Chapter 16 - Witch’s Moon

Chapter 16 – Witch’s Moon

Terio Alte soon left the terrace. Surprisingly, despite the terrifying expression he made, he didn’t lash out at the marquis. In fact, he was docile in front of him.

But Goyo speculated that the reason was most probably because he didn’t want to draw people’s attention to this place. And bickering with the woman he broke up with, would certainly draw no small amount of gossip. Or perhaps he thought it was too burdensome to pick a fight with the marquis since he hadn’t inherited his title yet.

Nevertheless, Goyo was grateful to the marquis. After all, he had helped her to chase away Terio. So, she softly conveyed her gratitude to him. “Thank you.”

Instead of responding, the marquis only briefly smiled at her before he moved towards the railing. After a slight hesitation, Goyo followed suit while keeping a respectful distance for them to converse comfortably.

Momentarily, a tranquil silence fell between them. The sounds of merry-making in the ballroom seemed so far away from them. Then the marquis looked up at the sky, causing Goyo to follow his gaze unconsciously. Inadvertently, her gaze landed on the moon.

In the eve of nighttime, she could see the reddish moon with color darker than even the marquis’ hair gently climbing up to stand atop them.

“It’s the witch’s moon tonight. Something strange usually happens on a day like this.”

Witch’s moon.

It was what people called the moon when its light turned from yellow to red. It was the day when the mana, which usually flows along with the atmospheric current, for some reasons, stagnates.

On these days, the stagnant mana would condense in the atmosphere and distort the view of the moon, thus making it look like a blood red.

And because of its eerie colors, it became known as the witch’s moon.

It didn’t earn its name only from the eerie color, but also because strange things often happened on the night of the witch’s moon. Though that might be due to the increase of mana activity.

This bizarre phenomenon was something that couldn’t be done with human magic and its occurrence was extremely irregular.

It’s a moon that invokes bad feelings.

Goyo frowned. As she recalled, it seemed that the day Goyo Alte closed her eyes forever was the night of the witch’s moon. And the same moon also rose on the day Goyo Rubiet opened her eyes.

Although she still couldn’t completely believe that she had returned to the past, to some extent, the existence of the red moon on those two day convinced her that it’s real.

“I’m usually grumpy on a stormy day. However, I’m good on a clear day without clouds… Fortunately, it’s sunny today.”

“… Pardon me? Didn’t you come here because you have something to say?”

For some reason, Marquis Bethelgius seemed to enjoy speaking freely without adhering to the convention. However, Goyo was not used to this, thus she shifted the topic to one they talked about before.

Only then did Bethelgius turn his gaze away from the moon and moved his eyes to focus on Goyo’s own.

Though neither Annecy Bethelgius nor Goyo Rubiet had red eyes, due to the witch’s moonlight’s influence, their eyes appeared to be rose-colored to those looking.

Two pairs of eyes, dyed with the same hue, looked at the other with

“I’m sorry that our previous conversation was cut short, but…”

The marquis’ fingertips brushed across Goyo’s bangs and touched her forehead. Startled by his action, Goyo reflexively took a step back. In her shock, she didn’t notice that her move brought her quite close to the railings.

“You look like you’re in a bad state, miss. So, I’ll postpone our conversation.”

This time, it was the man who turned around first. In fact, it was not the first time he did this. It was the second time already that he had disappeared after he was done talking with her.

Goyo frowned, displeased. Despite the fact that Goyo had decided to let things go as it would, she was still frustrated by the marquis before her. And how could she not be frustrated? The marquis had kept wandering around in front of her, but he always kept his mouth shut about what he wanted.

If his intention was to make Goyo Rubiet frustrated, he was good at that.

Unwilling to let him go just like that, Goyo decided to call out to Marquis Bethelgius before he could take another step away from her.

“Marquis.”

“Yes, miss?”

“Are you going to propose to me?”

The marquis, who initially didn’t even stop his footsteps at her call, suddenly halted in place. Then, he slowly turned his head around to look at Goyo. At this time, the perpetually polite smile he had on his face was gone, and all she could see was an impassive expression.

Then, he spoke quietly with an expressionless face, as if he was speaking to himself.

“It seems that was the only thing you knew.” Then, he added. “Well, if you know that I’m trying to get closer to the nobles, you might have expected it.”

“I’m not planning to show up at any other balls for the time being. So, I won’t have the time to meet Marquis. Thus, unless you are willing to brave society’s eyes on you and come calling at my mansion, please tell me any intentions you have towards me right now.”

“If that is your wish, miss…”

Annecy Bethelgius murmured and came closer to her. Alarmed, Goyo was about to step back. However, at this time, she realized that her back was already touching the railings. Before she could move away, Bethelgius’ large hands gripped onto the railings on either side of Goyo, leaving her with no way to retreat. At this moment, with her appearing as if she was trapped in the marquis’ arms, they looked quite intimate with each other.