17. When the Blue Moon Rises (2)
Bang!
“Your Majesty…?”
Riyan turned his head in shock.
With the blue moon in the background, Lescal wore a grotesquely twisted expression. Seeing no one else around, it was clear he had dismissed the guards on purpose.
“It’s the Blue Moon! Shouldn’t you be spending it with Her Majesty the Empress?”
Riyan was currently under house arrest in the imperial palace.
Though it wasn’t intentional, he had to face punishment after the Empress had an accident and fell into the water.
Because of that damn bird, he’d momentarily lost focus and made a mistake. Though calling it a mistake felt unjust.
Who could’ve predicted that a school of fish would crash into the boat just as he was about to jump?
Still, it was his fault, so he accepted the one-month prohibition order without complaint. Thankfully, Lescal was fairly lenient with the shadow knights, so he could still hunt birds during the day. That was a small blessing.
“…I’m angry.”
“Pardon?”
Drip, drip.
Blood dripped from the corner of Lescal’s lips onto the carpet.
Wiping his lips with his fist, Lescal spoke quietly.
“Because of what I did.”
“Ah… You mean Her Majesty the Empress?”
Riyan quickly rushed over to support Lescal by the shoulder, catching the blood with his own clothes.
“…No. Did you really send her away? Even knowing it’s the Blue Moon? Does Her Majesty not have a heart? Even if she were a complete stranger, no one would do something like this!”
As he dragged Lescal toward the bedroom, Riyan couldn’t stop fuming.
“Riyan.”
Lescal came to a stop.
“Yes, Your Maj—”
“Show respect when you speak of the Empress.”
“Ah… Yes, Your Majesty?”
Riyan looked puzzled.
The Blue Moon had risen. Lescal was coughing blood. It meant his insides were beginning to twist and tear apart.
And yet he still had the mind to talk about respect for the Empress?
“I…”
Cough!
Just then, Lescal spat out a mouthful of blood. This time, it was mixed with clots.
“I’ll move you first, Your Majesty.”
Riyan quickly helped Lescal onto the bed. He opened the drawers in the bedroom, pulling out medicine bottles at random and pouring them into Lescal’s mouth.
They were a mix of opiates—painkillers and sleeping agents.
He had no idea if they’d work. He just hoped they’d lessen the pain even a little.
“Should I tie you down?”
After emptying every bottle, Riyan ran around the room, closing the windows and locking them tightly.
“…No need. I won’t last long anyway.”
Lescal’s clothes were already soaked in blood. He must’ve coughed up more while they talked.
“Then what can I do for you? Please, say the word.”
At times like this, Riyan was consumed by his own powerlessness—and overwhelmed with hatred toward the Empress.
Now that there was a faint hope she might be the real one after all, it was worse. She had the power to control the demon blood, yet she turned a blind eye and let him suffer.
He wanted to drag her here if he had to, lock her in this room with Lescal.
“If Your Majesty allows, I will go bring the Empress.”
“Permission denied. Get out.”
“…Your Majesty.”
“Get out.”
“……”
Riyan bit his lip hard.
But he could not disobey an imperial command.
“Lock the door tightly. So I don’t run off looking for her.”
“…As you wish.”
With teeth marks on his lips, Riyan left the room.
Just as ordered, he locked the bedroom with three iron bars and wrapped it in chains. Then he collapsed on the floor outside.
“Damn it.”
He grabbed his hair like he meant to rip it out. The moonlight pouring in from the demon realm was cruelly blue tonight.
From inside the tightly sealed bedroom, Lescal’s groans echoed faintly. Every time they did, Riyan tore at his hair. Then, suddenly, he leapt to his feet.
“…No. I can’t take this.”
Riyan dashed toward the Empress’s palace.
Tap tap.
“…Huh?”
Tap tap.
Rasilia stirred from light sleep at the sound tapping against her window.
A black shadow was peeking in from outside.
“Ah… It’s you.”
—Yes, yes. Open the window. Please open it.
“One second.”
She got out of bed and looked for her shoes. As she put them on, she remembered taking them off earlier and instinctively flinched.
“What brings you here?”
It was the black bird.
—This. This.
The bird nudged something onto the window sill with its beak.
“What is it?”
Without thinking, she picked it up. It was a red-tinted stone. Shockingly similar to the red egg she’d seen in her dream.
Startled, Rasilia asked,
“What is this? Don’t tell me it’s actually an egg?”
—Keep it. Keep it safe.
“Answer me. Is it an egg?”
—Don’t know. I don’t know.
“Then why bring it?”
—Returning it. It was here originally.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
The bird rolled its eyes and shook its head violently.
—Don’t know. It was here. That woman stole it.
“You mean someone stole it? Who is she?”
The bird let out a long sigh, looking strangely weary.
—That woman. That human. She’s a nuisance.
“A nuisance?”
—Yes, yes. Always a nuisance. So we can’t come anymore.
“You can’t come? What are you talking about?”
—Even if you call, we can’t come. That woman is bad. We can’t come.
Just as it said that—
Bang bang!
“Your Majesty the Empress. I’m coming in.”
Shadow Knight Riyan knocked at the door.
Flap!
In the same moment, the black bird flew away.
“Riyan. I don’t think I can turn a blind eye to this.”
