Returning Home

"I thought you wouldn't be returning to the manor," Purr said from the passenger seat, playing with her tail. Karen glanced in the rearview mirror at the hearse following behind and asked, "Why wouldn't I?" "Awkwardness, guilt, trouble..." Purr ticked them off on her paw pads one by one. "And then just wanting to run away from it all." "I feel none of those." "Oh, sure. Then why did a certain someone ask how the weather was today?" "Isn't that just how people in Wien make small talk?" "Right, so you've become a Wien local again?" "Ophelia has arrived in Wien." "Ah, right, right, right." "She wasn't originally assigned to this region. She was just transferred over, apparently to help prepare the reception for the Moon God Church delegation." "Generally speaking, branches of the same faith don't have much affection for each other. Instead, they tear into one another even more viciously—just like those sects that split off after the Sea God Church fractured. They're too worn out to fight these days, but back then, they practically beat each other's brains out. Oh, right, you also mentioned those two gatekeeper statues you found in the Congers tomb: the Dark Moon is actually a goddess too, and she likely has a blood feud with Artemis." "It's not about the blood feud right now. Rather, this arrangement from the Moon God Church makes me question their real motive for having Ophelia handle the reception." Purr chimed in, "The fruit must have ripened, then." "The Moon God Church sees Ophelia as a ripe fruit?" "Why couldn't it be you, the one who possesses the Eye of the Dark Moon?" "Me?" "Be careful, Karen. Oh, wait, you don't need to be careful—your power has been assimilated into Order." "You mean the person the Moon God Church is looking for is me?" "Just like how that band of Light remnants lingered around Piaget waiting for the chosen one. I've always felt that person wasn't Bede, but you." "Then this just got interesting." Karen chuckled. "And I still have to provide close-protection security for them." "Stay safe." "I know." "Heh-heh, meow, I meant safety precautions. Look, last time you protected the princess of Dark Moon Island, she ended up boarding the ship with a swollen belly. This time you're protecting the Moon God Church's Holy Child—are they going to go back holding a baby in each hand?" "For the next month, don't even think about eating fish." "Meow!!!!!!" ... After entering the manor, he found that nothing had changed inside. There were no special preparations, let alone a grand welcoming ceremony with all the footmen and maids assembled. Purr muttered, "Young Anderson really doesn't know how to conduct himself." Karen reached out to stroke her head and said with amusement, "With a temper like yours, you have the nerve to lecture others on manners?" The secondhand Ponce and the hearse both pulled up behind the castle, where Old Anderson stood waiting to receive them with his household. Although Karen had told him over the phone that the subordinates he was bringing this time were mostly young masters and ladies, Old Anderson had still prepared the reception according to how he always welcomed Karen. "Young Master Karen, welcome back." Old Anderson was deeply respectful toward Karen, though his gaze carried fawning deference when looking at Purr in Karen's arms. "These are all my friends." "Yes, the young master's friends are distinguished guests of the manor. We will certainly entertain them with the utmost care." Old Anderson waved to the servants around him, signaling them to attend to the young master's friends, while he accompanied Karen upstairs without lingering to fuss over the distinguished guests. Reaching the second floor, Old Anderson paused and whispered, "Her Highness Ophelia should be waiting for you in the Patriarch's study right now." "All right, I understand." Instead of going to the study, Karen went to Eunice's room first. Seeing Karen approach, the two maids outside the door immediately bowed and withdrew. Before pushing the door open, Karen set Purr down from his arms and warned, "If you peek again, you won't get any fish for the rest of the year." Purr complained plaintively, "You can't keep using that to hold me hostage! That's just going too far!" "I keep my word." "I keep my word too! Fine, I won't watch. Hmph, I got tired of seeing it long ago anyway. I really don't get what's so fun about holding a pair of legs and rubbing them all over." Pouting in a huff, Purr turned and scampered off; she was off to find Old Anderson to arrange her afternoon tea. Karen straightened his clothes and pushed the door open. Walking inside, he froze. He saw a woman sitting behind the bedroom desk, but that woman was not Eunice. The bedroom door was lined with materials that blocked mental probing, though such shielding was better than nothing at best. The main reason was simply that Karen didn't scan the room before pushing the door open—what was wrong with keeping a bit of mystery when opening a door? In reality, it seemed best to be a little more cautious in the future. Ophelia turned around. Today she wore an equestrian outfit that accentuated her already impressive figure. "I think even out of respect for a friend, you ought to rein in the disappointment in your eyes just a little." "It's good to see you, Ophelia." Karen stepped forward, opening his arms with easy grace. "Heh." Ophelia smiled and stepped forward to exchange a polite, courteous embrace with Karen. At that moment, Eunice emerged from the adjoining compartment in a long black dress, carrying a pot of tea. Ophelia pointed at Karen and said to Eunice, "See? What did I tell