Chapter 31
Luna twitched her fingers and lifted her heavy eyelids. Blinking a few times, she scanned her surroundings before struggling to sit up.
“That book…”
Her cracked lips, dry like withered onions, let out a faint murmur.
Her entire body ached as if struck by a warhammer. But instead of resting, she immediately headed for the family’s small study. The pain didn’t matter—there was something she needed to confirm.
The Curse of Atonement.
Had it been just a dream as dawn approached? A forgotten memory resurfaced vividly.
She remembered stumbling upon an ancient tome when she was young. She hadn’t understood much of it, but the chilling impression it left was unforgettable.
When she had tried to ask her parents about it, the book was simply taken away from her without explanation.
Now, Luna suspected that the curse she bore was related to that very tome. Otherwise, how could she have suddenly fallen under a curse without reason?
Soon she opened the small door to the north wing of the mansion. No matter how poor her family had become, they had never tampered with the study that held their history.
Because of that, layers of dust had piled up thickly inside.
“Cough, cough!”
Luna coughed repeatedly as she set a ladder near the shelves she remembered.
Running her hands over bulging layers of gray dust, she scoured the shelves, the dark corners, every place where a human hand might rarely reach.
After what felt like ages—when her hair and fingers had turned the color of ash—she finally found the battered, rough-surfaced tome.
“Haa…”
Climbing down, Luna brushed off the book and let out a sigh. It was unmistakably the same worn volume from her memory.
Though she was relieved to have found it, her mood was far from good. The contents were ominous enough to remember without even opening the pages.
[The sin of Adheret must be repaid with death. To break the curse, one must atone. The bearer is destined to die, for their fate has already bloomed. The burden will be engraved upon them, and when the last flame burns out, they shall surely perish.]
The nightmare continued.
“What did I even do wrong to have to atone?”
Even if something had happened, shouldn’t someone have told her if it were this important?
Did her grandfather and she both dismiss it simply because they lacked talent in magic?
Suppressing the urge to throw away the book she had worked so hard to find, Luna turned the pages one by one.
The parchment pages, thin as they were, showed drawings of flames identical to the brand burned into her skin.
The twelve flames symbolized twelve years. As each one faded irregularly, the curse decreed that when the last flame disappeared, so too would her life.
Fortunately, the method of breaking the curse was written in tiny letters on the next page.
[Bahir]
“…That’s it?”
It was only three short, simple syllables.
Surely there had to be more. She flipped the page. Nothing. The next one, and the next. She checked again and again, all the way to the back cover. Still nothing.
Frustration overtook her. She hurled the useless tome hard against the floor. Her dizzy body slid down with it, collapsing onto the ground.
Cold sweat poured from her like rain as she buried her head into her knees. Her trembling voice slipped out, muffled and damp.
“I… don’t want to die…”
Late afternoon.
Luna stood before the temple, sent there by Baron Alonzo. Her grandfather had been horrified after seeing the wound on her hand and had insisted she go.
Though there was a risk of running into Raven, she couldn’t defy her grandfather’s firmness.
If she traveled on busy, ordinary streets, at least no one would dare attack her.
She completed the registration without issue, but she found it odd that even the priest guiding her didn’t notice the brand on her hand.
Why does it feel like no one else can see this?
Walking down the long corridor, Luna glared resentfully at the curse-mark on her own hand, visible only to her.
Maybe it was better this way—at least she wouldn’t have to worry others. In the meantime, she’d find another way to break it.
She had already tried flowing purifying mana into the mark. Another option was to show it to one of the temple’s purification mages.
And if that didn’t work, she could search the libraries or even seek help from the capital’s magic tower. Somehow, she would find a way.
“Haa…”
The suffocating fog of helplessness filled her lungs until her breath caught in her nose. She couldn’t stop thinking about the cure written in the tome: Bahir.
Would simply meeting His Highness undo the curse?
