Royal Secret: I'm a Princess!

Chapter 220: BET WITH THE QUEEN

NEOMA was surprised when Rustin Crevan, the alleged “last” Silver Fox before the previous emperor purged their clan, suddenly laughed loudly.

Heck, he was even clutching his stomach.

[Gosh, even his laugh sounds deep.]

“This is the first time I’ve heard a de Moonasterio curse her own grandfather,” Rustin Crevan said when he calmed down from laughing too much. “Ah, scratch that. You’re the first royal princess that I heard speak crudely.”

Ah, right.

She was still dressed as ‘Miss Ramsay’ so it didn’t surprise her that Rustin Crevan realized right away that she was a princess. But...

“Is it really easy to tell if a person is a de Moonasterio?”

.....

“Of course,” the old fox said. “White hair, ash-gray eyes, pale skin. No matter what your mother looks like, a de Moonasterio child would still inherit those three features from their father. Even if use a concealment spell or potion, people on my level would still see through your disguise easily.”

She was already aware of that but she trusts Madam Hammock’s potion.

It didn’t only conceal her physical traits. The Healing Sage’s potion also hides her divine energy.

“I’m being careful,” she said defensively. “And I already decided to stop going out in my disguise if it isn’t necessary.”

“Sure, child.”

She glared at him but her anger melted easily when the realization hit her.

Wait, this man resembled Lewis a bit. Could it be...

“Are you, perhaps, Lewis’s father?”

Rustin looked at her as if she just grew another head, then he laughed again. “You’re very entertaining, little one. I haven’t laughed this much in ages. Lewis is boring and he’s not fun to be around with.”

“My son isn’t boring,” she said defensively. “You just don’t vibe with his personality, okay?”

Again, he just laughed it off. Then, he put his hands on his (taut) hips. “Lewis isn’t my son,” he said. “I was killed way before that child appeared in this world.”

“Appeared?”

It was a strange way to say “born.”

“I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong,” he said seriously. “A nine-tailed fox like me and Lewis don’t need a mother and a father to be “born.” After we spend a thousand years in isolation without harming any humans, we simply turn into a nine-tailed fox with a human-like body. Of course, that means we also begin our new life as a baby.”

She couldn’t believe that she was hearing Lewis’s life story this way.

Her motherly heart wasn’t prepared!

[But wait. Does it mean that Lewis is a thousand-year-old fox before he turned into a human? Then, it means his soul is way older than mine!]

Ah, whatever. It wasn’t the right time to worry about that anyway.

“I’m confused,” she said. “Are you saying that not all Silver Fox is a nine-tailed fox?”

“All the members of the Silver Fox Clan are silver foxes. Hence, the name,” the old fox explained. “But a nine-tailed fox doesn’t appear as often as people think. There’s an old prophecy that our clan holds dear. Apparently, a nine-tailed fox would only appear if danger would befall the clan. To simply say, he would be our savior.” He paused for a while before he continued. “During my time, the previous empire ordered to steal all the Marbles of my clan. It was the danger that I was supposed to stop.”

Ah, she remembered that story.

“I learned from the history books that my crazy grandfather ordered the death of your clan to steal the Marbles of your family members,” she said carefully. “I thought only nine-tailed foxes have Marbles?”

“Every Silver Fox has a Marble stored in their body,” the old fox explained. “It serves as a Silver Fox’s life force. If a human steals that from a Silver Fox and eat that, their vitality will increase.”

“It won’t give immortality to the human who eats the Marble?” she asked, confused. “Also, I heard that a Fox Marble could revive a dead person.”

“First of all, only your stupid grandfather believes that if he ate the Marbles of the whole Silver Fox Clan, he would become immortal. He never listened to us since his head was already filled with greediness back then,” the old fox explained. “Only nine-tailed foxes have the kind of Marble that could bring a dead person back to life. It’s called the Fox’s Marble. Thus, our clan treats nine-tailed foxes like a god. But it’s also the reason why we’re hunted down.”

“Right. Even my son is hunted down for his Marble.” Her brows furrowed in confusion when she remembered something strange. “You said nine-tailed foxes only appear when your clan is in danger. But Lewis appeared when your clan no longer exists in the empire.”

