2
Night fell.
The curtain of black smoothly descended upon the bright blue skies, reaching the horizon. Now was time for the moon to shine brightly. She had been taught as a child that night was nothing to be frightened of. The radiant moon in the night sky was sure to keep her safe.
They were the family under the moon’s protection. That was what she had been taught about the Zoa family and what she had grown up to believe.
……But now what will I do?
……I can’t believe that anymore. Even if I want to, I’m so scared of the night that I can’t.
And it was all that person’s fault.
“I will let you listen to the requiem of the planet.”
“Guh.”
Her entire body shuddered; then Kissing was struck with full-body shivers.
She’d recalled it all over again. The Lou family’s First Princess Elletear… The sound of the monster’s voice. She could tell through her special eyes—unique eyes that contained her astral crest—she could see the flow of astral energy.
The Revered Founder: Greater than anyone else’s. Ferocious. A storm.
The Lord: Small but magnificent. An extensive mountain.
Aliceliese: Large. Beautiful. An ice flower.
Mizerhyby: Large. Brilliant. The sun.
Sisbell: Small. Fleeting. Fluorescent.
And the astral corps: Very small. Each slightly different.
But hers was bad. The power surging from Elletear’s entire body had transformed into something that was no longer astral energy.
It was something absolutely wicked.
The closest she could describe it was as a reaper, as a nightmare. Simply seeing it had made her feel the specter of death.
However…
She was still alive.
Why?
Was it because she was strong? It wasn’t that.
Had she been saved by someone else?
Had Elletear let her go?
No.
She’d been protected.
“Uncle…”
The floor was cold.
She crawled along the nearly pitch-black room. On a bed in the corner of the room was a man on a respirator.
He had a large burn mark on the right side of his face.
She’d been told it was from a wound he’d suffered while young in a battle against the Imperial forces. It was painful to look at, and so, as a member of the royal family and someone who was very visible to the public eye, he had covered it with an extravagant mask. And out of a sense of satire, he had begun to go by another name after that—Lord Mask.
Now his face was bare. Showing it to the Imperial forces was likely a humiliation he would have died rather than have happen. But without taking it off, he could not be on the respirator.
“Uncle…”
She caressed his scar. She imagined him waking up—Stop that, Kissing, he’d say—but he didn’t. She knew such a vain hope was too convenient to come true.
He wouldn’t open his eyes.
In that moment, all the Zoa’s elite forces present at the checkpoint should have been incapacitated.
But…
“I will let you listen to the requiem of the planet.”
“Run, Kissing! You have to—”
Lord Mask On’s astral power was Gate.
Before the witch Elletear could use her Planet’s Requiem, a teleportation gate had opened in front of Kissing. And then everything had gone dark…
Before she realized it, she was alone and far away from everyone else, and they had all fallen over.
“…Uh…why…?” She began to sob. “Uncle…Uncle…you could have escaped, too, couldn’t you…?”
One person could escape—he could have escaped on his own.
“You did this to save me… You sacrificed yourself…”
Noon had passed; then night arrived.
Even if she waited until morning, she knew he wouldn’t wake. Not ever.
“I’m sorry!”
The dam broke.
In the hazy light, the beautiful girl’s eyes welled with giant tears that began to fall.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, sorry, sorry… I—I was too weak! It must have hurt. You must still be hurting…but I…I can’t do anything!”
She realized she was powerless.
She had been applauded for her wonderful powers. She’d been lionized as someone fit to be queen, but she was painfully aware of just how weak she was.
And…
She had understood one other thing.
“Uncle…I realized…that something as frightening as this could exist…”
Was it the monster?
The fear from facing death?
No, not those.
“I’m afraid…of being alone…”
Lord Mask remained on the bed. No matter how she called him or caressed his scar, he did not wake. He could no longer say her name. And he would not pat her head anymore.
The moment she realized that, she understood. More than the despair of not being able to defeat the witch Elletear, more than the fear of facing death…
“I’m frightened of being alone. I don’t want a world without you, Uncle…”
More than death and more than anything, she feared the thought of being alone forever.
“You may be upset with me, Uncle…”
She held the hand of the man who had lost his mask. With her trembling hands, she gripped his.
“I do not have the option to choose. No matter what I need to do…I will get revenge for you.”
The dark clouds parted.
In the observation room, under the piercing moonlight, the princess of the moon lifted her face.
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