There were voices all around me, each saying different things. I heard a woman laughing, and when I turned to look, I saw my adoptive mother. A young girl who looked just like me rushed over to her and hugged her—it must’ve been Lady Lulu.
“Lulu, I’m so glad you’re alive! Everything will be fine as long as you’re here,” mother said with a smile. She was the perfect picture of happiness.
The jet-black darkness chortled.
“If only that girl were alive. If only it had been her,” it whispered in the bewitching voice of a seductive woman.
My brother was staring at the scene with a hollow look in his eyes. “If Lulu had lived—”
“That’s right, boy. Nobody loves you. Nobody!”
I pulled Liam by the hand.
“That’s not true! Mother would never say that!”
Hearing my voice seemed to make Liam come to his senses.
“Y-You’re right. She wouldn’t.”
We both nodded at each other, but the darkness snickered like it was enjoying itself. The scene before us shifted, showing myself and Bal. We looked older, and Bal was donning a knight’s uniform. The sight made Liam flinch.
“I love you, Lune. I want you to marry me,” the phantom Bal said.
“That’s ridiculous—” I objected, but before I could finish, my brother suddenly brushed my hand off. “Liam...?”
“Don’t look, Lune,” he said, covering his face.
“Lune will choose Bal,” the darkness whispered. “She will choose the prince with the glimmering hair. You, the dark-haired one, will be abandoned.”
“Brother?! Snap out of it!”
“Hear that? She calls you her brother. And you’ll be nothing—”
“Shut up!” Liam shouted, flailing his arms to chase the darkness away.
“She hates having her tail touched, you know. But she can’t tell her brother no, so she puts up with it.”
Liam’s face paled as he turned to look at me.
“That’s not true! It feels nice! I let you do it because I love you!” I said.
“As a brother, that is. She’s just attached to you because you found her. But she doesn’t love you for who you are, Liam. And when she finds out about that, she’ll leave.”
“Shut up! I know! I’m fine with it. It’s fine!”
“Liar, liar, liar! That’s not what you want!”
“Just shut up!!!”
“You should take what you want by force. You can stop her from running. No one will see...”
As the darkness instigated Liam, the image before us changed again. An older version of myself was there, wearing the academy’s uniform.
“The uniform suits her,” Liam grumbled.
“Doesn’t it? But you already know, don’t you? You cannot let her go into the academy, and certainly not to any parties. If such a beautiful girl joined high society, everyone would be after her.”
My phantom’s attire shifted into a gorgeous gown. Indeed, in my past life Liam had forbidden me from going to the academy or attending parties. What I was seeing now was something I’d only dreamed of.
“Lock her up in the mansion. Nobody can see her. Nobody can know her.”
As the darkness whispered, Liam lifted his head. His purple eyes fixed on me.
“Lock her up... Nobody...” Liam mumbled vacantly, his voice mixing with that of the darkness.
“Brother, get ahold of yourself! It’s lying to you!”
“Lune...”
“I do love you!”
Liam smiled sadly. “Yeah. I know...”
The darkness roared with laughter at his feeble voice. “Ha! Such sisterly words!”
“Yes, and she’s right. I’m the one in the wrong here.”
In response to his words, a purple crystal grew all around him, imprisoning him. He curled up inside of it in a fetal position, gazing wistfully at my phantom.
“Brother!” I shouted, banging my fist against the crystal.
Yet Liam didn’t even look at me. His focus was entirely on the illusion created by the darkness.
“Brother! Brother!”
I kept hitting the purple crystal, but it didn’t even budge. In fact, its color gradually darkened.
“Look at me, brother! I need you!!!” I screamed. My tail began shining more intensely.
“Ugh! So bright!” The darkness recoiled. “A Renard finally came in here. If I can become one with his body, I’ll be set free! So don’t get in my way!”
The darkness slammed into me, causing me to fall down on my butt. I felt a strange sensation around my fingertips when my hands touched the ground. When I brushed some of the sand away, I realized that I was looking at a magic circle. I quickly started wiping all of the dust off using my hands and tail. Perhaps thanks to Lord Reineke’s power within me, I was able to reveal the whole thing in no time at all.
“This is...for summoning a spirit, right?” I murmured, gazing at the symbol written in the center. “Maybe it’s the summoning circle for the Lord of Darkness, Nott?”
When I said the name, the circle glowed a bit. It was the same shade of purple as my brother’s eyes. The jet-black darkness around him lit up too.
“Is that darkness Nott? But the only way to stop a rampaging spirit is to bind it with a contract using a magic circle!”
Lord Reineke had once taught me that.
“But I can’t have two spirit contracts. The only one who can do it in this situation...” I turned to Liam, who was still staring blankly at my phantom. “Brother! Look over here! The only way to stop this spirit is through a contract!”
I pounded my fist against the crystal, but Liam wasn’t listening.
