Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

NEOMA cleared her throat in an attempt to lessen the awkwardness in the air.

That awkwardness by caused by Nero barging in her bedroom with Dahlia in his arms– right in front of Hanna's beautiful face.

It had only been a few days since Nero and Hanna broke up.

[Gosh. Have some decency, Nero. This is why I can't blame House Quinzel for withdrawing their support from the Imperial Family during your reign.]

Neoma grabbed Hanna when Hanna tried to stand and bow. "Let's skip the pleasantries."

"Right," Nero agreed. "Be at ease, Hanna– I mean, Duchess Quinzel."

Hanna nodded politely. "Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty."

Wow, that was pretty heartbreaking to watch.

[They're addressing each other by their titles now. Gosh. From cousins to lovers turned lovers to cousins again. What a fucked up trope.]

"Is Dahlia alright?" Neoma asked worriedly. "Why are you carrying her?"

"Dahlia just fell asleep after using too much energy while purifying the malevolent Spirits of the male Rosehearts," Nero explained awkwardly. "Please excuse me for a moment. I'll just bring Dahlia into her room."

"Oki-doki~"

Nero then awkwardly left the room with Dahlia still in his arms.

"I'm sorry about that, Hanna," Neoma said, smiling apologetically at the young duchess. "Nero can really be silly sometimes. As the person who raised Nero to become a decent member of society, I deeply apologize."

"It's alright, Neoma," Hanna said, smiling while shaking her head. "Emperor Nero and I can't be friends after our break up. But I'm still a loyal subject of the empire."

"Really? I thought otherwise since you refuse to take your father's seat as a member of the Twelve Golden Families. And, to be honest, I totally understand that."

"Oh, I just refused to carry on my father's duty because I'm not a peacemaker like him."

Pfft.

Neoma couldn't help but laugh at Hanna's honesty. "So, you're still gonna support the Imperial Family in the background?"

"Well, Nero's reign has to be successful so that you can inherit the throne later while the empire is thriving," Hanna said, nodding. "Hence, instead of getting involved in politics, I decided to focus on being a full-time businesswoman."

It was a bold choice.

The empire was at the age when merchants, despite having enormous wealth, were still frowned upon by the proud members of high society.

But Hanna had everything– high education, wealth, and a prestigious bloodline.

[And yet she's saying she wants to be a girlboss.]

Neoma gave Hanna a thumbs up. "I approve."

Hanna just smiled at what she said. "But don't worry about the politics side. I've already picked a replacement, and he agreed to be on the new emperor's side."

"You mean Jasper Oppa?"

"Yes, Jasper is one of them, too."

"Oh, so you decided to be casual with Jasper Oppa. Nice," she said, nodding approvingly of Hanna and Jasper's friendship. "Anyway, you said Jasper Oppa is "one of them?""

"Duke Rubin Drayton pledged his loyalty to the Imperial Family."

"I'm not sure how to feel about that."

"Just use Lord Rubin however you see fit," Hanna said casually. "Although the old Duke Drayton is greedy, their name and their household still have some value in it. The empire respects old families, after all."

Woah.

[Hanna is really cool. She's nursing a broken heart and yet, in just a span of a few days, she managed to turn the empire's economics upside down. Imagine that.]

"Why are you looking at me like that, Neoma?"

"I just realized the power that you have, Hanna. You're kinda scary."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Of course~ You're the best, Hanna."

"It's not like I did something great," Hanna said shyly. "All I did was create different merchant groups under different aliases. Then I bought irons and Mana Stones from the nobles monopolizing the market."

Wait.

"Hanna, I remember telling you about the Mana Stone mine that Regina discovered in the past," Neoma said, knitting her eyebrows. "You found it, didn't you? So, why did you buy Mana Stones from other nobles?"

"Because I want to monopolize the market," Hanna said, smiling. "The nobles get richer during war times because they monopolize irons and Mana Stones that are the main ingredients for creating weapons. I knew they'd raise the prices once they realized war was inevitable. So, before it happened, I already created fake merchant groups with different aliases. Then I bought their supplies.

They didn't know that they sold the irons and Mana Stones to me since they didn't know those fake merchant groups belonged to me. And now that the war finally broke out, those nobles were trying their best to buy back the irons and the Mana Stones from the merchant groups that I created."

"And you sold them back to those nobles?" Neoma asked, already laughing. "At a higher price, I bet?"

