DAHLIA could feel the tension in the air after she said that Princess Neoma's first will dictated that the Imperial Princess must not be revived at anyone's expense.
All these people were willing to die for Princess Neoma.
So, how could they accept the fact that the precious person they wished to revive refuse it?
[I'm sure they'll have a hard time refusing Princess Neoma's will since they respect the Imperial Princess and her decisions.]
"Princess Neoma wishes to divide all her money in the bank between the children of the Sword Lily Foundation and the scholars of the Eranthis Academy," Dahlia continued reading Princess Neoma's last will and testament. "On the other hand, Princess Neoma wishes to hand all her cold cash and treasures to Sir Lewis Crevan, Lady Juri Wisteria, Lord Jeno Dankworth, Lady Paige Avery, Sir Xion Redgrave, and Greko."
The amount of Princess Neoma's wealth was more than enough to give Lewis Crevan and the others a comfortable life for the rest of their lives even without working a day.
However, Lewis Crevan didn't look happy about it.
If Princess Neoma's "children" were present there, they'd probably have the same reaction.
[I'm sure they would give up all the riches in the world just to bring back Princess Neoma if they could.]
"Princess Neoma wishes to hand all her collections of jewelry and her entire wardrobe to Princess Hanna."
As expected, Princess Hanna didn't look thrilled about it.
"Princess Neoma wishes to hand the Lynx Ring to Prince Nero," Dahlia continued, making Prince Nero frown. "Princess Neoma wishes to free Lord Kingston, the White Lion, once she's gone. However, if Lord Kingston agrees, then Princess Neoma wishes for Prince Nero to take in the White Lion under his wing."
Prince Nero scoffed, but it was clear that he was just trying to hold back his tears.
[Ah, Prince Nero only gets vulnerable when it comes to Princess Neoma.]
"Princess Neoma wishes for Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Mona to take care of her Spirits unless the Spirits choose to leave and live on their own."
Empress Mona closed her eyes tight in an attempt to stop her tears from falling.
Her Imperial Majesty didn't succeed, though.
"Princess Neoma wishes to return all her properties and territories to the Imperial Family should the Imperial Family promise to build more organizations to aid the poor– especially the less fortunate children," Dahlia continued reading Princess Neoma's last will and testament. "Princess Neoma also appeals to His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Nikolai to personally spearhead projects that will support the soon-to-be survivors of this war."
Emperor Nikolai's indifferent face didn't change, but the emperor's eyes were full of defiance.
It wasn't like the emperor didn't have to help the citizens.
His Imperial Majesty just probably felt betrayed after knowing that Princess Neoma was already prepared to die.
[I felt the same way when Princess Neoma asked me to prepare her will.]
"Princess Neoma wishes to leave Skewer, the Death Scythe, to Lord Trevor Kesser."
Trevor Kesser just shrugged.
"Princess Neoma left a letter for Lord Ruto Solfrid Stroganoff," Dahlia continued. "I'll hand the letter to you later, Lord Ruto."
Lord Ruto nodded politely. "Thank you, Miss Dahlia."
She just nodded in response, then she proceeded to read the last part of the will.
"Sir Lewis Crevan, Princess Neoma forbids you from taking your own life," Dahlia said, taking a peak at the fox nervously. "Princess Neoma wishes for Sir Lewis Crevan to stay with the Imperial Family and take care of his siblings. Again, Princess Neoma forbids Lewis Crevan from following her to hell with any means possible."
[Why would Princess Neoma assume that she'd be in hell? She's the kindest person I know, and probably the only de Moonasterio in history to have a golden heart…]
That was why Dahlia could understand why Lewis Crevan looked so broken at the moment.
[Sir Crevan probably wants to follow Princess Neoma to death, but couldn't do it now because of Princess Neoma's will.]
"Lastly, Princess Neoma once again insists that no life should be used to bring her back," Dahlia said, folding the paper as she was done reading the Imperial Princess' will. "Princess Neoma said in her will that she would never forgive anyone who refuses to follow her last wishes."
As expected, none of the people present there looked good.
Everyone looked devastated.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear any of that," Emperor Nikolai said firmly. "The Imperial Family will never announce Neoma's death. As far as we are concerned, the one and only Imperial Princess is still alive."
"Father, should I announce that Neoma has fallen into a comatose state?" Prince Nero asked. "We need to release a refute to put the people at least. If we don't, there's a high chance that they might start a protest out of fear."
"I agree with Prince Nero's decision, Your Imperial Majesty," Princess Hanna said, addressing the Crown Prince formally in front of the emperor and the empress. "Please allow us to deal with this issue."
"Are you sure, Hanna?" Prince Nero asked the Crown Princess worriedly. "I thought you need to leave after this."
"I don't have to be directly involved," Princess Hanna said. "I'll tell you my plan later, Nero."
The Crown Prince then nodded.
"Alright," Emperor Nikolai said, looking at Prince Nero and Princess Hanna. "I'll leave it in your capable hands, Nero. Hanna."
The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess both bowed to the emperor politely.
Then the empress joined the Imperial Family as Empress Mona gave suggestions to Prince Nero and Princess Hanna about dealing with the people."
"Miss Dahlia."
It was Lord Ruto.
And the powerful commander didn't approach Dahlia alone.
[It's rare to see Commander Ruto and Lord Trevor Kesser together without fighting…]
"Can I get the letter that Neoma left for me?" Lord Ruto asked politely. "I need to be somewhere else after this."
