Chapter 422: SPIRITED AWAY
“ARE YOU PICKING a fight with an egg now?”
“Yes, Master,” Neoma said to William while glaring at the dragon egg. “Tteokbokki doesn’t want to touch him because he thinks he’s all that now? Hah! Only I should be arrogant between us.”
“I see,” William said while nodding his head. “You and your Soul Beast are both kids.”
South laughed cheerily. “William, at our age, even the oldest human on this continent is a kid.”
“I think the one who’s picking a fight with is Crimson and not Tteokbokki,” she said while glaring at the red egg. “My Tteokbokki is a good boy. Only Crimson will reject as his boss.”
“That’s not the issue here,” William said, then he turned to South. “Where’s Manu? He’s supposed to be here until the egg hatches. Did he run away again to sleep?”
“Hey, give our Moon Priest a little credit for working hard these past few years,” South scolded William lightly. “Manu just went to the East Continent to report to the Sun Priestess.”
.....
“Ah,” William said, obviously disinterested. “I see.”
“Why, though?” she asked, her eyebrows knitted. “Why does Lord Manu have to report to the Sun Priestess? Did we make an alliance with them without my knowing?”
William and South both gave her a look that practically scread, ‘are you for real?’
“What?” she complained. “Did I say sothing wrong?”
“Are you stupid?” William asked, irritated. Then he pointed at her neck. “Do you even know the significance of the necklace you’re wearing? Do you treat it as re jewelry?”
Her hand automatically reached for the necklace she was wearing- the one with the golden whistle pendant.
It was the necklace that Lady Yngrid, Ruto’s mother, handed to her a few years ago. She would hide the necklace in her inventory (aka the Lynx Ring) every ti she was outside to keep it safe. But when she was just at ho, she would wear it proudly.
“This is my personal treasure,” she said. “What about it?”
William looked too stunned to speak.
South, on the other hand, laughed as if he was amused. “Princess Neoma, that necklace is the symbol of Ruston Stroganoff’s authority on the East Continent. That ans you also currently hold half the authority in the Sun Temple.”
“Ruston Stroganoff’s maternal family, the Solfrid Clan, is one of the East Continent’s Four Golden Families,” William explained. “To be precise, his maternal family serves as the Guardian of the Cyran Temple. If the Astello Temple has the Holy Knights, then the Cyran Temple has the Solfrid Clan.”
She already knew that.
But she didn’t want to hear about Ruto’s family from other people, so she would often just brush off any conversation regarding that.
[I want to hear it straight from Ruto.]
“Lady Yngrid is the current matriarch of House Solfrid. That’s the reason why she’s in a long-distance relationship with her husband,” South added. “Ruston Stroganoff is Lady Yngrid’s only child, and that ans he’s also the sole heir of the Solfrid Clan.”
And her Papa Boss wanted to make the sole heir of such a family the new commander of the White Lion Knights?
[Wow... Papa Boss is ambitious.]
“But the Sun Priestess doesn’t like you, Princess Neoma,” South said bluntly. “She sends her ssages to Manu instead of you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” she said, pouting. “I don’t like the Sun Priestess too, so I’m glad she didn’t reach out to .”
She barely rembered putting Paige Avery in charge of communicating with the Sun Priestess.
“You don’t have to be friends with the Sun Priestess,” William said. “You just have to use each other for your own personal gains. That’s how people who represent the gods work together, anyway.”
“We need to work with them, especially now that Darkness is becoming a threat again,” South said. “Princess Neoma, please use Ruston Stroganoff’s power wisely.”
“I will only use it if necessary,” she said, then she changed the topic. “Anyway, I’m going to teach Tteokbokki a lesson today.”
It felt weird to talk about Ruto’s family when he wasn’t here. Plus...
[That punk never let in his dreams for the past three years!]
William taught her how to enter people’s dreams.
She was even able to do that to anyone she wanted to see in her dreams- anyone but Ruto.
