Chapter 77 - I'M NEOMA, I'M OKAY

"YOUR ROYAL Highness, I have arrived," Madam Hammock said while bowing to her. After Lewis arrested Duke Drayton (who surprisingly didn't make a scene), she asked her butler to summon Madam Hammock. "I'm humbly waiting for your order."

"Treat Rubin's wounds," Neoma said to the Healing Sage. "Make sure not even a scratch would remain."

Rubin looked surprised.

But even though the young lord looked relieved, she could still see in his eyes that he was worried about his father.

She would never understand why victims of abuse still felt attached to their abuser. But she would try her best not to be condescending to them. After all, they were fighting battles that she didn't know about.

"Sir Rubin, please take a seat and let me look at your wounds," Madam Hammock said. "And please take off your shirt."

Rubin's face turned red. "I-I'm okay. I can treat my wounds on my own."

That was only proof that it wasn't the first time that the young lord had to treat himself after getting beaten up by the cruel duke.

"Let Madam Hammock do her job," she said to Rubin in a cold voice. "I'll leave the room. Call me when you're done."

Before either of Rubin and Madam Hammock could give a response, she already turned her back on them. Then, she quickly and quietly left the room. She already asked the servants of Duke Drayton to leave her palace if they didn't want to be thrown to jail too.

Lewis greeted her when she got out of Rubin's room. She didn't want to breakdown in that place so she walked past him. In fact, she walked faster until she reached her study room. As soon as she entered her room, she fell on her knees while catching her breath.

"Princess…?" Lewis asked worriedly, then he knelt beside her while looking at her face. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "I f*cked up, Lewis. I overstepped my boundary. Papa Boss will surely kill me."

"I won't let His Majesty kill you, Princess Neoma."

She turned to her son and smiled at him.

Her situation didn't change but she was glad that she had Lewis by her side. She knew that she could trust him with her life.

"Lewis, I let my emotions take over," she said to him seriously. "I made a huge mistake. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

He nodded. "Arresting the duke."

"Very good," she said with a firm nod. "There isn't a strong law in the empire that protects children from their abusive parents. If I don't come up with a valid reason for having the duke arrested, I'm dead." She grabbed her hair in frustration. "Gosh, this is why I hate feelings!"

She got very emotional a while ago because she witnessed how Rubin was beaten up by his own father. Even though Rubin hurt her in the past, she just couldn't simply watch a child get physically abused in front of her and do nothing.

"There are other ways to deal with Duke Drayton," she said, admitting her mistake. "It's so not like me to commit such mistake."

"It's okay."

She turned to Lewis with an irritated look on his face. "It's okay that I made a mistake because I let my f*cking emotions get the better of me?"

"You'll not learn if you don't make mistakes."

"And what lesson should I learn from this?"

Lewis shrugged. "Your arrogance will be your downfall?"

She wanted to snap at her son but she realized that he was right.

Well, she had really been too arrogant recently because she got away with the troubles that she had made in the past. Plus, because of her memories of her past lives, she had been too confident and reckless. She forgot that no matter how ridiculous the laws and the traditions in the empire were for her, in the end, they were still the norm here.

"But it's okay because you're Princess Neoma," Lewis said with enough confidence to make her feel better. "Most of all, you've already punched and cursed His Majesty. If those things didn't get you in serious trouble, nothing else would do so."

Neoma couldn't help but laugh. Ah, finally, she could breathe properly again. "You're right, Lewis," she said with renewed confidence. "I'm Neoma, I'm okay."

***

NEOMA already expected that she'd be summoned in Emperor Nikolai's office.

So when Glenn fetched her from her study room, she was already prepared to face her Papa Boss. But she'd admit that she got a bit intimidated when he asked Sir Glenn and Lewis to leave the two of them in the office. Usually, he didn't mind their knights. But if he asked them to give them privacy, it felt like she was in trouble for real.

Plus, he looks really mad.

"I heard that you got Duke Drayton arrested," her Papa Boss said seriously. "Give me a valid reason for doing so, Neoma."

"Duke Drayton is an abuser," Neoma said firmly. God, the fact that she was standing in front of the emperor's desk already felt like she was being punished. No tea for problem children, huh? "He deserves to rot in jail." Before her father could even complain, she spoke again. "Papa Boss, do you know that the duke is physically hurting Rubin?"

He gave her a silence that sounded like 'yes.'

"You're just as horrible as the duke, do you know that?"

"That's how most nobles raise their heir apparent," her father insisted. "Didn't I make you consume poison in the past so you'd build immunity against it? It's just the same."

"Yes, both of you are douchebag dads," she said bluntly. "No wonder this empire produces the same type of misogynistic bastards every generation."

"Neoma de Moonasterio."

"Emperor Nikolai de Moonasterio," she said firmly with clenched fists. "I admit that getting Duke Drayton arrested was a mistake. But my intention is clear: I want a law that will protect the children."

"A crown prince doesn't make laws."

