Invitation of the Crescent Moon - Chapter 98

Even after returning to the duke’s residence, Ashika found it difficult to relax. The encounter with Coral weighed on her mind, and she paced around her room restlessly without even changing her clothes.

‘It wasn’t a coincidence.’

Coral might have deliberately followed her carriage from the beginning.

‘But why?’

Their relationship had ended with the broken engagement, and Coral, who had left the capital almost like an exile, had returned with the status of a marquis.

While she wasn’t unaware of the devastation Coral must have felt during the broken engagement, it was something he had brought upon himself. There was no point in making an issue of it now, nor should there be. Now that he had become a marquis, she thought Coral would understand that much.

‘Something feels uneasy.’

She couldn’t understand why her heart felt so anxious. But to dismiss it as mere worry seemed inappropriate given all the events she had experienced over the past few months.

Coral’s gaze had been directed precisely at Iben.

‘They surely don’t know each other. But then why?’

Why had he looked at Iben among all those people? As if he was trying to confirm something.

Her anxious feelings wouldn’t subside. Eventually, Ashika wrote a brief letter and left her bedroom.

The place where Nile stayed wasn’t in the servants’ quarters but in a room attached to the annex. Even though he was from a provincial territory, he was the eldest son of a baronet family and was treated as a guest.

When Ashika knocked on the door, Nile greeted her with a slightly surprised expression.

“Nile, I’m sorry for the late hour.”

“My lady, what has been occupying your mind so much lately?”

He had many things he wanted to ask, but couldn’t find the right moment for a proper conversation. That’s why Nile seemed pleased that Ashika had come to see him.

“Let’s talk about that later. Could you handle the urgent matter first?”

“What is it?”

“Could you go to Iben? I have a letter to send, and there’s also the medicine I requested.”

Nile looked puzzled for a moment, then nodded as if understanding. He had read the anxious expression on Ashika’s face, which seemed unusually restless.

“Alright, I’ll go.”

“Thank you. While you’re there, it would be good if you could look around and see if anything unusual is happening.”

“I understand. It’ll be past dawn when I return, so you should get some rest.”

“Yes.”

Seeing her visibly relieved, Nile smiled gently. After Ashika left, Nile fell into thought for a moment.

‘Why is she suddenly so concerned?’

It had been a relationship with clear give-and-take. Nothing particularly warm about it. But something had changed since returning from the Grand Duke’s territory. Perhaps meeting Iben would help clarify things. With that thought, Nile left his room.

When Nile reached Saint Reed Street again, it was past midnight. For some reason, the street that should have been quiet was in commotion. Nile urged his horse forward, watching the people running about busily and the security officers.

His puzzlement was brief—in the distance, he could see flames brightly illuminating the night sky.

“Bring more water buckets!”

“What are the security forces doing? The fire is about to spread!”

“Are there people? Weren’t there people in there?”

“Ah, I don’t know. Just put out the fire first!”

As he got closer, people’s shouts became clearer. Nile hurriedly stopped his horse in front of his destination.

“Damn it.”

The building belching out thick black smoke was Iben’s art shop. Had Ashika been anxious all along because she had anticipated such a situation?

Nile dismounted and grabbed someone running from the fire scene.

“Hey, what about the owner of that art shop? There should have been someone inside.”

“I don’t know. When I came outside, the fire was already this big. But it’s quiet because there’s no one there, right? If there were people inside, they would have been screaming for help by now.”

Since few people usually came and went, they didn’t seem to think anyone would be inside. They were just trying to prevent the fire from spreading to the neighboring buildings.

Nile walked around the burning building with a bewildered expression.

‘Why this sudden fire?’

He had heard that the art shop had been in this location for quite some time. Since it mainly dealt with rare collectibles, not many people frequented it, and there was no reason for it to have enemies.

‘It’ll be fine. Surely.’

She was a woman of exceptional beauty who remained aloof as if she had seen all the world had to offer. Sometimes she seemed alien, as if she existed in a different world entirely. He couldn’t imagine such a woman being cornered by an incident like this.

‘Iben must have escaped long ago. She wouldn’t have failed to prepare for something like this.’

The interior of the building had been strangely complex like a maze. It was structured so that even if there were intruders, they couldn’t easily enter or exit. At first, he had just thought it was unique, but now he thought there must have been a reason.

‘Had she been living while avoiding someone?’

There must have been secret passages somewhere in the building. He was certain of it.

‘If there were secret passages, where would they lead?’

Nile began wandering around the vicinity of other buildings rather than the art shop itself.

