"WHY ARE you surprised, Princess Neoma?" Charlotte asked, obviously confused by her reaction. "Don't you know that the Goddess of Life gave birth to the major gods in the Upper World like Lord Yule? She's practically Lord Levi's sister."
Wow, that was mind-blowing.
[Why didn't I think of that before? I memorized the history of the empire, of the continent. It's impossible that I wouldn't know something as important as the Goddess of Life being Lord Yule's mother.]
While she was racking up her brain thinking about how she could have missed such vital information, Ruto's face suddenly entered her mind.
Ah, it was probably her ex-man's doing.
[The Goddess of Life must have been a huge part of the reason I've gone crazy in the first timeline, so Ruto probably sealed off my memories related to her.]
"Neoma, didn't Nikolai teach you about Lord Yule's family tree?" Mama Boss asked, horrified. "The fact that the Goddess of Life is Lord Yule's mother should be common knowledge…"
Dahlia nodded in agreement. "Even a commoner like me learned about it at an early age…"
[So, so it's like basic knowledge for everyone living on the continent?]
"I didn't," Lewis said bluntly, probably in an attempt to make her feel better by saying that Neoma wasn't the only one who didn't know. "It's not important, Princess Neoma."
[Uhm, that's a little…]
"What do you mean it's not important?" Maan asked Lewis in disbelief. "If the empire finds out that their Imperial Princess didn't know who Lord Yule's mother is, they might question Princess Neoma's legitimacy as a princess."
Lewis glared at Maan.
"Don't fight," Neoma scolded Lewis and Maan, then she turned to Mama Boss. "Papa Boss may have assumed that I already knew about it, Mama Boss."
And, well, Papa Boss wasn't invested in her education when she was a child.
[But let's not say that to Mama Boss for Papa Boss' safety.]
"Anyway, I have a feeling that it's something that I shouldn't remember," Neoma said, shrugging. Then she turned to Charlotte. "But I'm curious about how I become the Goddess of Life's successor. We haven't even met yet."
"That's not true, Princess Neoma," Charlotte said while shaking her head. "According to our data, you were the last person that the Goddess of Light met before she hid herself from all the existing worlds."
She knitted her eyebrows. "Huh? I don't remember meeting the Goddess of Light."
Unless it happened in the first timeline, which clearly wasn't the case.
"You did," Charlotte said, extending her hand to her. "I can show you the data we have."
Neoma hesitated for a moment, but she got curious so she grabbed the baby unicorn's hand…
… then moving images flashed in her mind as if she was watching a short film.
She had to shut her eyes tight.
["Child, do you want me to read your fortune?"]
["Nah, I'm good. I already know that my life is filled with love and luck, thank you very much."]
["Your future looks dark, child. The God of Misfortune seems to be plucking your friends and allies one by one as if they were petals from a dying rose."]
[The fortune teller didn't need to elaborate.]
["Then, tell that god to sleep with one eye open. Because if I lose even one friend and ally in the future, I will make the heavens regret allowing a child like me to be born here."]
["Be careful, child. Gods don't like humans who try to surpass them."]
["I've read enough Greek mythology in the past to know that. But guess what? I'm also a god– god of beauty, luck, charisma, big brains, and profanities. So tell your bosses up there to beware of God Ramsay."]
["You're very arrogant, child. But I wouldn't say that I don't like it."]
"Ah. The fortune-telling lady I met who smelled like roses. I think it was when I was eight or nine years old," Neoma said when she finally remembered the incident that Charlotte showed her, then she opened her eyes. "If I remember correctly, I met her when I bought some erotic novels with Papa Boss…"
Oh, fuck.
"What did you say, Neoma?" Mama Boss asked sternly. "You bought what with your father?"
Neoma wasn't the only one who got scared of Mama Boss.
Lewis, Dahlia, Maan, and even Charlotte subconsciously took a step backward.
Though Lewis quickly snapped out of it and stood closer to Neoma again.
"Papa Boss burned the indecent books right away, Mama Boss," Neoma explained and let go of Charlotte's hand, then she quickly changed the topic. "Anyway, I remember Papa Boss saying that the fortune-telling lady that I met was a Spirit. How come Papa Boss didn't recognize her as the Goddess of Life?"
"Gods, especially major gods like the Goddess of Life, couldn't descend to the human world."
"Ah, right," Neoma said, nodding. "Then did the Goddess of Life borrow the vessel of a Spirit back then?"
"That's right. A deity on the Goddess of Life's level could easily hide her presence even for someone like Nikolai de Moonasterio," Charlotte confirmed. "And that was the last time the Goddess of Life had been seen by anyone."
"How the hell did you spot the Goddess of Life in the first place?"
"Master Novak had a lot of connections while he was still alive."
Ah, that was a subtle way of saying it was a confidential matter.
[Okay, I won't push it anymore.]
For now, at least.
"I see," Neoma said after gathering her thoughts, nodding her head subtly. "The Goddess of Life is my great-great-grandmother then."
"No?" Charlotte answered in disbelief while looking at Neoma as if she had gone crazy. "I don't want to sound rude, but how could Your Royal Highness be so casual and call THE Goddess of Life your great-great-grandmother? That sounds ridiculous. The Goddess of Life is THE existence that gave birth to the major gods. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Goddess of Life is THE existence that created the entire world. Please have some conscience, Princess Neoma."