Hanna raised three fingers. "I sold them the irons and the Mana Stones triple the price I paid for them."

Gosh.

[As expected, you cannot be rich by being goody-two shoes.]

"The nobles who brought the irons and the Mana Stones that they bought from me tried to sell them to the market at a high price thinking they were going to make profits," Hanna said, then she sipped her tea. "Then, I released the irons and Mana Stones that House Quinzels owns to the market. Of course, I sold them at a lower price."

"Ah, so that's how the nobles you tricked went bankrupt."

"I did the same thing to the wheat market," Hanna added. "After all, aside from weapons, food supply is important at a time like this. I can't let those greedy nobles raise the price for wheat because it will make the poor starve."

Neoma put a hand over her chest and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're not my enemy, Hanna. If you were, then this story would have ended in one volume with my defeat."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Anyway, I'll let His Imperial Majesty tell you about the omen that the crows probably spread," Hanna said, already preparing to leave. "I'm sorry, but I'm quite busy today, Neoma. I just stopped by to visit you, and I'm glad to see you finally awake."

"Thank you for making time for me, Sajang-nim~"

"'Sajang-nim? What does it mean?"

"It's a Korean term that means CEO or a company president. Since you own several successful businesses, I should start calling you Sajang-nim from now on."

Hanna smiled and nodded. "I like the sound of it, Neoma. It's empowering."

"Then, it's decided," Neoma said cheerfully. "Take care, Sajang-nim."

***

IT WAS a family meeting as soon as Neoma went out of her bedroom.

Everyone already looked exhausted, so she figured out a lot of awful things happened while she was peacefully asleep.

And that was their main agenda for today's meeting.

Right now, Neoma was in the conference room with Nero, Mama Boss, Papa Boss, Melvin Lucchesi, Geoffrey Kinsley, and Lewis.

And the things written on the board were giving her a headache.

"Landslide, blizzard, wildfire, flashflood… and even a dormant mountain suddenly erupted?" Neoma asked in disbelief. "And all those natural disasters happened the past few days?"

"That's right," Nero said, nodding. "Apparently, those natural disasters are really 'natural' and not man-made."

"It's the work of Nature," Mama Boss added confidently. "I would know if the disasters that occurred were the works of crows."

Of course.

If Mama Boss was confident, then it must be the truth.

But was it really still considered 'natural' if someone or something was trying to trigger the disasters to hit the empire?

[Nothing is 'natural' about that, after all.]

"Gosh," Neoma said, sighing. "How did the crows use Nature to make it look like it's already the end of the world just because Nero became the emperor? I know Skylus is working hard to keep up the morale of our people, but at this rate, I won't blame those poor souls for losing faith in Lord Yule."

After all, during difficult times, the poor would always suffer first.

"Asking the people to trust the Imperial Family is indeed a challenge right now," Papa Boss said. "According to Geoffrey and Count Lucches's combined investigation, the "church" that brainwashed people from the slums was the one who spread the omen. Apparently, the disasters would only stop if Nero stepped down from the throne.

People who were already distressed because of the previous catastrophes have been thrown into a panic again."

The crows were working hard, huh?

[But I didn't expect them to work hard to remove Nero from the throne.]

Neoma turned to Nero and teased her twin brother. "The crows have fallen out of love with you, Nero. Did you dump Calyx or something?"

Nero just rolled his eyes at her, then he paused and knitted his eyebrows. "Come to think of it, I remember seeing Calyx before. But he didn't do anything. Or so I thought. But maybe there was a reason why he went to see me that time?"

Everyone fell silent because of the sudden shift in the air as soon as the new emperor dropped that question.

"You were cursed, Emperor Nero."

Oho?

Neoma was surprised by the arrival of the unexpected combination.

[My man and my chingu are together?]

Ruto and Trevor just appeared out of thin air just like that.

[So cool.]

"The curse is etched quite deeply on your soul, Emperor Nero," Trevor said while looking at Nero with glowing eyes. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. It's a curse that got activated after you took the throne. They got you quite good, Your Imperial Majesty."

Nero knitted his eyebrows. "I'm cursed?"

"It's the curse that summons natural disasters as long as you're sitting on the throne, Your Imperial Majesty," Ruto added, his other eye glowing red while looking at Nero. "And it's a curse from the Goddess of Misfortune."

"Fuck," Neoma said, exasperated already. "Another evil god again?"

***

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