That was absurd. There was no way the Grand Duke had any connection to her family.
She turned a corner, lost in grim thoughts, when the crowd suddenly thinned around her.
People walking from the opposite direction widened their eyes in shock or turned pale with fear, quickly hurrying away.
What’s going on?
Sensing something wrong, Luna quickened her pace. Then she heard it—the sound of several footsteps behind her, matching her movements.
No. Don’t tell me… Raven really came for me?
Her heart shrank as she remembered the detestable smirk of the captain. Tension surged through her legs.
Thud!
“Ahh! Let go of me!”
Just as she tried to leap away, a strong grip seized her arm. Her short scream was swallowed as she was pulled into someone’s chest.
Startled wide-eyed, she blinked up at the solid, white-clad chest before her. Slowly, she raised her head.
“Your Grace?”
Bathed in sunlight filtered through the temple pillars, the man’s clear eyes gleamed brilliantly. Surrounded by uniformed men, he alone shone with vibrant colors.
She quickly realized why—today, he wore his ceremonial robes.
Adorned with glittering jewels and golden embroidery, the attire suited him perfectly, exuding noble elegance.
As Luna stared, dazed, Khalid lifted her injured hand slightly, his face hardening in fury. She yanked her hand back at once, lips pressed tightly shut.
She had no choice but to leave home. She had come here for treatment because she was cursed. That didn’t mean she owed him an explanation.
The sight of her delicate hand, wrapped in sloppy bandages, disappearing from before his eyes made the veins in his neck bulge.
“Who did this to you?”
“….”
His voice seethed low with restrained anger. But Luna, lips sealed, refused to answer or even meet his gaze.
Her silence made Khalid exhale a heavy sigh. Suddenly, the air around them chilled as his presence darkened.
It hadn’t even been a full day. He had only stepped away briefly, and yet she had gotten hurt in his absence.
Whoever dared do this—he would acknowledge their skill, but everything else about them would beg for death.
“I asked you—who was it?”
“….”
The icy sharpness of his tone made Luna turn her head sharply away.
Khalid arched an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly. Anger boiled at the thought of someone trespassing into his domain—and yet, seeing her push him away stirred a strange impatience in him.
Bending smoothly, he tried to meet her gaze. But every time he leaned closer, Luna pursed her lips and turned her head in the opposite direction.
Go ahead and cut me open. I’ve already given you my liver—there’s nothing more to give.
Like a rabbit caught in a trap, she clutched the truth tightly and kept dodging. Their silent struggle dragged on until Khalid finally withdrew first.
With a weary hand, he brushed back his hair in one sweeping motion from eyelids to silver strands, then let out a long, quiet sigh.
Her childish behavior, and the fact that he indulged it, left him both exasperated and faintly amused. The corner of his lips tugged upward before he quickly smoothed his expression.
“…I’ve been rude. My apologies.”
“It’s fine.”
At last, her soft, pretty voice slipped through her lips.
He had thought her safe after sending her home well-fed, but now—seeing her pale face and cracked lips—his insides churned.
Khalid stared at her poorly bandaged wound, fists clenching tightly.
“Get it treated properly.”
Revealing his identity here could only trouble her further in such a public place. That was all he could do.
He gave a brief nod, then strode past her swiftly. The footsteps of the knights of Bahir echoed in unison as they followed, fading into the distance.
Luna wiped her forehead and let out a long breath as she watched them leave.
It hadn’t been Raven. Thank goodness. But still—having her arm suddenly grabbed, even by the Grand Duke himself, was too much.
Her lips jutted out in frustration, yet her body relaxed, soothed by the knowledge that he was there in the temple.
“Oh, right!”
Quickly, Luna checked her brand. If it had reacted even by coincidence when she met him, it might mean something.
But contrary to her hopes, there wasn’t the slightest change.
“…Of course not. Let’s just focus on treatment.”
With a disappointed sigh, Luna resumed walking.
