Invitation of the Crescent Moon - Chapter 96

Weive did not summon Ashika. Nor did he give orders to confine her again. The next afternoon, knowing that Weive was about to go out, she chased after him and was finally able to see his face.

“Grandfather.”

Weive, who had been about to board the carriage, turned around.

Ashika was a little surprised. She had expected him to be angry, but Weive’s face merely looked tired. Seeing his haggard face drained of its coldness, a sharp pain arose around her chest.

“…I’m sorry.”

It was an apology laden with many meanings. Sorry for not understanding your heart, sorry for leaving the house on my own—such an apology.

To Ashika, Weive was like a wall. A cold and solid wall that was always there. So she had never tried to understand him even once.

What his feelings must have been like when he lost the person he loved and lost his child. How devastated he must have felt when his second wife and the child in her womb died, and finally even his one remaining son died. She had failed to understand that the wounds he carried were too great for him to open his heart to a young granddaughter.

What must his feelings have been like? With what heart had he looked at Ashika, his only remaining blood relative?

Weive had protected her in his own way. Even if it hadn’t been a tender method.

If Weive had thought only of himself, he wouldn’t have adopted a son who carried Arkpella’s blood. If he had married off his fatherless granddaughter early and gotten rid of her, the family wouldn’t have been in danger either.

Weive was staking everything he had just by accepting Ashika’s existence. That was Weive’s true heart that Ashika had failed to realize all this time.

Black eyes that closely resembled hers gazed down quietly. At Ashika’s haggard face and pale complexion, yet her jet-black eyes that shone more dangerously than ever before.

Weive dismissed the waiting carriage and coachman and walked toward the inner garden. Ashika also followed silently behind until they reached the fountain garden where no one was around.

“Do you have something to say?”

Weive’s tone in asking if she had something to say felt like a wall once again. It seemed like a gentle expression of his unwillingness to have a conversation, making it feel even more so.

Ashika steeled herself. She couldn’t be pushed around by Weive’s rejection as always. Now she had to overcome that wall.

“I can’t go through with that marriage.”

“Ha.”

Weive let out a hollow laugh, apparently dumbfounded.

“I’m not asking you about such things right now…”

The composure he had been trying to maintain crumbled completely. Weive didn’t hide his distorted expression.

“Why did you go to the Grand Duke’s territory?”

Ashika knew that the story from the Grand Duke’s castle hadn’t been conveyed yet. Though it was probably only a matter of time.

“I had thought for a while that I should go there once. I couldn’t go because you opposed it, Grandfather.”

“Was it just because of work?”

She had turned the house upside down over the marriage issue and of all places, went to the Grand Duke’s territory. It was difficult to understand Ashika’s actions.

“What do you want, Ashika?”

It was the first time. The first time Weive had asked for her opinion. He had always given orders unilaterally, and Ashika had been an obedient granddaughter and heir. But now that could no longer continue.

Ashika opened her mouth with an unprecedentedly firm expression.

“Please help me.”

“You’re determined to marry Duke Talion after all?”

“No.”

Weive’s brow furrowed sharply. Hadn’t she left the house over that issue in the first place? Doubt crept in.

Whether it was because of the harsh autumn sun or because of nervousness, Ashika’s palms became damp with moisture. With her sweaty hands brushing against her dress hem, she steadied herself against her weakening resolve.

She couldn’t gauge how big a stir the story she was about to tell would cause. But in the end, she had no choice but to speak.

“Please tell me the truth. Give me a chance to find the answer.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s something you’re hiding from me, isn’t there?”

A secret hidden for as much as 40 years. Even when she probed about it, there was no change in Weive’s expression. Ashika now seemed to understand that this solidity was his way of hiding his agitation. However, the solid disguise didn’t last long.

“I know what you’re looking for, Grandfather.”

Weive’s face hardened immediately. It was difficult for him to immediately accept what her words meant.

“More precisely, you’ve been looking for someone.”

The eyes that had been facing Ashika widened and shook violently. Emotions that had burst out before he could even contain them spread across his wrinkled face.

Ashika was certain. The things she had found strange all this time now finally made sense.

Weive never stayed in the capital for long. He left even his territory to others and constantly traveled somewhere. Not only throughout the empire but even to foreign countries, he traveled everywhere even when there was no need to move personally.

He had been looking for someone.

“…Your speculation is excessive.”

A voice squeezed out while trying to recover his already broken composure flowed out.

Ashika didn’t want to hurt him. She didn’t want to give him false hope either. Perhaps he would receive an irreparable shock from a reality different from his imagination. It might be better for him to live grasping at hope while chasing phantoms alone for the rest of his life.

But what should confront and judge all of that was not Ashika, but Weive himself.

“What if I know where Grandmother is?”

His wrinkled face turned white as if all the blood had drained out of him. His breathing stopped and his eyes, enlarged as much as they could possibly be, froze in place.

It was a story that could never come from Ashika’s mouth in a lifetime. Weive had forbidden even his son Lanche from ever mentioning his mother like a taboo throughout his life.

So it was a story Ashika couldn’t know. She absolutely should not have known. Yet her confident tone drove the point home once again.

“You knew, didn’t you? That Grandmother is alive. That’s why you’ve been searching all this time.”

A spasm occurred on Weive’s cheek.

How did she find out? How much does she know?

Putting numerous questions aside, an unprecedented fervor swirled in his black eyes. It was longing for one person that had not diminished despite being pursued again and again for so long.

