676 SILENT ANGER

“DON’T KILL them, Grandpa,” Neoma said to Kingston gently while walking in the vast basement of the inn. “Just knock them out. You can beat the crows to a pulp, but please be gentle with the townspeople.”

Kingston growled and nodded in response.

Then the White Lion proceeded to attack the people trying to get near Neoma.

The people clad in black were obviously crows, while the townspeople looked like they would drop to death anytime.

[They’re skin and bones. I should ask Ruto to cook for them later.]

Soon, Kingston’s growl echoed in the hallway along with the painful groans of the crows and the townspeople getting knocked out one by one.

Neoma ignored them, for now, to focus on rescuing the kidnapped children of Nature.

Hence, she went down to the basement prison alone.

The prison cells on her left side were filled with fairies, while the right side was filled with the elves.

.....

[There are at least thirty fairies and thirty elves here– and they all look young.]

She wasn’t talking about the physical appearance of the “children,” of course.

Perhaps because of her Roseheart Blood, she could instinctively tell that the fairies and elves here were considered children in their respective races.

“A de Moonasterio..”

“Lady Mona’s daughter with the evil emperor..”

“Elves are said to be the most beautiful beings in the world, but why do the elves suddenly look like squids now compared to the princess?”

historical

“Shut up, you puny fairies.”

“Did we lie?”

“No, but it hurts our pride..”

“The de Moonasterios are too much. They’re already the strongest human bloodline in the world, and now they’re stealing the elves’ reputation for beauty..”

“Let’s sue them.”

Neoma stifled her laughter while listening to the fairies and elves bicker lightheartedly.

Both fairies and elves had pointed ears that if it wasn’t for the fairies’ cute size, humans would have thought they came from the same race.

[Yet they seem to bicker a lot.]

“The mermaids,” Neoma said, freezing on the spot when she noticed that there was not a single mermaid in sight. “Did they move the mermaids to somewhere with a water tank?”

SOB.

Hmm?

Neoma was surprised when the fairies and elves suddenly began sobbing. “What’s wrong?” she asked gently while looking around. She wanted to comfort both sides, but she only had one physical body. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

[I should ask Trevor to bring Greko here ASAP. We need to check on the townspeople, too.]

“Lady Mona’s daughter..”

Neoma smiled warmly at the beautiful male elf that called her. Out of all the elves there, this one seemed to have a high rank since the other elves were surrounding him protectively. “I’m Neoma Roseheart de Moonasterio. And you are..?”

The elf with gold hair and bright green eyes nodded politely before introducing himself properly. “I’m Auden, the fourth prince of the Elves.”

Ah, as expected.

[His aura really screams ‘royalty.’]

Neoma walked in front of the prison cell and nodded politely at the elf prince. “It’s a shame that we met in a place like this, but it’s still a pleasure to meet you, Prince Auden.”

“The pleasure is mine, Princess Neoma.”

[Even though you wanted to sue my family for being beautiful a moment ago..?]

She wanted to joke with the elf prince, but she knew it wasn’t right to do so. Hence, she kept quiet while waiting for him to speak again.

“Princess Neoma, there were three young mermaids that were brought here along with us,” Auden said, his voice cracking a bit. “But just after a few days with us, the men clad in black killed the mermaids. They said that every part of a mermaid’s body could be sold at a high price. Hence, they killed the mermaids and took the bodies with them..”

The loud sobbing of the young elves and fairies echoed in the entire basement.

Even Auden, who tried so hard to hold back his tears, finally broke down.

Neoma took a deep breath while clenching her hands tight until her nails dug deep into the skin of her palms.

Duckie’s adoptive family..

The young mermaids..

And people from this poor town..

Everyone died meaninglessly.

Neoma took a deep breath, then her hand moved to touch the prison bars to free the elves.

“Don’t touch it, Princess Neoma!” Auden warned her worriedly. “It’s covered with a powerful protective spell!”

She just smiled to assure the elf prince that she would be alright.

Then, without further ado, she grabbed the prison bars with her hands covered with Moonglow. She felt the protective spell that Auden mentioned get activated as soon as she touched the bars. It tried to electrocute her.

Heh.

Ruto would probably laugh if he was here.