Before Riyan could open the door, Serven stepped in front of it.
When Rasilia opened the door, she found the two shadow knights standing across from each other, eyes locked.
Even without weapons, the tension between them felt like drawn swords.
“His Majesty ordered me to protect the Empress. I imagine you were given a similar order. Return to the imperial palace.”
“I’m not disobeying orders.”
Riyan looked past Serven’s shoulder, locking eyes with Rasilia.
“I’m here to plead with Her Majesty. If she chooses to go on her own, His Majesty can’t stop her.”
“And you think what you’re doing counts as pleading?”
“It’s not like I’m here to threaten Her Majesty with a blade. I don’t even have a weapon.”
“Oh sure. You don’t have a weapon. But you’re not a different person either.”
“Just let me through, okay? Let me plead my case.”
“Sorry, I can’t trust you. And I doubt His Majesty would either.”
Shing!
Serven drew his sword.
“Your Majesty the Empress, please go back inside. I’ll send Riyan away.”
Riyan let out a dry chuckle.
“You might want to stay back. I’m in a state where I don’t see anything right now, and when I’m like this, Serven’s no match for me. We’ll just break the door for nothing.”
Serven clicked his tongue.
“He’s exaggerating. I can hold him off until the guards arrive.”
“Don’t believe his bravado, Your Majesty. Trust him, and you’ll regret it.”
It was hard to tell whether the twin knights were about to fight or showing off how close they were.
Still, Rasilia wasn’t the type to just stand back while people drew swords over her.
“Put the weapons down. I’ll listen to what this is about.”
At that, Riyan snapped.
“You mean to tell me you don’t know what this is about? The Blue Moon has risen!”
“So? What is it you want from me?”
“Hah. Are you really going to keep up this ‘amnesia’ act? Pretending you’ve forgotten everything that happens under the Blue Moon? Pretending you don’t know anything?”
She knew.
She was beginning to understand why the knight had come running with wild eyes.
And that was the problem.
Knowing, yet being powerless to do anything.
“Was I like this even before I lost my memories?”
Rasilia forced herself to sound calm.
She pitied the pain the Emperor was going through. But if the Empress had lost her mark, perhaps she hadn’t been the true mate to begin with.
No matter how sorry she felt, there was nothing she could do. Just as the former Empress, who had claimed to love him to death, had done nothing either.
“Did you come to my chambers every Blue Moon for four years, pounding on the door to pull me out?”
“That was different.”
“How so?”
“Back then, His Majesty didn’t want it either… Damn it, can’t you just fulfill your duty as Empress? You’ve played the part in every other way—can’t you at least act like the Empress today?”
“I…”
If her memories returned, then she would.
That was what she and His Majesty had agreed.
It wasn’t something Riyan had any say in.
That’s what she wanted to say.
But her conscience weighed too heavily.
“I…”
Just then—
Crash!
A massive, terrifying sound of something breaking echoed through the palace.
“Who’s there?!”
Serven shouted down the corridor.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew through, and all the lamps and candles lighting the hallway were snuffed out.
The only light came from the unnaturally blue moonlight spilling from the demon realm, warping the entire space.
“I said, who’s there?!”
Riyan stopped Serven from running forward.
“Give me your sword. You stay and protect the Empress.”
Serven silently handed it over. With sword drawn, Riyan dashed into the warped darkness.
“Don’t move.”
Serven placed himself between Rasilia and the hallway.
“An intruder?”
It wasn’t uncommon, even in smaller kingdoms like Dellarta. In an empire, it would be worse.
But it was rare to have one this loud and open.
“At this point, I can’t be sure. But…”
Serven tilted his jaw thoughtfully.
“…I don’t think it’s human.”
“Not human?”
“With His Majesty and Riyan both here, no human would dare come charging in like that.”
“Then…?”
In the next moment, the intruder’s identity revealed itself.
Thud!
“Urgh!”
Riyan, who had dashed into the darkness, was flung back and landed at Serven’s feet.
“Riyan? Riyan!”
Serven’s eyes widened in disbelief. Riyan clutched a broken sword in his bloodied right hand.
“Snap out of it, Riyan! What happened?!”
Serven helped him up.
In the meantime, the intruder stepped out of the darkness.
Just as Serven said—it wasn’t human.
Its hands, revealed through torn clothes, were covered in black scales. Crimson claws jutted out like blades, dripping blood.
Its half-melted face was soaked in blood. Fragments of bone jutted through the skin.
“Damn it! Your Majesty the Empress! Get back!”
Serven dropped Riyan and charged forward with the broken sword.
It was useless.
Crash!
Weapon or not, the intruder barreled past Serven—no, it was so fast it only looked like it passed by. In truth, Serven’s body was slammed into the opposite wall.
In the next instant, the not-human intruder stood right before her.
“…!”
She couldn’t even scream. Because of those eyes.
“Your Majesty…?”
No matter how changed he looked, those golden eyes were unmistakable.
“Ah…”
…Drip.
Like an answer, the transformed Emperor tilted his head. As their foreheads touched, he wrapped both arms around her tightly.
He leaned heavily against Rasilia.
“Urgh, heavy—”
Thud!
The two of them collapsed to the floor, locked in each other’s arms like a single body.
