Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

[A few nights ago…]

"YOU found a way to fight the Goddess of Misfortune?" Nero asked Neoma. "How?"

"Because I'm a genius."

He rolled his eyes at his twin sister's cheeky answer.

Neoma, on the other hand, just silently put grapes in her mouth while sprawled on the sofa in her pink 'pajamas.'

[So unbecoming of the empire's sole Imperial Princess.]

Nero was already used to Neoma's antics, so he just kept his mouth shut and drank his wine while waiting for his twin sister to speak.

And she did a little later.

"Nero, you're the boy who has everything."

"That, I am."

"You're so freaking annoying."

"Well, you're the one who gave me that ridiculous name."

Neoma, who hated being wrong, frowned. Then she got up, sat straight, crossed her arms and legs, and looked at Nero with glowing red eyes.

His twin sister wasn't mad, but she still looked intimidating.

Moreover…

[Why is she sizing me up again?]

"It's a fact that I am more of a de Moonasterio than a Roseheart since my Moonglow is stronger than my Roseheart Blood."

Nero nodded in agreement. "And I am more of a Roseheart than a de Moonasterio. Apparently, I'm special since I'm a male Roseheart."

"Uh-huh."

"So, what about it?"

"I guess you inherited Mama Boss' natural power as a Roseheart. You're good at Summoning, aren't you?"

"I'm good at everything I do."

"Do you want to die?"

Nero laughed at Neoma's outburst. "You really have a nasty temper, my precious twin sister."

"I'm being serious here."

"And that's why it's more fun to tease you."

"Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio."

"Fine," Nero said, smiling. He briefly raised his hands in surrender before Neoma slit his throat. "What do you want me to summon?"

Neoma wouldn't bring up their abilities to summon Spirits or whatever it was that could be summoned for nothing.

Hence, he ended up with that conclusion.

"It's not that I don't trust you, but I haven't seen you practicing your Summoning skills," Neoma said skeptically. "Do you even know how to Summon Spirits?"

"Sure," Nero said bluntly. "I didn't waste my childhood in the Spirit World sleeping, Neoma. William and even Queen Tara were there, and they helped me hone my talent as Mona Roseheart's son."

"Really? But I never saw you practice those skills before."

"I don't need to practice the things I've already mastered. And, no, my skills won't get rusty. As I said earlier, I'm good at everything I do— whether it's for the first time or not."

"Damn you."

Pfft.

It was really funny to see Neoma fuming.

[She's usually confident, but she sometimes gets insecure of me.]

It was a rare moment, so Nero teased his twin sister more.

"Am I wrong, though?"

"Screw you."

Nero burst out laughing. "I can summon even those you can't, so spill it now, Neoma."

"Fuck you," Neoma said, rolling her eyes. "I want you to summon a god once you get to the Upper World, Nero."

***

[Present…]

RIGHT.

Nero remembered what he needed to do now that the Goddess of Misfortune was awake.

"Why did you bring me here?" the Goddess of Misfortune asked in a weak, trembling voice. "What are we doing here at the Upper World?"

Nero smiled and opened his arms. "So that you can spread the calamity you brought here, why else?"

That was the first part of Neoma's plan— to bring the calamity to the Upper World.

The curse that was placed in his soul attracted the calamities that the Goddess of Misfortune brought. Hence, the curse would follow Nero's soul and not his physical body.

That was how the Goddess of Misfortune was dragged to the Upper World.

Of course, it was only possible because Commander Ruto managed to bring Nero to the Upper World in one piece.

"No!" the Goddess of Misfortune screamed as if she was scared. "You can't bring me here!"

"Don't worry, we're only at the entrance of the Upper World yet," Commander Ruto said bluntly. "However, it's only a matter of time before the gods notice our presence. I don't know why you're scared, but I believe you should be more scared of this person."

'This person.'

[What a rude rascal.]

"I don't think I need to hide my identity from that goddess," Nero said, opening his left hand. Soon enough, a small ice dagger materialized above the palm. "But I can't believe that a goddess of such caliber didn't recognize me after the switch."

The Goddess of Misfortune looked confused, and then she stared at Nero as if she was staring at his soul.

[Oh, well. It's not like I'm hiding it.]

