VIP Early Access
Eksklusif untuk member VIP
Password Protected
Chapter ini dikunci dengan kode khusus
Chapter 266
Mad Moon
Cheerful music flowed, and before anyone knew it, calm music began to play.
The group dance everyone participated in ended, and the waltz began with partners forming pairs.
Unengaged men and women asked each other to dance, while those with partners held hands affectionately and danced.
Ferda and Valdrova belonged to the latter group.
"Is it very difficult for you?"
Е ǹum.а.i d̄
"N-no, it isn't."
Even as she spoke those words, Ferda was panting heavily.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
He had managed to endure a bit while melting into the heat, but now that the heat had subsided, it was nothing but burdensome.
"You can lean on me a little."
Valdrova gently embraced Ferda.
As the softness touched below his chest, his body stiffened yet naturally melted at the same time.
En u m̊ а̀
A warm, sweet scent rising from her head.
It made him feel at ease, as if he had come home.
Just as Valdrova said, leaning against her gave him a moment to catch his breath.
But his heart still felt like it would burst.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"I didn't know a wedding could be this fun."
"I also never thought it would be such a lively place."
Ên u m̄а
"If it weren't for you, Ferda... I never would have known this kind of joy either."
"....."
Valdrova had already had one betrothal broken.
Unable to suppress her blood qi, she had killed the Third Prince, and because of that, she had been treated as if under a sort of death sentence.
Ferda recalled her portrait.
A choking emotion surged up.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ferda suppressed that emotion and spoke.
"We'll have a wedding like that too."
"Is that so?"
"Sharing a joyous day like this, dancing... and before long, under the name of family, you and I will bear the fruit of joy."
"The fruit of joy is..."
"Of course, a child, wouldn't it be?"
Ẅ e b̂n оvеl En u m̄а̃
Child.
At that word, Valdrova's steps stopped.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
It was a moment where her steps could have tangled and she might have fallen, but fortunately, she avoided an unsightly scene.
Ferda carefully whispered in her ear.
"Eleanor?"
"Ah, so-sorry."
Еn̈ũḿa
She resumed the rhythm, stepping again.
"Just... just for a moment, I spaced out."
"....."
"Let's dance again!"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Valdrova changed the subject with a lively voice.
Ferda just needed to play along accordingly.
Ẃ еbn̆о ṽеl Ĕn̊ ǔ m̌ å
But Ferda couldn't do that.
That unnatural behavior surely held meaning.
"There's one thing I'm curious about. May I ask a question?"
"Please speak."
Ferda asks.
"When you heard about Lady Ludmilla's child... how did you feel?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Valdrova's movements stiffened as she looked up at Ferda.
"Do I... have to answer?"
She evades.
He might have shown her consideration.
"You must answer."
But Ferda dares to commit rudeness against her.
Wӗb̈ ń оv̂ е́ ĺ Еn̆ um а
She thought about it carefully, then answered like this.
"I don't know."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ferda asked again.
"Was it joy?"
"It was joyful, too."
"Was it sadness?"
E n̈ ů m̌ а́
"It was sad, too."
"What was sad?"
"I don't really... know either."
Valdrova trailed off.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ferda's heart understood those words.
Something was definitely sad.
Е̄ n̄ ũ m.а̀ . і ḋ
Just, it had been so long since she felt that sadness, it seemed it couldn't be expressed in words.
And she didn't even want to recall that sadness.
But that was just what his heart was saying; it couldn't be called an answer.
"Ferda..."
"Yes."
"Ferda... do you want a child? With me... a child?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
What hadn't he done?
Whenever he had sweet dreams, there was always a child with Ferda.
But he never properly saw that child's face.
He always imagined it by modifying Valdrova's appearance to be younger, but in his dreams, it was never visible.
As if even his poor imagination wasn't allowed in dreams, it was wrapped in a veil.
"You don't want one?"
Еnŭm̃ӑ_. і̂ ḋ
"I..."
She looked up at Ferda's face.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
He was wearing a mask, but it seemed like the inside was completely visible.
It was the expression he had made when he saw Ludmilla's child.
"You don't have to answer. I'm sorry."
"...I'm sorry."
Е̃ n̄ ùm̀ a . і̊ d
Instead of hearing that answer, Ferda quietly pulled her into an embrace, letting her lean on him.
'Cowardly bastard.'
Ferda loathed the sly deed he himself had committed.
It was nothing but a scheme to keep her from seeing his face.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Valdrova had asked first, but the one who answered a question with a question was Ferda.
The one who couldn't answer was Ferda, too.
Е̌ň ù m̂ а̇
In the past, he would have said it.
That he wanted a child with her.
That he dreamed of a child with the same hair color as her, becoming a beauty just like her.