“Well, maybe Lewis is destined to revive our clan.”

She smiled proudly at what she heard. “I knew it. My son is really special.”

“Well, not as special as you are.”

She was about to ask what he meant by that when all of a sudden, the ground shook.

When Rustin Crevan looked up at the now dark sky, she did the same.

She was shocked when the sky was literally torn apart. Then, someone literally fell from the sky and landed gracefully.

Oh.

Dark blonde hair, glowing orange eyes.

“Ah, Sir Glenn,” she said when she recognized him. “You looked different a while ago...”

By “different,” she was talking about the “vibes” and not the physical appearance.

Earlier, it looked like Sir Glenn was about to murder someone. But as soon as he saw her safe and sound, his usual friendly demeanor returned.

“Princess Neoma, are you alright?” Sir Glenn asked worriedly, then he got down on one knee and quickly scanned her from head to toe as if he was looking for an injury. After that, he raised his head to meet her gaze with a relieved look on his face. “I apologize for coming late.”

“It’s alright, Sir Glenn,” she said. “But how did you follow me here?”

“That insolent child forced the book open,” Rustin Crevan said with a huff. “Only a monster like him could do that.”

Oh, right.

Sir Glenn was supposed to be super scary on the battlefield. But she didn’t know how true that was since she had never seen the knight fight seriously before. Heck, she hadn’t even seen him angry.

[I wonder why he’s called the ‘Mad Dog.’]

“Sir Rustin, I’ll appreciate it if you don’t summon Princess Neoma that way again,” Sir Glenn said, then he stood and faced the old fox. “The next time you want to summon our royal princess here, then bring me with her.”

Ah, she shouldn’t be surprised that Sir Glenn and Rustin Crevan already knew each other.

After all, the knight mentioned to her earlier that he would accompany Lewis inside the book from time to time.

“It wasn’t me who summoned the little princess,” Rustin Crevan said. “It was our queen.”

Neoma’s eyes widened in shock. “You have a queen?”

***

“PRINCESS Neoma, you can think of this place as the hell for the Silver Fox Clan,” Rustin Crevan explained to her. “The Devil collects the souls of the most cruel, most violent, and most bloodthirsty Silver Foxes, and brings them here for punishment.”

“For punishment?” Neoma asked while walking side by side with Rustin Crevan. They were apparently on their way out of the woods. Sir Glenn was walking closely behind them. “What kind of punishment?”

“Endless war,” the old fox explained. “There are other beings in this world and we fight them in a war most of the time. But the last war against them just ended, so my clan is taking a break right now. Most of them have gone into the mountains to train. Only the queen and I remained in this part of our territory to train Lewis.”

“How did you choose a queen?”

“Through a fight, of course,” Rustin Crevan said with a laugh. “Queen Lisica overwhelmed all the nine-tailed foxes here.”

“Her name sounds nice.”

“Only her name is nice about her.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at what she heard. “Is it alright to talk about your queen behind her back, Lord Rustin?”

The old fox earned her respect. Thus, she politely addressed him this time.

“You’re right, it’s not alright to talk behind our queen’s back,” Rustin Crevan said, then he stopped walking to take a deep breath. After that, he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Queen Lisica, only your name is nice about you!”

She covered her ears because if not, she was afraid that her poor eardrums would burst.

And right when she thought it would be quiet again, she was proven wrong.

“Oh, yeah?!” a woman’s loud (and annoyed) voice echoed. “Well, only your massive dick is nice about you!”

She almost choked when she heard that.

On the other hand, Rustin Crevan grinned from ear to ear.

[Someone is proud, huh?]

“Princess Neoma, don’t listen to such vulgar words!” Sir Glenn, obviously in a panic mode, said while covering her ears with his hands. “Please! There’s a child here!”

Finally, silence.

“Is the little princess already here?” the woman, who seemed to be Queen Lisica, asked. “Rustin, bring her here!”

Rustin turned to her, his grin still wide from the “compliment” that he received from the queen earlier. “I’ll bring you to Her Majesty, little princess.”

Neoma rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

***

NEOMA found herself in the entrance of a cave shining with silver lights floating in the air.

