Royal Secret: I'm A Princess!

Drystan was, of course, talking about Neoma and Yoan.

When the two began their Divinization, the two refused to ascend to the Upper World.

During that time, Neoma was hunting down Trevor– her Contractor who ran away in the middle of the war. The young princess descended lower when she didn\'t find the demon in the Underworld. And that was how she ended up in Hell.

Of course, Yoan shortly followed Neoma.

[Like a faithful dog.]

For some reason, Neoma found Hell fun because she felt a "strange affinity" to the dark energy there. Hence, the young princess decided to stay there and delay her ascension as long as possible– completely forgetting about the fact that was supposed to hunt down Trevor.

Yoan, a few months later, followed Neoma and decided to stay in Hell with her.

But Drystan was a responsible adult, so he made sure that Yoan and Neoma would never be alone in a room together– especially not at NIGHT.

Anyway, that was how he ended up raising the two kids for a few years.

[The rest, as they said, is history.]

But despite Drystan\'s history with Neoma and Yoan, the three of them decided to hide it from the other gods. After all, as the King of Hell, he had to appear detached from the gods in the Upper World. So, when the two kids finally ascended, he cut off all his ties to them.

That was why he pretended that he didn\'t care when Larissa brought Neoma in Hell to plant the young princess as the new Aether.

He pretended like he wouldn\'t meddle.

But as soon as Larissa went back to the Upper World, Drystan ran back to where Neoma was planted.

"You\'re still alive," Drystan said, kneeling on the ground while his hands were firmly pressed on the dry soil. He let out a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness. It was hard keeping a straight face in front of Larissa. If I didn\'t hear your heartbeat, I would have lost my cool."

He would never admit it out loud, but Neoma would always be his child.[1]

"Your Majesty, what should we do?"

Drystan stood up and faced Iris– his right-hand man. "We can\'t dig up Neoma yet. Larissa and the other gods would get suspicious of me and when that happens, they might relocate Neoma to somewhere else. Hence, we must play along with their scheme for now."

After all, it would be safer for Neoma to be where Drystan could look after her in secret.

"Will the young princess be alright?" Iris asked worriedly while looking at the Sentinel Tree. "The Sentinel Tree is sucking out her life force slowly yet constantly. It\'s the reason why Princess Neoma couldn\'t wake up."

"Neoma is a Roseheart, so she\'ll be fine even if her physical body is held up by the Sentinel Tree."

"But Princess Neoma didn\'t awaken as a Roseheart, my king."

"She would have to be awakened by now– I can feel it. That\'s the only reason I could manage to stay calm."

Only then did Iris look relieved.

[After all, Iris also cares about Neoma.]

"My king, are we waiting for the Divine Lord?"

"Neoma won\'t be herself once she wakes up, and only Yoan can handle her wrath," Drystan said, placing a hand on the trunk of the Sentinel Tree. "For now, I will slow down the Sentinel Tree from sucking out Neoma\'s life force. I just hope Yoan arrives soon before the gods do something drastic to hasten Neoma\'s growth as an Aether."

***

DRYSTAN was planning to take a short nap in order to regain his strength.

After all, he still needed to continuously weaken the Sentinel Tree. It wasn\'t easy to do so since he had to do it in a way the gods wouldn\'t notice.

However, his plan was ruined by the sudden appearance of the Eternal Flame.

"Why is this happening?" Drystan whispered in disbelief while staring at the Eternal Flame that was currently burning down the Sentinel Tree. "I know that the Eternal Flame is somewhere in Hell. But for it to show up like this…"

The Eternal Flame was actually composed of seven vibrant colored flames.

[They are the colors of a rainbow.]

"My king, what should we do?" Iris asked worriedly. "How do we put out that fire?"

"We cannot put it out."

"Huh?"

"That\'s the Eternal Flame."

Iris covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped. "The Eternal Flame? Then how do we save Princess Neoma?"

"The Eternal Flame is here for Neoma."

Iris knitted her eyebrows, obviously confused. "But why?"

"I don\'t know either," Drystan said, clenching his hands. "But Yoan needs to know about this right away."

***

"YOU OBVIOUSLY already know who I am," Neoma said in a tired voice. "But who are you?"

"Ah, where did our manners go?" the female de Moonasterio said, smiling apologetically at Neoma. "I am Seraphine de Moonasterio, the current Aether in the Upper World."

Clearly, Seraphine was nothing but a spirit now.

Neoma noticed that Seraphine was young. It didn\'t even look like she had reached her coming-of-age. The young de Moonasterio was probably twelve to fourteen years old. She couldn\'t pinpoint Seraphine\'s age because the de Moonasterios were all born youthful and tall.

[It\'s crazy how every de Moonasterio is exceptionally beautiful.]

Neoma wasn\'t too interested in a person\'s physical appearance, but she couldn\'t help but notice that all de Moonasterios were born attractive– even the evil ones.

She was told that she was beautiful, but she wasn\'t so sure about that.

After all, Rubin Drayton looked prettier in her eyes.

"And I am the Eternal Flame."

"Ah, I\'ve truly seen it all now," Neoma said, nodding. "A talking ball of fire."

"Please have some respect, young princess," the Eternal Flame scolded Neoma. "I am THE fire that keeps everyone and everything in this world alive."

"Do you want me to give you a cookie?"

