The Bright Moon and the First Blood
It was a night when the moon seemed brighter than usual.
Bright enough to seem as though it meant to pierce the clouds that stood in its way and blotted out the view.
And yet, for all that, it was still only the moon.
No matter how brilliantly or magnificently it shone, it could never spill enough light to drive away the darkness completely.
That was the way of nature, the logic of the world, an immutable law that could not be defied.
The moon was not brighter than the sun.
It was a fact every living thing in this world knew instinctively and accepted without question.
But—
“So she’s unharmed?”
“Yes. Her life is not in danger.”
“That’s a relief.”
The woman who had been staring out the window, lost in thought as she gazed up at the moon, let out a faint smile and turned her eyes away from it.
She reached out and patted the head of the subordinate who had knelt before her to report.
Flinch—
The subordinate, with her long hair tied up, shuddered in surprise the moment her superior’s hand touched her head.
To the woman, the reaction looked rather cute.
“Don’t be so tense, Seline. It’s not like this was your fault.”
“But still….”
Seline seemed unable to decide how to respond to her boss’s unexpectedly gentle attitude, and fidgeted in place.
She had probably expected to be punished or reprimanded.
“Seline. Look up.”
“Yes.”
At her boss’s kind voice, Seline naturally lifted her head and looked up.
Their boss, lit by the unusually bright moonlight tonight, seemed even more beautiful than usual.
Her snow-white hair, grown so long that it reached past her chest and down toward her waist, seemed almost to shine under the moonlight.
It was dazzling to the point that Seline could hardly look straight at her.
In the end, unable to endure the brilliance, she lowered her gaze.
At that, her boss gave a soft snort of laughter.
It wasn’t mockery.
It was a laugh born purely of affection for her subordinate.
“So, have you figured out who the intruder was?”
“They haven’t caught them yet. Since no trace was left behind, it seems they were no ordinary person.”
“Hmm. Well, of course. Ordinary people wouldn’t have the guts to slip into the Bernice Empire’s imperial palace, stab the princess, and get away.”
“Yes, that’s right. The humans are investigating separately as well, but there’s still nothing to show for it.”
At her boss’s next question, Seline straightened herself and reported the information she had prepared.
The so-called princess assassination incident, which had taken place during the Bernice Empire’s founding anniversary ceremony.
Because of it, the empire was in an uproar.
The Bernice Empire’s imperial security, famous for being airtight, had been breached, allowing an enemy to infiltrate.
Worse, the intruder had not only attacked the princess but had also managed to escape without leaving the slightest trace.
And all of this had happened during the empire’s founding ceremony.
As a result, every event had been canceled, and the imperial family, furious to the point of madness, was using every means at its disposal to search for the intruder.
The humans connected to Seline were doing the same.
Their search had a different purpose from the empire’s, but in the end, they were still investigating with complete seriousness.
“Huuuuh. At that point, they’ll never find them.”
“I’ll do my best. If possible, I’d like to go to the scene myself and….”
“Seline.”
At her boss’s voice, Seline stopped speaking and once again lifted her head.
Her boss had already turned back to the window and was looking out at the moon again.
“The moon is bright tonight, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Seline looked at the moon shining beyond her boss.
It wasn’t even a full moon, yet it was certainly brighter than usual.
“Pretty. Someday….”
“…”
At her boss’s words, Seline once again found herself unable to speak.
Her gaze remained fixed on the bright moon and would not move.
Seline waited in silence for what her boss would say next.
For a brief moment, silence hung between them.
“That’s all thanks to Seline working so hard, isn’t it?”
Her boss’s voice followed, soft and warm.
“Y-yes?”
Seline stammered, caught off guard by the completely unrelated remark.
What did the moon being bright and pretty have to do with her working hard?
She was still struggling to make sense of it, but her boss looked entirely unconcerned.
The woman continued speaking with an even brighter smile than before.
“Don’t overdo it. Just keep watching her carefully, the way you have been. Honestly, this might even be for the best. The empire will tighten Princess 3’s security even further from now on.”
“Yes!”
“The plan will change a little, but nothing really changes. We just wait until the ‘blood’ inside her awakens, then take it. Understood?”
“Yes, understood.”
Even with the abrupt change in topic, Seline followed along and answered without missing a beat.
She was used to her boss’s way of speaking by now.
“Then go. I’ll explain the details later. And be careful, always, all right?”
“Thank you for your consideration, Lady Arcana!”
With one last bow, Seline lowered her head even further in farewell to her boss, Arcana, and vanished from the spot.
Arcana watched the place where Seline had disappeared for a while, then turned back to the window.
The unusually bright moon remained where it was and had no intention of disappearing.
The plan doesn’t change.
Looking up at the moon, Arcana thought as if speaking to herself.
There had been a close call, but in the end, so long as she remained alive, the plan would not change.
Compared to all the time Arcana had spent enduring and waiting until now, a sudden adjustment to the plan meant nothing at all.