"But isn't she Lord Yule's mother?"
"Yes?"
"Lord Yule is my great-grandfather, so that makes the Goddess of Life my great-great-grandmother."
If they were filming a variety show, question marks would have popped up on top of the confused Charlotte's head already.
"Miss Charlotte, please give it up," Mama Boss said apologetically. "My daughter feels close to her ancestors. She also calls Lady Roxana her grandmother."
Charlotte looked shocked. "They let you address them that casually, Princess Neoma? But why? Compared to their existence, the existence of a mere Imperial Princess is so trivial…"
The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.
It was because Mama Boss, Dahlia, and Lewis looked at Charlotte coldly.
Maan then pointed at Lewis. "THAT'S the look my husband gave me before he broke my jaw with a kick– just because I said the mermaids wouldn't care even if the cult killed Princess Neoma."
[You deserve that kick then~]
Not really, but Neoma understood why Lewis acted that violently because of that remark.
"I'm sorry, Princess Neoma," Charlotte, who was fortunately good at reading the room, said. "I was rude."
Neoma shrugged. "It's alright. My ego is as big as the Upper World, so your mere opinion won't hurt my feelings, Charlotte."
She wanted to look friendly since Charlotte was a unicorn, but for some reason, the "child" flinched as if she was afraid of her smile.
Hence, she just changed the topic.
"You also need me, don't you?" Neoma asked. She wasn't being hostile, but she couldn't help if she appeared intimidating. "Charlotte, shall we talk in private?"
***
NEOMA asked the unicorn to talk in private because she wanted to talk about the Impure Mana.
To be precise, she wanted to touch it.
But she couldn't do it in front of Mama Boss or Lewis because she knew the two would overreact. Hence, she asked for privacy.
Fortunately, Dahlia lent them her house.
Then Mama Boss, Maan, and Dahlia said they would look around the island first, while Lewis said he'd be standing guard at the front door.
[Anyway…]
The Black Witch's house was actually a cabin. It was cute and cozy. Despite being "abandoned" for years, the house remained clean because of the spell that maintained the cabin in Dahlia's absence.
"I noticed that you came out unscathed after getting swallowed by the Kraken that released Impure Mana," Neoma said, getting straight to the point while having herbal tea with Charlotte in the small kitchen. "Plus, the Impure Mana that the Kraken released didn't harm the marine life living underwater. In fact, I noticed that the Impure Mana didn't mix with the water."
"It wasn't really "water,"" Charlotte said, putting the teacup down on the table. "It was Novak's blood."
She nodded eagerly. "That's what I'm curious about. What's in Lord Novak's blood? Does it have the ability to neutralize Impure Mana?"
"You can say that, Princess Neoma," Charlotte said, nodding. "Out of all the mythical creatures in the world, unicorns are the creatures that the Goddess of Life created by her own hands."
She covered her mouth with her hands, gasping softly.
[Since the Goddess of Life is my great-great-grandmother, then is it the reason why me and Papa Boss are obsessed with unicorns? Maybe Nero secretly likes unicorns, too. It's probably in our blood!]
"The Darkness attribute that the Goddess of Life gifted us has the element that could defend us from Impure Mana," Charlotte continued with her explanation. "That's why unicorns are rare. The Goddess of Life didn't have enough power to bless every single thing with the ability to protect themselves from the Impure Mana."
"That's a little contradictory," she said. "Impure Mana is created when a Darkness attribute user dies because Nature rejects their dead Mana, isn't it?" She paused for a moment before she spoke again. "Did the Goddess of Life create unicorns for that exact reason? To cleanse Impure Mana with your blood?"
Charlotte nodded. "But the power in our blood that could cleanse Impure Mana is too great to carry. Hence, many unicorns die early."
Her shoulders slumped. "That's sad…"
"That's when the Goddess of Life realized that she needed a stronger vessel to carry her power to cleanse the Impure Mana. But she couldn't entrust the job to her fellow gods because gods were forbidden to descend the human world," Charlotte continued, looking at Neoma with a poignant look in her pale blue eyes. "Fortunately, her divine son created the strongest bloodline in the human world. The de Moonasterios– the gods among men."
Neoma wouldn't lie– that gave her goosebumps.
[I've always known the de Moonasterios are OP. But to hear the confirmation that we are truly the strongest bloodline in the entire world… wow. GOOSEBUMPS.]
No wonder her ancestors got drunk in power.
"But the Goddess of Life also knows that the de Moonasterios are… uhm…"
"Crazy. We're crazy and I know it, so no need to use euphemism," Neoma said, helping Charlotte who was obviously walking on eggshells around her now. "I won't get offended."
"Yes, crazy. The de Moonasterios are crazy," Charlotte said, nodding. "The Goddess of Life knew that if her power fell into the hands of the wrong de Moonasterio, it would be the end of humanity. Hence, she carefully chose her successor among the de Moonasterios."
"And she chose me."
The baby unicorn nodded. "That's right, Princess Neoma. The Goddess of Life gave you a gift when you were born."
"My breath that could give life even to dying gods," Neoma said, getting straight to the point because she was in a hurry. "Charlotte, can I breathe life into the Impure Mana in order to cleanse them? They're poisonous because they're dead. But if I "unalive" them, then everything will be okay, right?"
Charlotte blinked, confused. "Can you do that, Princess Neoma?"
"You did not just ask me that, did you?"
***
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