[And appa, too. But William said it’s probably because appa is unconscious. Which ans appa isn’t deliberately rejecting .]
Ruto, on the other hand, was rejecting her on purpose.
“South, gim Tteokbokki for a mont,” she said, then she extended her arms to the Soul Beast.
“Are you sure, Princess Neoma?” South asked worriedly. “I don’t want you to get burned.”
“I’m prepared this ti,” she assured the Soul Beast. “I covered my entire body with Coat.”
‘Coat’ was one of the three barriers that the forr saint Dominic Zavaroni taught her in the past. It was the kind of barrier that would cover the user’s entire body with divine energy.
“Alright,” South said, then he handed the red egg to her. “Be careful, Princess Neoma.”
She just nodded, then she carefully took the red egg in her arms.
[Ouch, it stings a bit.]
It was amazing how the red egg managed to burn her a little, even though she was covered with her Coat. She got pissed, so she increased the amount of Moonglow covering her entire body. The thicker it got, the lesser pain she felt until the heat didn’t affect her anymore.
“You punk,” she said to the red egg. “You’re Crimson, aren’t you? My Tteokbokki wouldn’t attack or reject .”
The red egg vibrated as if it was responding to her.
Then she felt the egg increase its temperature as if it was trying to burn her for real.
[Yep, this is Crimson.]
She stopped playing this ti.
Crimson needed to be subdued, after all.
So, she placed her palm on the egg and gathered a large amount of Moonglow in her hand. Her divine energy was naturally cold, so it was a terrible match with Crimson’s red fla. She could feel that punk’s fla slowly losing its heat.
The mont her eyes turned glowing red, it was ga over for Crimson.
Her Moonglow increased so much it extinguished the red fla in an instant, resulting in the egg cooling down.
[Subduing complete.]
South clapped his hands. “Wow, the dragon really cald down.”
“Sotis violence works on violence,” William said while shaking his head. “It’s probably their language.”
“Yep, that’s our love language,” Neoma said while laughing, then she kissed the egg. “Tteokbokki, Crimson, see you later.”
***
“I HAVE returned, Your Royal Highness.”
Neoma laughed softly before she pulled Hanna into a tight embrace. “Welco back, Hanna.”
Duke Rufus Quinzel, who was standing behind them and beside Lewis, smiled warmly while watching the two of them.
Lewis had a poker-face, but his eyes were sparkling.
Even her Papa Boss, who was sitting behind his office desk, looked pleased to see her happy with her reunion with Hanna.
“I’ve missed you, Princess Neoma,” Hanna said, addressing her formally because her father, the emperor, was in the sa room. “And you’ve grown... a lot.”
She pulled away from the embrace and looked at Hanna. Well, there was only a 3-inch height difference between them, so she didn’t really tower over her cousin. But she’d like to tease Hanna, since her reactions were cute. “You’re bite-sized, Hanna.”
Duke Rufus Quinzel laughed softly.
“157cm is average for girls our age, Princess Neoma,” Hanna said, pouting. “You’re the giant one.”
She laughed because she couldn’t refute that. “Shall we go? Nero is waiting for you.”
Hanna nodded eagerly. “Yes, please.”
Neoma smiled at Hanna, although her feelings were quite complicated at the mont. [I really don’t want Hanna to end up with Nero.]
***
HANNA was quite confused when Neoma brought her to the drawing room instead of where Nero was.
Even Lewis, who served as their guard, looked confused.
“Neoma, why are we here?” Hanna asked carefully, addressing the princess casually now that only the three of them were in the drawing room. “I thought Nero wanted to see .”
“Yep, Nero wanted to see you,” Neoma said, then she sat down on the sofa while motioning her to do the sa. “My brother will probably ask you if you still wish to be engaged to him.”
“I figured that much,” Hanna said, then she sat down beside the princess while Lewis stood behind them. “I ca here to give my answer to Nero.”