you? He's best at pushing people away in the most proper manner." Eunice laughed as well. Evidently, the two women had talked earlier; there was just no telling how much they had discussed. Karen stepped up to Eunice, took the teapot from her hands, and naturally wrapped his left arm around her waist. "Did we wake you?" "I'm still a little drowsy, but I stay awake longer than before." "Things are getting better and better." "Yes, I can clearly feel it." Karen sat down on the sofa. Eunice poured the tea, while Ophelia sat across from Karen. "What happened to your forehead?" Karen pointed toward Ophelia's brow, where a scar ran across—it must have been hidden under her bangs earlier. "A slash from a poisoned dagger." "You didn't have it treated? Or did you leave it on purpose for style?" "I had scheduled restorative surgery, but then I received orders to deploy to York City, didn't I? I'll get the scar-removal surgery once I return." "They assigned you such a dangerous mission?" A cut in that spot, just a bit deeper, and they would have been performing a craniotomy. "I requested it myself. If it's for training, you naturally have to go somewhere more dangerous, or else there's no point." Karen picked up his teacup, took a sip, and asked, "You guessed?" "Mhm." Ophelia nodded calmly and picked up her cup as well. "It wasn't hard to guess. The place both of us know and have visited before is right here, plus you described your fiancée many times." Eunice brought over some pastries, set them down, and sat beside Karen. "Her Highness has been here for two days. We've gotten along wonderfully; she's been helping me design a saddle." Ophelia said, "I plan to have a few unicorns shipped over from the island. Eunice happens to enjoy riding horses too." "Thank you," Karen said. "It's not for your sake; this is a friendship between your fiancée and me. Don't look down on a friendship of two days. Some people seem born with the gift of putting others at ease. If I were a man, I wouldn't want to leave her side either. But I hear you don't come back very often." "Karen is very busy, and the things he does are dangerous," Eunice said. "Yes, yes, but you can't always be so gentle. Just like in a film, it's easy to lose screen time and fade into the background." Eunice smiled softly. "I'm in it either way." Ophelia chuckled and nodded at that. Eunice said to Karen, "Grandfather woke me up early after learning you were coming back, which made me so sleepy now. I'll go back to sleep first. By the time I wake up it'll be dark, and I'll make you a late-night snack. I've learned a few new things lately." "All right." Karen stood up and said to Ophelia, "Let's head to the study. I need to coordinate with you regarding the Moon God Church delegation." Ophelia stood up and said to Eunice, "Then I'll go to the study with him. He needs to coordinate with me regarding the Moon God Church delegation, heh." Eunice laughed too. Ophelia left first, while Karen helped Eunice lie down. Eunice looked at Karen and asked softly, "Does my presence make you feel unfree?" "What kind of talk is that?" "Like, does it make you feel constrained?" "What constrains me isn't you, but the upbringing of the Inmeles family. No matter what, family always comes first." "You know, Mother has always wondered why Father has never taken a lover all this time. It actually makes her feel a little slighted sometimes." "I bet your mother has a smile on her face whenever she says that." "I'm not being sarcastic." "Neither am I." Karen bent down, lightly kissed Eunice on the forehead, and said, "Rest well. I'll come back for you tonight." "Aren't you tired?" Eunice blinked with affectionate concern. "I got plenty of rest before coming over this time. I just finished a mission and I'm on a short vacation, so tonight you can prepare a few extra pairs." Eunice bit her lip and asked curiously, "Don't you ever get tired of them?" "The only thing one gets tired of is the style and color." Karen stood up, drew the bed curtains for Eunice, and walked out of the bedroom. In the Patriarch's study, Ophelia was admiring the portraits of past heads of the Allen family hanging on the wall. She had definitely been here before and had surely seen them already; she was just passing the awkward time while waiting. After walking in, Karen went straight behind the desk, sat down, and rang the desk bell. He was confident that the attentive Alfred would soon bring up pure water and ice. Next, Karen took out his cigarette case, drew out a cigarette, and lit it. "I remember you didn't smoke before." Ophelia walked over, pulled out a chair opposite Karen, and sat down. "A screen of smoke can diffuse the awkwardness." "Heh." "You're taking part in this reception mission too. I'd like to know the extent of your involvement first." "The directive I received was to accompany and protect. I don't know the specific details and procedures yet." "I'm in charge of their security, which means you might be temporarily assigned to my security squad." "Oh, is that so? I'm not very familiar with the Church of Order's regulations yet. If that's the case, should I stand up right now and say, 'Please look after me, Captain Karen'?" "I'm not joking. You need to be careful this time." "Hm?" Ophelia's smile faded. "Has the Moon God Church always harbored designs on Dark Moon Island?" Karen asked. "The Moon God Church is the orthodoxy of lunar faiths. It harbors designs on all lunar-aligned beliefs, but in the past, Dark Moon Island was too weak and underdeveloped, plus the waters surrounding Dark Moon Island fell within Samsara's sphere of influence. However, after Samsara's defeat and