"I know that, duh," she said. "I didn't say that I'll be the one to make it. I can just use my position to influence the people who make the law in our empire, including you."

The House of Lords and the House of Commons make the laws, but it was the emperor who legitimizes them via Royal Assent. Of course, that meant her father also had the power to reject the proposed law.

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Neoma, do you want to get involved in politics now? If you were Nero, I wouldn't mind. But I'm afraid that you're overstepping your boundary as a mere replacement for your twin brother."

"Whether I like it or not, a royal princess like me has to be involved in politics, Papa Boss."

Yes, she just accepted the fact that she couldn't turn a blind eye anymore.

But she wasn't giving up on her dream to become a lady of leisure. She just thought that she had to work hard first before living an easy life.

"But don't worry,��� she assured the emperor. "My heart hasn't wavered yet: I am not interested in the throne."

"Then, why do you care that much about this empire?"

"I don't care about this empire," she denied strongly. "I care about the children. Unlike you, I still have a heart. At least let me protect the children without being threatened by my potential. Plus, you're the emperor. All you have to do is to protect the law that forbids a princess to take the throne. Easy, right?"

"I know that you're not interested in the throne, Neoma," he said. "But I'm not the only one who knows your secret. Can you convince people like Kyle that you're not trying to take the throne from your brother?"

"I'll be extra careful," she assured him. "I'll clean my own mess, Papa Boss."

"Does it mean you'll deal with Duke Drayton yourself?"

"Yes."

"You're not going to bring up the law about protecting the children in his face, are you?"

"I won't," she promised him. "I know it's not the time to do that."

He glared at her. "That implies that you're still planning to make that law happen."

She smiled brightly at him.

Now was the time to put the memories of her first life to good use. Before the incident with Duke Drayton, she only used the memories of her past to avoid the misfortunes that would come her way. But this time, she had other use for them.

"Papa Boss, you're a bad father but you're a good emperor," she said with her self-declared infamous business smile. She didn't mean that her Papa Boss was good as in kind. What she meant was he was a good leader. Under her father's reign, the empire had flourished more than ever. "I know that you won't reject a law that will protect the children of the empire."

She knew because during her first life, when she turned fifteen, he signed a law that would protect children from abuse. And she clearly remembered the incident that made him decide to push for that law to happen. Guess what she's going to do with that information?

"Neoma, your coronation is next month," Emperor Nikolai reminded her sternly. "I will the matter with Duke Drayton in your hands. But make sure that it won't ruin your position as the crown prince or else…"

"Or else, I can kiss my dream of becoming a lady of leisure goodbye," Neoma finished her father's sentence with a smile. "I'll go ahead, Papa Boss."

***

TO BE HONEST, Neoma was still unsure if she could really pull it off.

By that, she meant the thing about the law that she wanted to be legitimized earlier than it did in her first life.

What am I working hard for?

Before facing Duke Drayton, she decided to go to the pavilion in the pond first to clear her mind. She wanted to make sure that she wasn't just being impulsive. That she wouldn't regret the three big decisions that she made today.

So here she was now, squatting in the center of the pavilion while hugging her knees tight.

"Princess Neoma, are you okay?"

Neoma turned to Lewis and found her in the same pose as she was. "I'm okay. But starting today, we'll be very busy, Lewis."

Lewis blinked as if he was confused.

"We're going to look for the youngest duke in the empire."

"Why?"

"Because he's the one who's going to create the law that will protect the children of the empire," she said confidently. "Thanks to his "discovery," both the nobles and the commoners would demand for the lawmakers to pass a law that will give proper protection to the children."

In her past life, the incident that she mentioned happened when she was fifteen. So that meant it was supposed to happen in this lifetime seven years from now. But if she would be able to find the youngest duke, then they might change the present.

I don't mind changing my fate. But the fact that the fate of other people are now in my hands, I feel scared. What if I mess up?

But despite her fear, she had already made up her mind.

The first decision that she made was to fulfill her duty as a royal princess even though it would be credited to Nero in the future.

Second, she decided to use the memories of her first life to change the present.

And lastly…

"Princess Neoma, why do you sound so sure about what's going to happen in the future?" Lewis, who was quiet but sharp, asked curiously. "Have you seen a prophecy or something?"

"Lewis, this isn't the first time that I'm living this life as Neoma de Moonasterio," Neoma said seriously. Lewis, on the other hand, remained pokerfaced. It was hard to read her son's emotions but she continued with her confession anyway. "Will you believe me if I say that I was reborn into this lifetime?"

Yes, the last big decision that she made today was to reveal her "royal secret" to Lewis.

***

NOTE: Hi! This is a gentle reminder to please be kind when asking for more updates. I received some comments that sound rude while demanding for me to post more chapters. I'm sorry but I'm really busy because I have a job + I've already mentioned that my mother is sick. I'm sorry for the slow updates. I'm trying to post daily. Hoping for your kind understanding. Thank you. ^_^

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