.....

She was suddenly reminded of the “fairy lights” in her room back in her second life. The only difference was the lights inside the cave were only in silver color.

[Gosh. There’s no pink here. Boring.]

“Hello, little princess.”

She turned in the direction of where the voice came from, then almost got blinded when she was greeted by a beautiful and sexy woman sitting on a giant rock.

Long, wavy silver hair. Golden eyes. Pale skin.

[She’s so beautiful...]

The queen wore a little white dress that emphasized her gorgeous body. And boy, she had curves in all the right places.

Voluptuous breasts, slim waits, creamy legs.

She even had dainty feet. The pathway in the forest and even inside the cave was rough. It was a miracle that her feet still looked soft and smooth.

“Are you Lewis’s owner?”

“No, I’m not,” Neoma said, then she locked her gaze with the alluring queen. “But I consider myself as Lewis’s mother, Your Majesty.”

Queen Lisica looked confused by what she said, then she laughed. “Have I been dead for so long that a fox’s female master is called a ‘mother’ now?”

“Lewis doesn’t belong to anyone but himself.”

“Sure,” the queen said lazily, then she raised a brow at her. “I summoned you here because I want you to see your “son” during his final moments.”

Of course, that made her nervous.

But only for a moment.

She clenched her fists tight and reminded herself that this was Lewis they were talking about. There was no way her son would die when he came here in the first place to get stronger.

“Is Lewis inside the cave?” she asked the queen instead, purposely ignoring her foolish words earlier. “Are you the one who’s training him right now?”

“That’s correct,” the queen said, then she raised her hand to look at her long, sharp, and bloody red nails. “I gave Lewis his final mission a while ago. If he succeeds, then he’ll be able to summon all his nine tails easily. But if he fails, he’ll die. When I checked on him earlier, it seems like he’s already at his wits’ end. I don’t think he’d survive this.”

“You’re wrong.”

The queen raised her head to give her a cold look. “I’m wrong?”

“Yes, you’re wrong,” she said confidently. “Summoning me here was a waste, Your Majesty. Lewis will make it out alive.”

“And your basis is...?”

“Because Lewis is my son,” she said firmly. “And a son needs his mother. So whatever happens, I know that Lewis will do his best to come back home.”

The queen blinked several times, then she laughed. “Let’s have a bet, little princess,” she said. “If Lewis doesn’t make it out alive, you’ll stay here and fight me,” she challenged her haughtily. “But if a miracle happens and the young fox survived, I will tell you a piece of history that will surely help you if you want to become the first empress of your world.”

“I’m in, Queen Lisica,” Neoma said, pointing her finger guns at the queen. She wasn’t afraid to gamble because she had so much faith in Lewis. He was her “son” after all. “I bet my life on Lewis’s success.”

“Very well,” Queen Lisica said cheerfully. “I don’t like it when a child talks down to me so...” She snapped her fingers. “Your appearance shall match your soul’s age in your first life.”

And voila!

Neoma became her super pretty teenage version again!

***

“PRINCESS...?”

Neoma slowly opened her eyes when she heard the familiar voice.

She remembered sitting on the ground while leaning against the cave wall while talking to Queen Lisica. Then, she felt sleepy. She didn’t know for how long did she fall asleep though.

“Wake up, Princess Neoma.”

“I’m awake,” Neoma complained sleepily. “Lewis, when did you become annoying...”

She trailed off when she fully opened her eyes and was greeted by a very handsome face.

It was obviously Lewis and like her, he had somehow turned into an adult. She was suddenly reminded of the “Big Lewis” that she met when Gin trapped her in the bitter memories of her first life.

[Shit. I almost forgot how handsome adult Lewis is! I hate my vanity at moments like this.]

Much to her surprise, her son smiled.

It wasn’t a full-blown smile. The corner of his mouth tugged just slightly upwards, eyes half-lidded, brows raised. In short, it was more of a whimsical, lazy grin.

And seeing that made her heart skip a beat.

“Princess Neoma,” Lewis said in his deep, husky voice. “Do you still see me as a “son?””

Neoma could only gulp at that moment.

[Curse me and my love for beautiful people!]

***

***

Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>