"…"

Serpahine laughed awkwardly. "Princess Neoma, Mr. Eternal Flame, let\'s get along well."

"I don\'t have time to play with you," Neoma said, then she turned to her unconscious body on the ground. "I need to return to my body and get out of here."

Her physical body was wrapped in roots that looked like a cage now.

She could also tell that the blasted Sentinel Tree was sucking out her life force.

Was it Tara?

The Queen of the Spirit World.

[That wench will die a painful death at my own hands.]

"It won\'t be easy to break free from the Sentinel Tree even if you return to your body now, Princess Neoma," Seraphine said in an apologetic voice. "You have already become the new Aether."

"What?"

Seraphine put a hand over her chest. "My soul was finally freed because you have taken my place already, Princess Neoma. Even though you haven\'t completely turned into a tree yet, the World has already acknowledged you as the new Aether. Hence, they let me go."

Neoma couldn\'t help but laugh bitterly at what she heard. "Are you being serious right now?"

"It took me five years before I turned into a full tree that reached the Upper World," Seraphine said, still serious. "But you\'re special, Princess Neoma. The gods believe that you\'ll grow into a full Aether in just a year. And for the gods, a year is just like a few weeks."

Ah, yes.

[She\'s serious.]

"I can\'t be an Aether," Neoma said, touching her belly. "I need to return for my baby."

"Then help me."

This time, Neoma turned to the Eternal Flame. "If I help you, are you going to help me break free?"

"Of course," the Eternal Flame said. "There\'s nothing I can NOT burn to ashes in this world."

Haaah.

"I was betrayed by Larissa and the others because I have no Contractor," Neoma said bitterly. "If only Trevor didn\'t disappear just because he got bored, I wouldn\'t have been fooled like this."[2]

The deal she made with Larissa and Lord Levi was a deal she couldn\'t turn down because she thought it was the best choice she could make for her baby\'s safety.

After all, she couldn\'t fight all the gods at once.

But Neoma was betrayed because there was no contract binding Larissa and Lord Levi to fulfill their end of the bargain.

[I was the foolish one to trust them in the first place.]

"Since it looks like you already know everything about me, then I\'m sure you already know that I was betrayed recently because I do not have a Contractor," Neoma said while staring at the Eternal Flame coldly. "It\'s hard for me to make a deal with you right now, Eternal Flame."

"If you don\'t accept the hand I\'m extending to you, then how do you plan to get out of here?"

"I just awakened as a Roseheart– I\'ll see what I can do with my new power."

"Can\'t you listen to what I need to say first?" the Eternal Flame asked. "There\'s a reason why I looked for you, Neoma de Moonasterio."

To be honest, she didn\'t have time for it.

But Seraphine looked at Neoma with pleading eyes, and she didn\'t have the heart to disappoint the child.

[It seems like I have a soft spot for children now after I\'ve become a mother.]

"Fine," Neoma said. "Make it short, though. My attention span is comparable to a fish\'s."

"The entire world has been contaminated by Darkness so evil that the World awakened me from my slumber in order to purify it."

Neoma almost rolled her eyes.

[Why do these people always come to ME when the world is in danger? What are the gods in the Upper World for? Decorations?]

"The only way to stop the Darkness from spreading is to burn it using my flame," the Eternal Flame said. "However, the Darkness has contaminated living things."

Neoma was surprised to hear that. "What did you say?"

"Humans and all the other races in the human world have been contaminated by this malicious Darkness. Half of the world population has already been affected," the Eternal Flame said. "And the only way to stop the Darkness from spreading is to burn the living things that have already been tainted. After all, they are all beyond saving now."

Neoma felt a chill down her spine at how CASUALLY the Eternal Flame said it. "Are you asking me to commit mass murder in order to stop the Darkness from spreading? We\'re talking about LIVING people here!"

"As I said, they can no longer be saved once their souls and bodies have been tainted by Darkness," the Eternal Flame said indifferently. "The only way to "save" them was to burn them using my flame. I promise to give them a painless death."

"As if that would make things better," Neoma said bitterly. Then she looked at her trembling hands. "You\'re asking me to kill half of the world population, you cruel ball of fire."

"If you can\'t do it, then I\'ll just ask Yoan."

Neoma immediately raised her head. "What?"

"You\'re not the only one who can do it," the Eternal Flame said. "Yoan can do it, too."

What a crazy bastard.

[Yoan is too soft-hearted to kill the humans he loves so much.]

Moreover, that foolish man also loved the world more than he loved Neoma.

It was a fact that she had already come to accept the moment she chose to be with Yoan.

[It\'s the curse of loving a man who\'s kind to EVERYONE. I\'ll never be Yoan\'s top priority. But, hopefully, he chooses to prioritize our child above me.]

"Don\'t ask Yoan to do something as cruel as committing mass murder even if it\'s for the sake of the world."

The Eternal Flame shined brightly as if it was delighted. "Then are you going to do it, Neoma de Moonasterio?"

"I will," Neoma said firmly, clenching her hands. "And keep this a secret from Yoan."[3]

***

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[1] Every man is a better father to Neoma than Nikolai of the first timeline. LOL

[2] In conclusion, everything is Trevor\'s fault. Haha jk.

[3] The fall of every tragic past of a tragic couple--- the LACK OF COMMUNICATION.