own life."

"Interesting," he said with a raised brow. "Where's the "farewell gift" that you had to risk your life for?"

She smiled sadly, then she gently placed the baby on the floor. "Your Majesty, I gave birth to a prince."

To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. "Impossible," he said. "The Rosehearts can't give birth to a boy."

"That's what I thought, too," the lowly woman said. "I couldn't believe that I gave birth to a boy as well, Your Majesty."

He wanted to doubt her but he knew that Mona wasn't that kind of woman.

"Glenn, check the baby."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said, his voice laced with confusion. Still, the knight carefully walked towards Mona. Then, he got down on one knee and gently peeled off the white cloth from the baby. He heard the knight gasp. "Your Majesty, it's really a prince," he said, then he stood and turned around to face him. "His Royal Highness has your hair and eye color."

Glenn and his family had been serving the de Moonasterios for generations. His knight would know if a child was really a member of the royal family or not. If Glenn called the baby "His Royal Highness," then he must be telling the truth.

And yes, I know Mona wouldn't lie about that.

Most of all, he could feel the divine aura coming from the baby. As soon as he entered the room, he already knew that it was his child. He just didn't expect it to be a boy since Mona was a Roseheart.

This is unprecedented.

"Glenn, bring the royal prince to me," Nikolai ordered the knight. "Now."

The knight nodded, then he carefully carried the royal prince in his arms. He even bowed to Mona before he stood up and walked back to him. The cold look that Glenn had a while ago was completely gone now.

The fool looks happy with the royal prince.

"Your Majesty, congratulations," Glenn said cheerfully when he stood in front of his to show him the royal prince. "You now have an heir."

He didn't comment on that because having a son didn't guarantee having an heir. After all, the royal prince was also the son of Mona Roseheart, and the oldest nobles in the empire were either afraid of the Rosehearts or hostile towards them.

They won't easily accept a royal prince with the blood of a Roseheart.

His thoughts were cut-off when the royal prince suddenly burst out crying.

"That brat is noisy," Nikolai said. "Get him out of here."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he bowed to him before he quietly left the chamber with the royal prince.

When Glenn finally left the room, he faced Mona Roseheart again.

"You didn't even bother to hold our son in your arms," Mona said with a sad smile on her face. "Now I'm starting to regret leaving him in your care."

"Why did you only take the royal princess and decided to leave the royal prince to me?"

"Because this empire is cruel to princesses," she said bitterly, then she paused before she spoke again. When she did, her voice was almost a whisper. "We can only take one with us. I figured you'd take care of our son because you need an heir."

He clenched his fists tight. "What made you think that you're the only woman capable of giving me a child?"

She didn't even flinch. "The empire recognizes the firstborn son of the emperor as the heir," she said. "Even though there are arrogant nobles who think my blood as a Roseheart is filthy, I'm confident that our son will still get support from people who know the true value of my family." She looked up at him, then she bowed. "Your Majesty, please raise our son well."

"Mona Roseheart!" he snarled at her. "How dare you ask me to raise our son "well" when you're about to run away with another man?!"

She raised her head to give him a pitiful smile. "I won't apologize or ask for your forgiveness," she said, then she slowly stood up. "Nikolai, let's end it here."

"No!" he yelled, his hands clenched so tight that his nails dug into the skin of his palms deep. "Wherever you try to run away to, I will find you. Once I do, I will take the royal princess away from you, Mona. You don't deserve to be a mother."

Her calm demeanor finally slipped away when anger crossed her eyes. "Nikolai."

"It's 'His Majesty' to you, woman," he hissed at her, then he drew his sword.

She stood up and smiled "sweetly" at him. "Then, it's 'Lady Roseheart' to you, Your Majesty. Don't you think it's unbecoming of an emperor to forget his manners out of spite?"

Instead of giving a verbal response, he just swung his sword.

It created a wave energy that would have been enough to slice an average Mana-user into half. But of course, it didn't work on the woman.

Before the energy wave could even hit her, a strong barrier appeared around Mona. He wasn't even surprised when a white, fluffy rabbit appeared in her arms. It wasn't an ordinary rabbit, of course.

It was Gale, a notorious Wind Spirit that only Mona was able to tame.

"Goodbye, Your Majesty," Mona said with a sad smile while her body was starting to turn luminescent. The barrier that protected her a while ago also began turning into a violent air, which was also known as tornado. That turned the whole room upside-down. And if he was an average person, he would have already been taken by the wind. "Please treat our son well."

And just like that, she disappeared along with the violent air that she summoned.

"You better run away to where I couldn't reach you, Mona," Nikolai whispered to himself angrily. "Because once I find you, you'll regret betraying me."

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