“You…”

In his trembling voice, it was no longer possible to hide his agitation. Even his lips forming words trembled with spasms. However, Weive could not easily accept this situation.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. How can you know about someone who’s already dead?”

After the initial shock passed, what Weive chose was avoidance. Ashika pressed him with the calm tone she had expected.

“Are you still only going to hide things? Do you think I would bring up such a story knowing nothing?”

“You don’t know. You can say such things because you know nothing.”

“Then tell me. The reason I shouldn’t speak up, the stories you’ve been hiding, Grandfather.”

Cold sweat beaded on Weive’s forehead. Even though he was standing still, his shoulders rose and fell as if he was short of breath.

“Time is running out. Later… let’s talk later.”

The solid wall seemed to crumble completely at his appearance that was unable to hide his shock. Seeing Weive’s pale face, Ashika closed her mouth.

“Later…, yes, later.”

Muttering like he was talking to himself, Weive moved his steps. Until he called for the carriage again as originally planned and boarded it, there were no gaps in his movements.

However, even after he boarded, the carriage couldn’t depart for a while. It was because Weive, who was blankly lost in thought, didn’t tell them the destination.

****

Behind Jeanne entering the mansion, Mia followed along in a line.

“Are you going to follow me around all day? You have less than six months left until your knighthood examination, and you have the leisure to slack off?”

“I did everything you told me to do. Did you see me being lazy with training?”

“Then do what you’ve been doing. Don’t follow me around.”

When Jeanne frowned, Mia flinched and stepped back. However, as soon as she started walking again, she followed along in a line.

Throughout Ashika’s absence, Jeanne had been absorbed in training at the mansion, and Mia had stuck to Jeanne’s side like a leech during that time.

With her innocent eyes sparkling, she openly proclaimed “I respect you,” and since Jeanne had appropriately brushed it off out of embarrassment and awkwardness, now she didn’t budge even at considerable scolding.

When Jeanne turned around sharply while crossing the corridor, Mia flinched and stopped.

“Don’t you have any pride? Why are your colleagues…”

Her words that had started angrily trailed off when she saw a passing maid.

“Anyway, we’re not in a position to be friendly with each other.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Even while shrinking under Jeanne’s glaring gaze, Mia voiced her opinion.

“Please be consistent. Why is everyone different from each other?”

During her days as deputy commander, the mansion’s knights would frequently get into disputes with Talion’s knights, and she had trouble controlling them. But now there was a Talion squire who followed Jeanne around like a mother bird. That was troublesome in its own way.

“You came from the territory, right? If you act like this, you’ll be ostracized by your colleagues later.”

“It’s true that the factions are divided, but what Sir Berth has seen and heard isn’t everything. And if things go well, we might become one family…, ack!”

At the sharp kick, Mia jumped while holding her shin. A maid who had been looking puzzled was startled by Jeanne’s glare and hurriedly left.

“Lack of agility, lack of reaction speed. Even without a sword, a knight’s body is a weapon. Won’t you come to your senses?”

“Sir Berth, that’s too much.”

“This kid, really.”

Mia’s position was ambiguous. Since she wasn’t part of Igraine, Jeanne couldn’t work her to her heart’s content, but she also couldn’t ignore a child who was staying on Ashika’s orders. Mia was trying to stick close to Jeanne’s side, taking advantage of her situation.

Mia’s face, which had been tearful at Jeanne’s scolding, suddenly brightened.

“My lady, are you going out?”

Ashika had stopped after discovering the two while passing through the corridor. Jeanne’s gaze quickly scanned Ashika’s outfit.

She wore a beige dress with an autumn-feeling leaf-colored sheath gown over it, her hair was pulled up tightly, and she wore a hat. A small veil hanging from the hat covered half her face, making her distinctive combination of black hair and black eyes less noticeable.

“I haven’t heard from the captain, but I’ll go tell him and come back.”

“No, I’m trying to go out quietly.”

Behind Ashika, as always, was Nile. Jeanne didn’t hide her uncomfortable feelings.

“You know that the captain said not to compromise on the matter of your escort, my lady.”

“Jeanne, that’s enough. If you want to come along, then follow.”

Ashika coldly cut off Jeanne’s resistance. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand Jeanne’s feelings, but she was suffocated by the overflow of escorts around Ashika day and night.

Even Nile opposed Ashika moving alone. Nile had remained in the Grand Duke’s territory for a while on Ashika’s orders and returned to the capital alone. It seemed he was surprised to hear later that Ashika had collapsed.

So going out at night to avoid people’s eyes was even more out of the question, he opposed. He said the crowded midday would be safer instead. Still, she wanted to avoid situations where attention would be focused by going out with a string of escorts.

“My lady.”

“It’s the middle of the capital. Nile and Jeanne alone are sufficient.”

On top of that, there were invisible escorts. It was obvious who had sent them without asking.

‘Rushia must have sent them.’

Since Drushia hadn’t said anything, Ashika had quietly accepted it. Because she knew his worry wasn’t unfounded.

Mia, who had been watching for an opportunity, slyly poked her head out from behind Jeanne.

“Um, me too…”

“Kid, get lost.”

Mia’s small voice was curtly stopped by Nile. Perhaps judging that she couldn’t win, Jeanne also didn’t insist further.

“We’re going to Saint Reed Street. Follow quietly.”

Ashika’s instruction meant she didn’t want Pelburn’s involvement. Leaving behind Jeanne’s perplexed expression, Ashika boarded a carriage without the family crest.