An old building in the heart of the city. It probably didn’t go far and was likely connected to other nearby buildings.

‘Like the building right next door, for instance.’

Nile thoroughly searched the surrounding buildings. Among them, especially the back of a building that had seemed uninhabited.

Nile’s prediction wasn’t wrong. The problem was that others looking for Iben had the same idea. While all attention was focused on the fire scene, there were people moving in the darkness.

“You bastards! What are you doing? Let her go right now! Let the lady go!”

The woman screaming and struggling desperately was Rine. The opponents didn’t respond and struck the back of Rine’s neck. With a grunt and a moan, the screaming subsided.

As Rine fell away, a figure in black clothes was being dragged through the darkness, limp and unconscious. It was Iben.

‘My God. How many of them are there?’

Just the ones visible numbered six, and those hidden in the nearby darkness were more than double that. Judging by how little presence they gave off, they were more than ordinary.

‘They mobilized so many people just to kidnap one woman?’

Nile hesitated. Would it be possible for him to step forward alone and rescue the unconscious woman? While he was pondering, people poured out from another building he had thought was empty.

“Over there!”

“Block the carriage!”

There were easily more than ten people. Without proper weapons, armed with just swords, they charged at the unidentified people.

Nile quietly hid behind a wall. He couldn’t quite understand what was happening.

‘What, are they another enemy? Or mercenaries hired by Iben?’

During the months he had been going to the art shop, he had never sensed the presence of armed people. So he couldn’t tell whether the people who had just emerged were trying to help Iben or not.

“Ugh! What’s going on!”

“Th-there’s a fight here! Where are the security forces!”

As fighting broke out in front of the previously quiet building, people gathered upon hearing the commotion. The panicked attackers loaded Iben onto a horse like a sack of goods instead of the waiting carriage. While both sides were fiercely engaged, the horse carrying Iben departed.

“Chase them! Don’t let them get away!”

At someone’s shout, leaving the fighting enemies behind, a group of people scattered around the area again. In an instant, those who appeared with horses from various parts of the street chased after Iben who had disappeared first.

Nile also mounted his horse.

“Damn it. What the hell is going on?”

Both sides were dressed like common workers you’d see in workshops or shops. To Nile’s eyes, he couldn’t distinguish who was enemy and who was ally. Or they could both be enemies. Since he knew nothing, all he could do was follow in the chaos.

Even while riding, battles continued. He could see people falling from their horses in twos and threes. As the pursuers closed the distance, several of those in the lead turned back and raised crossbows.

‘What?’

The moment the sharp sound of arrows cutting through air passed by, he felt a sense of déjà vu. The combination of swordsmen and archers. Ordinary knights don’t use bows well. Neither do mercenaries usually. But these people handled both swords and crossbows with ease.

‘Could it be?’

Nile’s heart began to race. He remembered the conversation he hadn’t finished with Ashika. The fact that Talion’s knights had ultimately kept their mouths shut in the Grand Duke’s territory, so nothing was learned.

The two groups, chasing and being chased, clashed again on the forest road leading out of the capital’s outskirts. While a fierce battle was taking place, Nile quietly retreated. When the personnel who had been waiting on the other side joined in, this side’s disadvantage became clear. Those who had been tenaciously pursuing also had to eventually retreat.

‘Not now.’

It wasn’t a situation where rushing in would save Iben. While both groups continued their chaotic battle, Nile entered the forest and dismounted.

In the outskirts beyond the city center, there were few buildings. What few there were consisted mostly of wealthy merchants’ villas or nobles’ private estates.

The horse carrying Iben had long since disappeared. Nile circled through the forest to get ahead on the road. Following the path and checking for recent traces at the fork, he determined his direction.

As dawn was breaking, Nile’s pursuit finally ended at a point where the traces stopped. However, what he saw was an endless wall and a massive gate.

‘Where is this?’

If it were a villa, there should have been a building, but even that wasn’t visible. The building must be further inside, hidden by the forest. Then this must be a back gate, not the main entrance.

‘It doesn’t seem like a villa.’

It looked more like part of a provincial lord’s private estate. Suddenly, he recalled a high-ranking noble family in the capital who had their mansion in the outskirts rather than the city center.

‘Could it be…?’

Despite there being no building, security was tight. Even from a distance, the number of people surrounding the entrance was considerable. These were the ones Nile had been chasing since Saint Reed Street.

Nile squinted and watched, then took advantage of an opening to approach close enough to see the gate in the wall. There was no need to confirm where this was or who owned it.

‘My God!’

The magnificent crest drawn on the large gate was one that even Nile knew well.