"Hurry up," Lord Trevor said to Lord Ruto while stretching his arms. "I need to kill you real quick before I go."
Huh?
Dahlia and everyone in the room turned to Lord Trevor and Lord Ruto in disbelief.
Did she hear it right?
[Lord Trevor is going to kill Commander Ruto?]
***
"I DID THE world a favor by committing genocide?" Neoma asked Drystan, the King of Hell, in disbelief. "What kind of sick joke is this, Your Majesty? It's not funny."
"It's the truth," Drystan said, still indifferent. "The world was saved when you set it on fire, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio. Even though you ended up killing half of the population, it was still the best outcome that we could hope for."
Hah.
Was she supposed to be happy with that?
She waited for the King of Hell to tell her how EXACTLY did she save the world by committing mass murder.
But Drystan kept his mouth shut– a sign that he had no intention of telling her more.
"This is crazy," Neoma said, smirking bitterly. "Do you know how much guilt I have in my heart for what I did in the first timeline even though I don't exactly remember it? And here you are, telling me that I did it for the sake of the world."
"It's a shame, really," the King of Hell said, obviously unable to relate to Neoma's suffering. He was looking at her as if he couldn't understand why she was acting that way, after all. "Even though you did that for the world, it wouldn't change the fact that you still killed many living beings. Hence, I have no choice but to drag you here."
Neoma's mouth was itching to curse so she just kept quiet.
To be honest, she wasn't mad.
She was just hurt and sad that she had to become a mass murderer for the world that hadn't been kind to her in the first timeline.
[I feel so bad for the Neoma of the first timeline… she suffered a lot.]
"We don't want to hear about that crap anymore," Tteokbokki said coldly while glaring at Drystan. "Don't bully my thug princess."
Aww.
Neoma was touched by Tteokbokki's protectiveness.
"Then I'll stop talking about it," Drystan said. "Like I said earlier, I have an offer to make. Shall we talk about that now?"
Neoma let out a sigh, feeling a bit more calm now. "Alright. Go ahead."
"If you agree to save the world this time again, then we will turn a blind eye to your previous crime, Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio," Drystan said, covering his mouth when he yawned. "To be honest, I don't care if the human race perished. But I don't like the Absolute Darkness. Unfortunately, I don't have the power to stop it. Hence, I have no choice but to ask you to lend us your strength, little princess."
"Then are you saying you can bring me back to life if I agreed with your terms?"
"Not right away."
"What do you mean by that?"
"There are so many powerful gods preventing me from bringing you back to life, so I need more time."
"Gosh," Neoma complained, slamming her hands on the table. "What if my gorgeous body rots?!"
"That won't happen since your vessel is currently preserved in the ice coffin that Nero Roseheart de Moonasterio made for you," Drystan explained. "Your twin brother's ice is made of divine power. It's enough to keep your body in pristine condition."
She let out a sigh of relief. "Alright. Carry on."
"Ah, you have to know that this chance was only made possible because of your ancestors."
"My super great grandparents?"
"The ancestors you saw earlier were the ones who accumulated the most good karma points when they were still alive."
"Good karma points?"
"They could have been reincarnated, but they decided to give up their chance for a new life," Drystand said, then he pointed a lazy finger at Neoma. "All for your sake, you lucky little moon."
Neoma didn't see that coming. "My super grandparents are truly the best..."
***
Hi! Sorry for being inactive. I just had some personal stuff that I went through. I'll make it up to you starting tomorrow.
For now, let me give you a little gift.
Did you see the image attached in the comment section? ;>
We have modern Mona and Nikolai in da hauz~
I really used my savings to hire an artist to make the book cover because I want you to visualize Mona and Nikolai in a modern setting.
LOL.
ANYWAY, YES, I'M ALMOST DONE WITH THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE (AU) STORY FOR ROYAL SECRET: I'M A PRINCESS~
Since the setting is in the modern world, I had to say goodbye to Mona's pink eyes and pale blue eyes. Modern Mona is a full South Korean working mama, so I gave her light brown hair and light brown eyes.
Nikolai is half Korean-half British here, so I gave him platinum blond hair (almost close to white) and blue-gray eyes. AND PAPA BOSS IS A CHAEBOL.
Feel the Kdrama vibes soon.
Anyway, I'm almost finished with this AU.
And the main story will be told in Nikolai's POV.
Here's the teaser:
***
I WAS a horrible husband, and a scumbag father.
Having amnesia wasn't an excuse.
Even so, because of that, I lost my family at age forty.
In order to save Nero– my son and heir– I killed my daughter Neoma. And then I had to witness Mona, my neglected wife, die in front of me.
Why did I have to regain all my memories at that exact moment?
I wanted to die with Mona and Neoma.
And, just when I thought I could finally be reunited with them, I opened my eyes and realized I turned back time.
I returned at the time Mona and I were in the middle of a divorce.
Divorce?
No way in hell would Nikolai divorce Mona this time!
***
TADAAAH.
This time, it's Nikolai who turned back time to fix his mistakes.
Kekeke.
Are you excited?
Please wait a bit.
I'll be posting the AU on my Patreon account once the story is completed. Yeah, I'll be dropping the entire story/all the chapters all at once so you could read it in one sitting. :>
***
Please ADD my story to your LIBRARY to be notified when an update is posted. Thank you! :>
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