But how could he do that now?
I am a murderer who has already killed you once,
And even before that, long ago, a sinner who tore out your heart,
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
I cannot pretend all mistakes never happened.
The music ended.
Valdrova carefully released Ferda's hand.
"I'm sorry."
A voice laden with moisture apologized again.
"I'm really sorry..."
Ѐ nù m̂ á.іd̆
Valdrova apologized quietly and stepped away from Ferda.
She said something to Ruri, who had been waiting.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Ruri looked at Ferda with bewildered eyes.
But there was no way she could give an answer.
Ruri quietly led Valdrova away, and they withdrew from the banquet hall.
Ferda stood still until their backs completely disappeared.
Ẃ е̌b́ň ŏvè l̆ Еñ u_m.а
In the noisy banquet hall, his heart felt only empty, as if hollowed out.
The next music of the banquet started, and Ferda, without a partner, tried to leave his seat.
That was when it happened.
Someone grabbed Ferda's wrist.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The soft, small sensation of silk, without giving Ferda any chance to resist, led him into the banquet hall.
"Hello, Regent Ferda."
Ē n.ů m̌ӑ
A familiar voice.
Ferda knows this voice.
When he was drowning in deep darkness inside the Heinkel Kingdom's castle, the voice that had pulled him up.
That voice had called him this.
Sierra's Saintess, Chain.
Angrem.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"You are—."
"Shh."
As if she already knew what Ferda was about to do, she raised a finger and covered his mouth.
"If you reveal my identity, I'll have no choice but to reveal yours."
"What am I?"
"The fact that you're Sierra's child."
Е nü m̊a.іd
In the Arken Empire, where Alte, symbolizing light and sun, is the state religion, this is an especially dangerous religion.
If that suspicion ignites against Ferda in the current situation, he will take a massive hit.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
It won't end with just Ferda.
Even all the people who supported him will collapse.
He couldn't ruin everything with a single moment's mistake.
"For now, let's dance."
Ё n̆ü m̆а̃. і̆d
She skillfully led Ferda.
To others, it looked like Ferda was leading skillfully, but in reality, he was just moving without will, like her puppet.
Ferda realized one more fact.
This woman... he had already met her once at the Spring Festival.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"What do you want?"
"The question has changed."
Ŵ е b́n о v е l Еn.u m̊ а
Angrem smiled like a waning moon and said.
"Don't you have something you want from me, Lord Ferda?"
What I want.
That woman called Mother, parasitizing deep in my heart.
And they call that woman Sierra.
"She wishes for your misfortune. I don't know the reason, though."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Do you want to make me unhappy, too?"
"Would you believe me if I said the opposite?"
There's no way I could believe that.
She already introduced herself as Sierra's Saintess.
"To think a Saintess would go against Sierra's will... that's not easy to swallow."
"Hehe, I'm just doing my duty."
Ě ṅ ŭm а̊
"Duty?"
"I'm called Sierra's Mercy, Sierra's Chain, Saintess of the Full Moon. The other one is called Sierra's Revenge, Sierra's Wolf, Saintess of the New Moon. You must have seen her once."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"The woman you saved at Debleung's Mansion."
Angrem smiled, pleased that he remembered.
"Anyway, the important thing is, Regent Ferda, I know you're portraying us as cruel, lawless mobs. But we have our limits."
"What are limits?"
Ẅ е̊ b̈ ń оv́_еl̈ Е̌ nu m а̄
"Violence with limits is justice; violence without limits is sin."
He couldn't understand them talking about limits.
The Sierra Order had always killed people as examples.
Other orders had already crossed the line long ago.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Angrem read even those thoughts from Ferda's expression and smiled faintly.
"We are servants of the Great Moon Goddess, Sierra, but we have an obligation to keep the words she left behind. That is precisely preventing the birth of those who cross the line."
Wе b̀n̂ ö ṽ ē l Èǹ ů mä
"What is that?"
"It's 'Mad Moon.'"
"Mad Moon?"
"One who takes as their raison d'être that all sins hold responsibility for all people. One who swallows the sun and stands high in the sky with red light instead of silver, trying to guide everything eternally into the world of darkness. Those who wither plants and bring an end to all things that set foot on the land."
Angrem looked at Ferda with meaningful eyes and said.
"Sierra always said her child would become the Mad Moon."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"You mean... I become that Mad Moon?"
"Yes."
"Aren't there already many children of Sierra besides me?"
"There were many, right?"
"...You killed them all."
"That's what the Wolf and Chain are for."
Е̇n ūmа̌_
Mad Moon.
There's no way I could become Sierra's Mad Moon, is there?
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Fatalism and such are nothing but useless superstitions.
He wanted to say that, but memories of the past rushed at Ferda.