The Goddess of Misfortune gasped when the realization had finally hit her. "You're Emperor Nero— you've switched souls with Princess Neoma!"

"You just realized it now?" Nero asked, smirking. And then he cut the palm of his hand with the ice dagger. "Too late."

He then let his precious, royal blood drip to the floor.

After uttering a few incantations that Nero learned from William, a magic circle was then formed below his feet— with him in the middle of it.

He usually didn't need a magic circle to summon Spirits.

[I can do it with just my will, but summoning a god is different— I have to do it the way William and Mother taught me.]

Moreover, he had to be careful not to disturb the souls inside him.

[Yes, souls.]

"Come out," Nero said in a clear and firm voice. Of course, his voice was laced with magic unique to a high-ranking Summoner like him. In the current world, he was only second to THE Mona Roseheart when it came to summoning. Yes, he was better than Neoma whether his twin sister wanted to accept it or not. "Come out, Goddess of Fortune."

Yes, it was the goddess that Neoma wanted him to summon.

["The Goddess of Misfortune is hiding in the dark because it's afraid of something— and she even said that only the Goddess of Fortune could defeat her. Well, she didn't exactly say that. But my big brain is good at reading between the lines."]

That was the explanation his twin sister had given him.

Nero didn't really understand Neoma's logic, but he just did as he was told.

"The Goddess of Fortune?!" the Goddess of Misfortune yelled, obviously more scared than she was earlier. "How can you summon someone who has disappeared already for a long time now?! You cannot fool me! A mere child like you cannot summon that blasted goddess!"

"I'm not a 'mere' child, though," Nero said, ignoring his bleeding nose and the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He didn't expect that summoning a good would take this kind of toll on his body. However, it wasn't like he could stop. His pride would be hurt if he failed to summon the Goddess of Fortune after teasing Neoma. Moreover, he had another reason to endure.

"I am THE Mona Roseheart's only son— and I can summon whoever I want."

After declaring those arrogant words, the magic circle suddenly lit up— golden lights 'exploding' like fine dust, covering Nero from head to toe.

[What is this…?]

"Who dares to awaken me from my slumber?"

Oh.

Nero, for the first time in a long while, actually felt a chill down his spine.

Even so, he still felt proud of himself.

[See, Neoma? I did it. This proves I'm older than you.]

***

"CALYPSO," Neoma said, raising her hand. "Come here."

And, just like a boomerang, the Holy Sword returned to her hand as if it was thrown back to her by an invisible hand.

Heh.

[It reminds me of Thor's— no, I can't say the name.]

"Now, it's time for judgment," Neoma said, and then she looked down at Calyx de Luca and smirked. "Come here, crow bastard."

Calyx looked at her coldly. "You're Princess Neoma, aren't you?"

Ah, the crow bastard grew a brain during the time she hadn't seen him, huh?

Neoma raised an eyebrow at Calyx. "What about it?"

Calyx smirked— he was angry, but he was obviously holding back since his plan with Helstor had already gone south. "Did Nero run away? What a coward."

"You can shit talk my twin brother, and you can't do that in front of me. Did you forget that I'm better than you at verbal assault?"

"Ahem."

It was Manu.

"Your Imperial Majesty, I don't think it's something that you should be saying," Manu said awkwardly. It was his way to subtly remind Neoma that she shouldn't be speaking vulgar words while in Nero's body. "Please calm down."

[Ah, gotcha.]

Neoma was about to assure Manu that she would act accordingly, but it happened.

In just the blink of an eye, an ominous presence appeared behind her.

[Dammit!]

Neoma turned around— just in time to block Helstor's attack.

She used her hand— covered by her barrier called 'Coat— to grab the black, ancient dagger that Helstor tried to use to stab her from behind. The black smoke covering the dagger was a mix of dead Mana and some substance that she couldn't pinpoint yet.

But she could tell that she shouldn't touch it with her bare hands.

[This bastard finally showed up, huh?]

This time, Hesltor was in his old form— the disgusting one.

Neoma made a gagging sound. "I'm sorry— my stomach gets upset when I look at ugly, vile things."

Helstor sneered at her. "As expected— it's you, Princess Neoma."

"Not for long, though~"

[It's switch time!]

***

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