retreat, the Moon God Church did become much more 'enthusiastic.' Still, following that peace conference, the island already chose whom to rely upon. In fact, that's practically a consensus within the island's Council of Elders, because we have a natural aversion to the Moon God Church to begin with." Karen nodded and asked, "Another question: does the Dark Moon lack a concrete manifestation?" On Dark Moon Island, Karen had never seen any element representing a manifestation of the Dark Moon. Of course, anthropomorphic artistic representations didn't count; what mattered was how the Dark Moon royal family defined it. "It doesn't." "Truly none?" "I answer you as Dark Moon royalty: none." "The Dark Moon Goddess." "Hm?" Ophelia frowned in confusion for a moment, then froze. In the next instant, she shot up to her feet. "What did you just say?" Karen pressed his hands downward, motioning for her not to get too agitated. Ophelia couldn't help her agitation. She stepped closer to the desk and asked cautiously, "What did you uncover?" "Sit down and talk." Ophelia took a deep breath, nodded at last, and sat back down. Her emotional lapse was because she could tell Karen had seemingly discovered some secret or clue that could help manifest the Dark Moon. To a believer, that was infinitely more important than tracing one's family genealogy. "What I'm about to tell you cannot be sent back; you must keep it secret for now. You have to promise me that." "I promise. I swear upon my bloodline, upon my soul, upon my life!" "All right. The Dark Moon's legacy originates from the Dark Moon Goddess." "A goddess?" "What Dark Moon Island inherited is a damaged, lost legacy of the Dark Moon Goddess." "That the faith we inherited is incomplete is no secret. Generations of researchers on the island have hypothesized as much, but we lack the means to trace it back. No, more accurately, we poured vast effort into investigating it, but turned up nothing." "The mother of the Dark Moon Goddess was once offered as a sacrifice to the Moon God Artemis; the Dark Moon Goddess and Artemis bear a blood feud. I can vouch for the authenticity of that much. What follows is my speculation: I suspect that at some point in history, the Dark Moon Goddess sought revenge against the Moon God, but she ultimately failed. It resulted not only in her own fall, but also in the ruin and splintering of her Dark Moon Goddess Church. Strictly speaking, the current Dark Moon Island is very similar to the small sects that emerged after the collapse of the Sea God Church." Ophelia's eyes widened. What Karen had just spoken was enough to rewrite Dark Moon Island's history of faith. However, Karen didn't wait for her to digest the news, adding: "There is another possibility: that the present inhabitants of Dark Moon Island and the Dark Moon Goddess share the same lineage. In essence, yours is a family belief system, with the Primogenitor as the source, only modified by the Dark Moon Goddess." Ophelia's face filled with bewilderment. "This is merely my conjecture. I know it sounds absurd, but it really is possible." Take his own Inmeles family belief system: Diss was the progenitor and first-generation inheritor, while Karen, as the second-generation inheritor, had directly converted it to Order, to the point where "Diss" now wore the robes of a Temple Elder. Considering that the Dark Moon Goddess's mother had been sacrificed to Artemis, bloodline factors were likely involved. Furthermore, in that vision, the Dark Moon Goddess and the father beside her had both worn noble garments, proving that the Dark Moon clan had likely already developed into a sizeable populace by then. "I need to take some time to digest everything you just said." "Keep it confidential. I'll continue investigating as well." "Thank you, Karen. But I'd still like to ask... are there any texts or surviving relics to investigate?" "None." "All right, I understand. Thank you." Ophelia stood up. Knowing Karen wouldn't spin lies to deceive her, she bowed deeply to him. "During this reception assignment, you should watch out for the Moon God Church probing you. With Dark Moon Island's continuous growth, they might have regained interest in the island and the Dark Moon bloodline. Just like going to a vegetable market to check how fresh the produce is." "You mean people from the Moon God Church want to evaluate me?" Karen hesitated. From a purely self-interested standpoint, Ophelia was indeed well-suited to stand out front, draw attention, and take the heat for him, but deep down, he didn't want to do that. So, in the end, Karen shook his head and said, "It's very likely that the person they're looking for is me." "I am royalty." "You sound like a tenderloin telling a rib chop that you're more tender." Ophelia laughed. "You misunderstood me. What I meant is, I know what to do to keep you safe." Karen shrugged. "You misunderstood me too. What I meant is, all you need to do is follow my orders—that's how I'll be safest." "Fine, I understand, Karen." "Call me Captain." "Understood, Captain." Alfred knocked and entered, bringing pure water and ice. Ophelia stood up and said, "I'll go back to my room to cool down first." "All right, get some rest. I won't call you down for dinner." Ophelia left the study. Adding ice to the water, Alfred noticed the thoughtful look in his young master's eyes and asked, "Young Master, what is it?" "Alfred, I suddenly realized something. Maybe Neo insists on being called Squadron Captain every time not because he's obsessed with rank." "Then why, Young Master?" "It's because seeing this smug look on my face, he has to fight the urge to slap me."