For so reason, the princess looked devastated. “You still want to marry Nero?”
She nodded. “Yes, Neoma. I worked hard for the past few years to beco the perfect Crown Princess for Nero,” she said. “Do you... not want to be your sister-in-law?”
“Can I be honest?”
.....
“Of course,” she said confidently, although she was a nervous wreck inside.
“I know this isn’t my place to say this, but I really think you’re too good for Nero,” Neoma said carefully. “Plus, I’m worried because you have feelings for my brother. Whereas Nero...”
“Neoma, I’m aware that Nero has no romantic feelings for ,” she said, smiling while ignoring the tiny throb in her heart. “I’m also aware that he only chose because I’m the best among the candidates to be the future Crown Princess.”
She was very aware that her marriage with Nero would only be a political marriage.
Still...
“It’s alright, Neoma. I’ll be fine,” she assured the princess. “Once Nero and I get married, we’ll be spending the rest of our lives together. That ans I have plenty of chances to make fall in love with .”
“Your optimism hurts my heart, Hanna.”
She laughed at the princess’ worries. “Neoma, please trust .”
“I trust you, but I can’t trust Nero,” Neoma said firmly. “I know this is awful to say behind my brother’s back. But I have to let you know that he’s more cunning than he looks. And...”
“And he used to be in love with the Black Witch?”
The princess nodded. “Nero told in passing that he already t Dahlia in this lifeti. Not personally, though. I think he said he t her in her dreams.”
“There’s probably a reason for Nero to et the Black Witch,” she said casually. “Nero chose in this lifeti, Neoma. That’s all that matters to .”
“Hanna...”
“I’ll be fine. I have another reason why I want to be the future Crown Princess,” she assured Neoma again, then she held the princess’s hands and squeezed them gently. “Neoma, once I gain power as the Crown Princess, I will help you reclaim your birthright as the royal princess of the empire.”
“Alright, I concede,” Neoma said, then she squeezed her hand a little tighter. “But Hanna, if you find yourself wanting to run away from Nero in the future, don’t hesitate to tell - I will do everything in my power to help you.”
“I will help you, too,” Lewis, who broke his silence ever since they arrived at the drawing room, said while looking at her. “I will help you escape anyti, Lady Hanna.”
Hanna smiled at Neoma and Lewis’s unwavering support. “Thank you, Neoma and Lewis.”
***
NEOMA left Hanna and Nero since she thought the two needed private ti to talk about their engagent.
After that, she returned to her bedroom because it was ti for her afternoon nap.
[William is so strict when it cos to my afternoon naps, so I have to take it no matter how busy I am.]
She thought her consciousness would fade away as soon as she hit the bed.
But, just what would often happen to her, she “woke up” and found herself in a different dinsion again.
[In fairness, it’s been a while since I’ve been spirited away.]
This ti, she found herself...
... on the moon.
Yes, the moon. But this half-crescent moon she was standing on was planted on the ground in the middle of a colorful garden.
And she was looking down at a tiger cub standing in front of him.
[A tiger with eyes that look like they contain the night sky in them.]
Blue, sparkling orbs that seed very familiar...
“You...” Neoma said, then she squatted down in front of the tiger cub. “You’re a representative of the Moon God, aren’t you?”
The tiger cub slowly nodded its head.
“What are you?” she asked curiously. “Dion is a fallen angel. Lord Manu is the Moon Priest. What else could...”
She trailed off when the forr saint Dominic Zavaroni’s image entered her mind.
“No way,” she said in disbelief. “Are you... the next saint?”
the tiger cub, who had the voice of a child which was hard to tell if it belonged to a girl or a boy, said cheerfully.
She was about to say sothing, but when she opened her eyes, she was greeted by the familiar ceiling in her bedroom.
Argh, she was back in reality.
“The new saint...” Neoma whispered to herself. “The new saint has arrived in this world.”
***
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