“...Still, I do prefer the moon. Heh.”
Arcana closed her eyes and smiled, feeling the moonlight spill over her face.
She waited for the day when that moonlight, which was practically everything to her, would one day replace even the sun.
*
The flood of sudden, astonishing information left me unable to feel it properly.
The questions why and how kept surfacing in my mind, but I knew full well they were meaningless.
If I started there, I’d have to begin with the fact that I’d died and been reborn in this body.
To put it simply, this was the situation.
Silvia Bernice—my fiancée, my beloved Silvia—was a person who possessed the First Blood.
And that concept, this First Blood, was unfamiliar to me as a human, but well known among demons—especially intelligent ones.
It was said to be the blood of the Creator, the being who had created the Majest continent.
If one took that blood, one would inherit the Creator’s power, a power so omnipotent it could bring forth a continent.
I had no idea why such an absurd, impossible level of power flowed through Silvia.
“How did you find that out?”
“I’ve been investigating for some time.”
Sophia said that and placed a stack of papers on the table.
At a glance, it was an enormous amount of material.
Even from a brief look, I could see that some of it was very old.
The woman sitting calmly before me, speaking in an even tone, was Sophia Meyer.
She had brown hair the same shade as Kabin’s, worn neatly, and red eyes like mine.
As expected, she too was a vampire.
Not one who had lived inside the demon realm like Kabin, but one who had lived among humans from an early age.
I had already known through a broker that vampires were hidden among humans, but still, it was a shock.
Never would have guessed that the lord of a city would be a vampire.
Hailon, the capital of the Bernice Empire.
And Schupelben, the city located nearby.
Sophia Meyer was the lord of Schupelben.
The lord of Schupelben, who used the family name “Medeir” instead of “Meyer.”
“I see. You really did investigate thoroughly.”
“According to legend, the First Blood possesses the potential to literally reshape the world. That’s one of the reasons countless demons risk everything to live among humans.”
“So that’s what it was.”
I had thought the reason the demons in the demon realm came into the human world through brokers was simply because life there was too difficult.
But apparently, there had been another reason as well.
“At this point, the First Blood inside Princess 3 has yet to awaken. That’s why nothing happened even when Lord Evan took her blood.”
“…”
The memory I didn’t want to recall flashed through my head.
I was calmer than I’d been when I first woke up, but it was still a memory that left my heart sinking.
“So that’s why you said it was dangerous.”
“Exactly. If I was able to uncover Princess 3’s identity….”
“Then other demons would know as well.”
“Precisely.”
Then was my death related to that too?
As my thoughts continued, they naturally arrived there.
Maybe Evan Erche’s death had also been connected to the First Blood flowing through Silvia’s body.
But the ones who killed me were definitely my comrades—humans.
Of course, there was no proof.
It could simply be that, while listening to this absurd yet real story, my imagination had become more vivid than usual.
“I... see.”
I’d more or less sorted it out.
Why Silvia would still not be safe even if I died and disappeared.
Why I had gone berserk after seeing Silvia’s blood and failed to restrain myself.
It was all because of the First Blood still dormant within Silvia’s blood.
Which meant that even if I were gone, Silvia would not be free from danger.
So that’s why Sophia said only I could protect Silvia.
I stared wordlessly at Sophia, who sat quietly sipping her tea.
Even so, something about it felt unnatural.
How had Sophia figured out that I meant to protect Silvia, rather than take her?
She sat there with the same composed expression as before, as if she had said everything she intended to say.
“What did you mean when you said only I could protect Silvia?”
Sophia answered as if she had been waiting for that question.
“There’s no creature in this world that could possibly defeat a Lord, Lord Evan.”
Sophia said it with such certainty that it was as though the word “doubt” didn’t even exist in her vocabulary.
Kabin, who had been sitting nearby listening in silence, nodded vigorously along with her.
But unlike the boundless trust of the two of them, I couldn’t trust myself.
Throb—
The memory and sensation alone felt as though they were gouging out my chest.
I was the one who had driven Silvia to the brink of death with my own hands.
“Lord Evan.”
It was Sophia who broke the silence again.
“While you were unconscious, Kabin told me everything. That in that short span of time, you subdued the wolf and the serpent and came here.”
At Sophia’s words, Kabin nodded furiously with exaggerated gestures.
To me now, it was all meaningless.
“As a member of the Meyer family, and as a woman who once had everything taken from her by a serpent, the kindness you’ve already shown me is more than enough. No matter what you do from here on out, Lord Evan—”
Sophia stopped there and looked straight at me, her eyes shining.
There was no mistaking the sincerity in her gaze.
“I will follow you.”
As though making the same vow, Kabin looked straight at me too.
His eyes, as well, were alight with genuine loyalty.
It was the same fervent look I had often seen in knights when I was commander of the imperial order.
In other words, these two meant every word of it.
“Even if that means protecting the First Blood instead of taking it.”
Sophia finished with a slight smile.