“Brother?! Don’t ignore me!” I yelled with all my might, but he didn’t even spare me a glance. “Brother...”
My phantom now wore a wedding dress, walking side by side with my father toward Bal. My phantom’s tail wagged at the sight of him. However, his form suddenly changed into that of His Highness Hodr. I shuddered with disgust, recalling our wedding ceremony from my past life. I watched as he gently petted my phantom’s tail.
“Gross!” I exclaimed, my tail reflexively standing on end. Even though nobody was actually touching me, I still felt an uncomfortable sensation creeping up my tail.
Was this a prophecy from the Lord of Darkness? Or a curse?
I’m terrified that this vision will come true!
“No!” I clung to the crystal, my eyes overflowing with tears of dread. “I don’t want this! Brother, please! Look at me! Please! Stop that wedding!” I screamed as loud as I could. My tail shone even brighter. “Please, brother, listen to me! Don’t make me someone’s bride! I don’t want to go anywhere!!!”
I kept hitting the crystal, tears streaming down my cheeks.
At last, Liam looked at me.
“Brother, please! I hate this! I don’t want to be married off to anyone!”
“You...don’t?” he asked softly.
“No.”
“Not even to Bal?”
“No.”
“Not even to a rich man?”
“No.”
“Not even if you could go to a much more abundant domain?”
“No! I want to stay with you... Can’t I do that? Once I’m older, I’ll look for a job so I won’t drag the marquisate down. So please, don’t send me off anywhere...” I sobbed, clinging to the crystal.
Liam reached out to me from within his prison. He tried to wipe my tears away, but the barrier between us made that impossible.
“Lune,” he called out to me. “Don’t cry.”
“But you’re not coming out!” I knocked against the crystal again. “Come back to me, brother! I feel so alone and scared without you! Stay with me!”
My words must’ve resonated with him, as he bit his lip and raised his head, gazing into my eyes.
“Sorry, Lune. Step back a little.”
“But...”
“I’ll be by your side soon.”
With that, he drew his sword. It gave him such a commanding aura that I couldn’t help but stare at him in adoration. In a single strike from the blade, the crystal cracked.
“D-Don’t get the wrong idea!” the darkness screeched, desperate. “Lune’s only relying on you as her older brother! She’s just your sister!”
“I know! But that’s okay!” Liam snapped.
“This is all your fault!”
The jet-black darkness sent me flying back into the center of the magic circle.
“Lune!” Liam called to me.
I tried to get up, but pitch-black hands rose from the ground and grabbed my legs.
“No! Let go of me!”
I waved my shining tail, smacking one of the hands. It turned to ash, but new ones kept sprouting out of the ground.
“It’s over for you!”
A large black hand loomed above me, about to completely cover me.
“Brother!”
“Lune!”
Just as I screamed, the crystal shattered. Liam sprung forward, slashing the hand and pinning it to the center of the magic circle.
“If you make a contract with it, you should be able to stop its rampage!” I said.
Liam nodded and began chanting the spell while drawing the circle.
“Leader of night, ruler of the chaotic darkness out of whom light is born, Lord of Darkness, Nott—obey me!”
A purple light spread from the circle.
“Damn...” the jet-black darkness groaned.
Liam steadied his breathing and controlled his mana, all while pressing down the darkness with his sword. I hugged him, lending him my mana too.
The Eclipse Blade gradually absorbed the darkness. The once-beautiful silver sword was turned black.
“Give me your body instead, Liam. I can make all your wishes come true—wishes that a sword cannot grant,” the darkness whispered. “I won’t use it forever, only occasionally. How about it? You’ll get more power this way. If you let me dwell in your body instead of the sword, you’ll be able to get anything you want. You could even become king. Ah, as a first step, I’ll kill Bal for you. You don’t want Lune to become his bride, do you? No need to dirty your hands. I can do it for you.”
Liam raised his head, his purple eyes glinting wickedly. He had the bewitching smile of a demon. It was chillingly beautiful.
“See? It’s a good deal...”
Liam poured even more of his mana into the sword.
“I hereby make a contract with the Lord of Darkness, Nott. Protect me until my final breath.”
The Eclipse Blade and the diamond in its hilt shone with a purple light.
“Damn! Damn! Damn it all!!!”
The Lord of Darkness’s curses faded into silence as it was completely absorbed into the sword. Liam put it back in its scabbard, and it clinked into place.
“You miscalculated, Nott. I don’t want to kill Bal,” Liam said with a chuckle.
A small groan echoed from the sword in response to his gloating.
“So...is the contract complete?” I asked.
“It is,” Liam replied. He then hugged me. “I’m sorry for scaring you.”
“It’s okay.”
“And I’m sorry for making you cry.”
“It’s okay!” I shook my head and smiled.
My brother softly stroked my cheek and wiped away my tears.
“Let’s keep going. We’re after the dragon, after all,” he said, picking me up in his arms.