[Ah, no. Since my man is the master of electricity and lightning, he would have been offended that the crows used such weakass voltage as a protective spell.]

Neoma, who felt like her palms were getting tickled by the electrical energy, effortlessly tear the door apart from the frame– freeing the shocked elves in the process. “You’re free now, kids,” she said, smiling at them. “Don’t worry, this place is safe now.”

The elves still looked shocked, so she excused herself to free the fairies next.

“The protective spell on the doors was strong enough to fry even the Elf King..”

“But Princess Neoma touched it like it was nothing..”

“Now I understand why the gods hated Lord Yule and Lady Roxana for creating the de Moonasterios..”

Neoma could hear the elves talking behind her, but she wasn’t in the right headspace to comprehend it.

She may look calm outside, but she was seething inside.

Hence, she mindlessly removed the prison door that entrapped the fairies as effortlessly as she did earlier.

“You’re free now, children.”

“Princess Neoma, we may be children in fairies’ years, but we’re still older than you..”

Neoma just smiled at the cute fairy.

“Shh! Shut your mouth.”

“What?”

“Can’t you see Princess Neoma’s eyes?”

“She can’t hear us.”

“The royal princess is trying her best to hold back her anger because if she exploded here, we will all die.”

“Everyone,” Neoma said, addressing everyone with a warm gaze. “You may leave this place now. You’ll probably meet the divine son of Lord Levi once you’re out. Trust and follow him– he’ll bring you to safety.”

There was an awkward silence that ensued first.

“As you command, Princess Neoma.”

It was Aude, the elf prince, who broke the silence.

After that, the elves and the fairies left the basement as fast as they could. Thankfully, that meant the children still had enough strength to move.

Once she was alone, she took a deep breath.

“Fuck.”

Neoma was aware that she couldn’t save everyone, especially those she couldn’t reach.

Even so, it still made her angry that she arrived late.

People and other beings already died.

What was the point of being this powerful when she couldn’t save those who needed her help the most?

[I keep calling the gods useless, but I’m just as useless as they are.]

Neoma took a deep breath while slapping her cheeks gently.

.....

[There’s no point in staying angry. I shouldn’t get mad– I should get even.]

“I’m surprised you haven’t blown up the entire place yet.”

Neoma turned around to face Ruto. “Did you meet the children on your way here?”

“I sent them to Jasper Hawthorne,” Ruto said. “I’m from the Eastern Continent, so I’m practically an outsider. The kidnapped children of Nature are also from the Western Continent, so it’s your duty to deal with this problem.”

She gasped when she just realized something important just now. “Eotteoke?”

He furrowed his brows, obviously confused. “What?”

“Can an empress marry a foreigner?”

“Who are you going to marry?”

“You have dual citizenship, but the nobles might use that as an excuse to not accept you as the future emperor,” she said worriedly, ignoring Ruto’s question. “You might be forced to give up your dual citizenship and choose the Western Continent as your hometown. I already feel sorry for you, babe.”

Of course, she was just messing with him since she needed to distract herself from her anger.

She wouldn’t force Ruto to give up anything against his will.

[We can compromise, or I can just change the law once I become the empress.]

Ruto, who seemed to have noticed that Neoma was trying to distract herself, raised an eyebrow before going along with her “joke.” “I’m the sole heir of the Solfrid Clan,” he said lightheartedly. “I don’t think the Eastern Continent would let the future empress of the Great Moonasterion Empire steal the Solfrid Heir from them. They’re already wary of how powerful the Western Continent is because of your bloodline, Neoma.”

“Gosh, that sounds like a ‘them’ problem,” Neoma said, shrugging. “But we should at least have two children, babe. One would become the new Solfrid Clan, and the other would inherit the throne.”

Well, if there would still be a throne to inherit.

[I’m still considering destroying the monarchy.]

“I know that we’re just messing with each other to distract you from blowing up the entire place, but you know, don’t you?” Ruto asked carefully. “As the God Slayer and the divine son of Lord Levi, I can’t have a biological child even if I want to.”

Neoma knitted her eyebrows. “Who the fuck decided that?”

And if what Ruto said was true, then what was the thing about Neoma allegedly being pregnant during the first timeline?