First Moon Expedition

The news that Luna was unconscious became a new affair at the palace. People were confused. Even the palace doctor didn't understand why Luna had been unconscious for over a month.

This afternoon, Luna's loyal servant visited her room. She burned a fragrance of dried flowers. For a moment, she stood silently staring at Luna's bed.

She remembered that before Luna was like this, she kept sitting in front of the window, not paying attention to the surroundings except for the courtyard. She became worried that the bad weather at that time was affecting her health.

The maid wiped the dust off the bookshelf. Those rows of books were Luna's favorites so she was careful to clean them. When she was done, a book fell catching her attention.

The book had a brown cover. She picked it up and accidentally opened a page. It made her frown.

"Luna's diary," she whispered. She saw one last sentence on a page. It said that Luna felt strange in this place.

"Strange?"

The maid shook her head, then returned the book to the shelf immediately before she got any more curious.

***

Lusi sat at the desk. Her hand massaged the bridge of her nose. Her head felt like it was going to explode.

The boutique's revenue had dropped dramatically. She had recently learned that Elestria had said the boutique was stingy. Lusi didn't understand why that was.

Lusi thought the jacket she gave her was enough to prove that she cared about Elestria. So, what is she looking for?

"She has nothing to hide all this time... am I wrong?"

Lusi let out a long breath.

In addition, Elestria said that the clothes she received from the boutique were easily damaged. People believed that because Elestria was one of the models.

"What's wrong?"

She went back to massaging her head. Some customers came to her and told her that. However, how could they know Elestria when they were noble types who disliked commoners?

Lusi was reluctant to think about that. She now wanted to focus on the boutique's income. She couldn't sack some employees because she couldn't pay them.

She left the room, forgetting about the envelope from Elestria that had arrived that afternoon.

***

Although it snowed like last year, the dark clouds have been lingering since a month ago. Emberfall thought it was because Luna was unconscious. Seraphim thought it was because something bad was about to happen.

The snow-white hair fluttered in the wind. His boot continued to stride along the riverbank. The river was split in two, one side of the water flowing smoothly, while the other side was frozen.

Gideon stared into the air. The sun's rays could touch the earth, but the clouds interrupted the view.

"It's ugly," he scolded.

His wolf, Dev, replied, "Like your face."

Gideon kicked a pebble into the river. It crashed into the frozen surface. He was strolling around to see Emberfall Castle. However, a pine tree as tall as a tower was in the way.

"The expedition group is arriving soon. Why don't you plan something from now on?" Dev made a suggestion, but it seemed commanding.

"One more month. That's enough to cut down these trees."

"I'm bored every day with you."

Gideon chuckled, "I'm more bored."

"Where's our mate? Why aren't you looking for her?"

He walked back to his base. It was a cave near the cliff. The ground was frozen outside, but it was warm inside.

Wan came up to Gideon carrying a scroll. Gideon's eagle perched proudly on his left shoulder.

"General, a letter from the palace."

He took it. As he unrolled it, he glanced at the eagle. The eagle looked away.

"Slow," he muttered and then read the letter.

The king didn't write a series of boring sentences. He gave a message to find a logical reason to attack Emberfall.

He crumpled the paper, then tossed it into the campfire afterward. His men watched in silence.

"The whole country is confused by the dark cloud. Emberfall must have done something."

Wan blinked. After Gideon told him to write that, he took out his easel. He wrote seriously. Meanwhile, the eagle moved to a place far away from Gideon.

"General, what do you think about the cloud?"

He took a seat near the fire. "Something bad will happen, maybe reincarnation-"

"Of vampires?"

"Why do you think so?"

"Vampires are almost a fairy tale in this land. They existed 250 years ago. This horrible thing must be because they'll rise." The others replied.

The discussion of vampires became a hot topic there. The pale creatures who feared sunlight were mysterious. No other kingdom had close contact with them. People feared their power to absorb blood as well as life force.

"If vampires are indeed going to rise, what for?" Wan looked at them as her hand wrote.

"Revenge?"

"Mates?"

Gideon removed his cloak. In his opinion, vampires and dark clouds made sense. Sometimes, vampires created a night atmosphere so they could go out. But, what was the reason?