He had craved power.
The reason was to soothe his anxiety.
Ŵ е b́ n oṽ.е́l̄ Еn u ma
He wanted to be safe from those who would harm him.
What was needed for that was the death of those who could be a threat to him.
He didn't wish for everyone's death.
'But... was that really true?'
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
If Valdrova's life had been cut by Ferda, by himself, and he had taken that power to reach the 9th Circle, would he still think the same then?
No.
Е̄n̄ ù mа_
That's impossible.
Ferda would have thought this.
'If only everything disappeared and started anew.'
Even with the existence of a Wish that can overturn everything, if you don't use that grand Wish, only future troubles remain.
Even now, having crossed time, Sierra hasn't given up.
Ferda is just wishing to become the mad moon that destroys everything.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"So you're trying to eliminate me, too?"
"Originally, that's what I should do, but I don't want to."
"Why?"
"Because you're the only one who can free us from this cycle."
Angrem said that.
"The one who doesn't become the Mad Moon will be the last child, and then the Saintess's duty will end."
Е̄ n̄ ûm̀а. id̆
"You want to quit being a Saintess?"
"Now that I've aged, I want to quit."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Even though she's only 19 years old.
She added those words.
"What about you, Lord Ferda? Do you want to escape fate?"
I want to escape.
Web̈ n̈ȯ vе̇ l̃ E nü_ḿ а́
No one wishes for their own misfortune.
"I have one question."
"What is it?"
"Why should I trust you?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
There were plenty of reasons to listen to her story, but no reason to trust her.
Above all, no matter what, she was the human closest to Sierra.
Ѐńūm а̀
"Whatever the case, you're Sierra's Saintess, and you could be planning to confuse me under Sierra's orders, couldn't you?"
Ferda didn't lower his guard and pressed her.
"That's also correct. Trust isn't a gift you can easily receive just because it's given."
Angrem was leisurely.
As if she had pierced through an unknowable future, she seemed to have discarded trivial things.
"But someday, a day will come when you need my help. Please, until that day comes, don't become the Mad Moon."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Angrem tried to let go of his hand and disappear.
Then Ferda firmly grabbed that hand.
"Oh my?"
Angrem looked up at Ferda and let out a short exclamation.
"There's one thing I need to apologize to you for."
"No need. I already know you're signaling those kids with your eyes, Lord Ferda."
W е̃ b̊ ň о v е̃ l Е.num a
"!"
"Your reaction is cute. No matter how much you struggle, I have experience, you see."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
She deliberately added one more line.
"Even though I'm just a 19-year-old maiden~."
As Angrem's hand let go, a surprise attack happened simultaneously.
The attacker was Jed, Ferda's attendant.
Еnu m̌ а̃
At that moment, Angrem's dress fluttered.
The frills forming curves unraveled and spread out like dozens of cloth strands scattering in the wind.
"Uht!"
That release was definitely done with magic.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
But from then on, it wasn't magic.
Her movements were soft and delicate enough to make a first-class dancer look foolish.
Ŵ_е̊ ḃ_n ȯv̌ e̊l̈ Е́n̆u m̃.а̃
At the same time, they were just as strong.
Jed's vision, as he carefully approached, was blocked by the scattering cloth.
Gripping the dagger hidden in his sleeve tightly, he tried to cut through the cloth and advance.
There was no one where Angrem should have been.
"We meet again, handsome young man?"
She was already behind Jed.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Ugh!"
Jed reflexively switched his dagger to a reverse grip.
He tried to stab Angrem's side just like that.
But it ended as just a thought.
Jed's body wouldn't move.
Some of the scattering cloth strands had instantly bound the inside of Jed's body.
Е́ṅ umа . і̌.ḋ
'This movement makes no sense.'
Magic-like movement.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
But it wasn't constituted by magic.
It was the ultimate martial art created by the insight that grasps human psychology and the agility that naturally digs into those blind spots.
Jed, who prided himself on stealth, could only revere that strange movement.
"No need to feel the wall already. My movements are the crystallization of martial arts forged by experience. If you train a bit more with your boiling youth, you can surpass me."
Еǹ u̇m̈ ӑ
Angrem said that and withdrew from Jed's side.
"Then I'll really disappear now."
The cloth that had soared to the sky settled on the floor.
Angrem's figure was nowhere to be found.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
The venue was in confusion, but with fancy cloth covering the floor, they thought it was a new performance and enjoyed it.
Ferda and Jed tried to find Angrem.
Ŵ е bňo v́ёĺ E̊n u̇m ӓ
But Angrem became a stranger in an instant, and becoming a stranger, she blended into the crowd.
Since she blended in, finding her would require committing rudeness, so there was nothing to do but let her go in the end.
