Second day of The Moon Flower Festival (2)
Luna blinked and turned to look at the woman who had suddenly approached her along with Anne. The woman introduced herself as a witch helping Ghea, and then they performed a teleportation spell. Now, Luna found herself in an empty house located in a corner of the city. She felt confused, but perhaps this was part of Ghea’s plan after reading her letter.
Luna sat down on an old wooden chair and sighed deeply. Her dark brown eyes gazed at the woman who had helped her, and she asked, “May I know your name?”
“Beth.”
“Okay, so, um… Beth, where is Ghea?”
Beth didn’t answer; instead, she started chanting a spell over a crystal ball not far from them. Curious about the crystal ball, Luna slowly approached, then blinked when she saw Ghea’s face in it. “Ghea?”
“Luna! Thank goodness Beth brought you. Thank you for sending that warning letter.”
Luna nodded. “So, what’s going on? Didn’t we just meet last night? Why did you contact me again and request this meeting?”
“The Emperor has captured the witch who was going to help you return.”NôvelDrama.Org owns this text.
“What?”
“Yes, and she is being held in a secret underground prison. You know what I mean, right?”
“The prison where… all the prisoners are killed by the Emperor himself?”
Ghea nodded and murmured, “We must rescue her immediately, and only you can do that, Luna.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m currently hiding. Sometime after your maid arrived, a few knights entered the shop. Luckily, there’s a secret door in the shop, and the shop owner kindly helped me.”
Luna glanced at Beth with a doubtful look, and as if understanding, Ghea explained, “Beth is a student of the witch who was going to help us. She suggested the plan for me to meet you now.”
“Ghea, I don’t know where that prison is. How can I rescue the witch?”
“You have to find its location. Tonight is the full moon. You know what that means, right? I guess the legend of the full moon and werewolves exists in your world, too.” Luna’s face paled at Ghea’s words. She knew exactly what she meant. On a full moon night, the wolf side of werewolves would dominate and take over their bodies, turning them into half-human, half-wolf beings with their strength at its peak.
They would become more aggressive, temperamental, sensitive, and ferocious, essentially more like bloodthirsty monsters hunting humans. “If the case with regular werewolves is already very dangerous, you know what effect it has on Lycans? The reason why the secret prison and those rumors exist.”
Luna bit her lower lip and nodded in understanding, but where was she supposed to find the prison’s location if it was all just a rumor? Luna didn’t know, and she suddenly felt trapped in a difficult position, wanting to lock herself in a bathroom with a shower and bathtub. She missed her world and her life, but why was the journey to return to all that so hard? “Luna?”
“I…” Luna swallowed hard.
“Let me be the bait,” Beth suddenly said. Luna looked at the young woman in disbelief. “I will make two rings that can emit light to a specific person. These rings will be connected and will show the way to the other ring’s owner.”
“Like connecting rings?”
“No. I can’t. I don’t want to involve-”
“Luna!” Ghea suddenly shouted, cutting off Luna’s refusal with an angry expression. “Isn’t this what you want? You want to go back, right? Don’t waste any opportunity! If you want to achieve everything, cast aside your doubts. Don’t be a coward!”
“Ghea, why are you…?”
Ghea sighed loudly. “You want to go home, right? The journey you are taking to achieve your desire is not easy. You have to sacrifice many things to reach it.”
Then, Ghea looked at Beth, who was standing behind Luna. “Beth. Please do it. Make something with connecting magic. If possible, make the item you give to Luna not attract the Emperor’s attention. You know that besides the Emperor and a Lycan, he is the greatest Wizard.”
“You… how do you know?”
“The dark witch who will help us.”
“Alright,” Beth responded and started chanting a spell. Luna watched Beth work, and it didn’t take long before two inconspicuous items were in the woman’s hands. Beth wore one item, a ring, and then gave the other item to Luna, a very small red gemstone.
Luna looked at the gemstone in her hand and stared at Beth in confusion. “You can keep this gemstone in your pocket, slip it into your clothes, or set it in your jewelry. It’s just a regular gemstone, but at night, it will emit a thread of light that will guide you to me. And Luna…” Beth then approached and knelt before Luna, reaching for her leg and examining one of the anklets there, a gift from Alkrevas.
“Do you know the function of this anklet?” Luna shook her head. “This anklet has a tracking spell and also a limiting spell.”
“A limiting spell?”
“Luna, do you know one of the advantages of a soulmate pair?” Ghea suddenly asked. Luna paused for a moment and listed the advantages of soulmates she knew from books. “Luna, it’s more than that. Soulmates are connected through their souls. This means the Emperor can read your thoughts and your heart. You can even meet in dreams.”
“What?”
“Yes, and it seems the Emperor uses the limiting spell to minimize his chance of reading your thoughts and heart.” Luna turned pale at Beth’s explanation. “Its function is like a dividing wall. Actually, your mind can form a wall to prevent your soulmate from entering. Still, it seems he deliberately didn’t tell you anything.”
“It’s for his benefit, Beth.”
“The limiting spell is currently inactive, which means His Majesty the Emperor is monitoring you through your thoughts.”
“What should I do?” DAMN EMPEROR! Luna shouted in her heart, and for some reason, she hoped Alkrevas heard her curse, “Is there a way?”
“It’s simple. You just need to imagine a very tall and strong wall surrounding you that no one can break. If you succeed, then you’ve created a barrier.” Luna nodded in understanding. “What about me? Can I read his thoughts?”
Beth shook her head. “If you were a werewolf or another creature, maybe, but you are just a mortal. However, you can feel his mood, his emotions, and feelings. You just need to imagine the bond connecting the two of you.”
“The mate bond?”
Beth nodded. “And imagine you are touching that bond; then you will feel the flow of emotions your soulmate is experiencing.” Luna bit her lower lip but nodded again.
“Can you remove this anklet?” Luna asked while rubbing the anklet Alkrevas had given her.
Beth shook her head. “That anklet has a power stronger than mine. I’m just an ordinary mage.
Maybe my teacher can do it.” Then she stood up and grabbed the crystal ball. Beth spoke a few words to Ghea before the crystal ball went dark, and then she smashed it into pieces.
“The Emperor has arrived,” Beth whispered so softly that Luna had trouble hearing it. “After saving us, you must retrieve your belongings, Luna.”
Just then, the door was forcefully broken down. The once-empty room was suddenly filled with knights in full uniform, some even wearing armor. After the knights surrounded her and Beth, Alkrevas entered with an extremely cold expression. His clothes hadn’t changed since that morning, but the aura around him had. Luna stood up and felt her heart pounding, especially when Alkrevas smiled at her and walked towards her with long strides.
When Luna was in Alkrevas’ embrace, she heard him whisper, “You are really testing my patience, Luna.” Then he whispered something in her ear, and the last thing Luna heard before darkness overtook her was Alkrevas’ command to capture Beth.
…