When we first left the cave, by the time we made it back to the estate, I’d lost consciousness because of the contract I had made with the darkness. I was dragged into a nightmare.
In this dream, I played the part of my ancestor who had lost his sanity. I was in the royal palace, the Eclipse Blade in its scabbard by my hip. Before me stood someone with shining golden hair and brilliant eyes. Perhaps because this was a dream, I knew that this was the crown prince of that bygone era. Yet there was no sign of any light spirits around him.
The Lord of Darkness, Nott, longed for the Lord of Light. But there was no such presence in the crown prince, and so she lamented.
“It’s only a glimmer on the surface. There’s not even a fragment of true light left within him,” Nott’s voice echoed in my mind. It sounded indescribably sorrowful.
“I want her as my queen,” the crown prince said.
As soon as he spoke, my ancestor’s fiancée appeared. She had a dark look on her face, and silver hair just like Lune’s.
“I’m sorry,” she said, crying.
“She is my fiancée,” my body responded.
“That’s exactly why.” The prince smirked nastily. It was a vulgar look with not even an ounce of light.
“There’s no light left here. My light! My light!” Nott cried hysterically.
“You fell in love with her at first sight, so she must be a good woman, eh?” the prince continued. “I trust you, my darkness. My counterpart, O shadow of Garland. You understand, don’t you? And I trust in your loyalty as a Renard.”
The darkness swelled within me.
I won’t forgive this.
It began leaking out of my body.
“Her parents have already agreed. With my royal authority, I could break your engagement with her even today.”
The prince grinned, while my love sobbed quietly.
I won’t forgive this.
I groaned, clutching my body as I tried to suppress the darkness.
My fiancée’s lips moved soundlessly, mouthing out, “Forgive me.”
“You cannot forgive them. You mustn’t allow this. They have light no longer!”
Nott’s rage burst out of me. Before I knew it, the Eclipse Blade was in my hand.
“Kill! Kill! Kill them all! I don’t want a world without light! If there’s no light, I don’t need to be Garland’s shadow! Shadow cannot exist without light!”
I swung the sword, cornering the prince. One more step and his life would be snuffed out. But right then, a swarm of paladins seized me. They didn’t act alone either—anyone who could wield magic had surrounded me. I was captured by the strongest show of force the royal court could muster.
But the crown prince was squirming on the ground as if he didn’t have the strength to support himself. His once golden hair had turned white from terror.
“Why can the Renards make contracts with darkness? Why can’t the Garlands turn to light? Why were you always the chosen one? That woman chose you...and so did the Lord...” the prince mumbled, his eyes having lost their shine too.
“He’s mad! Marquis Renard has gone mad!” one of the paladins holding me down shouted.
My love had crumpled to the ground in tears.
To show their loyalty to the kingdom, House Renard vowed to never again contract the Lord of Darkness, and executed the mad marquis in the very spot where the contract had been made, atop a magic circle within the cave. Nott was released at the moment of his death, but by then the entrance and exit had been sealed by a scepter crafted from magical ore with light properties. And so that the Lord of Darkness would never awaken again, her very name had become a taboo within the kingdom.
People lost their faith, and so Nott grew weak. If her existence was forgotten and her name no longer spoken, she would eventually disappear.
Nott wept.
“There’s no light, no light... My light, my light... Without light, shadow cannot exist...”
She grew weaker with each day, crying in despair. But one day, the seal by the cave entrance was suddenly broken. When Nott saw me walking through the cave, she rejoiced.
“An heir of House Renard! My vessel!”
And when she spotted Lune, whose tail was shining, she was ecstatic.
“Light! Renard’s light! My light! This time—”
I finally awakened, covered in sweat and breathing heavily.
So that’s why the Lord of Darkness was sealed.
There had been nobody left who could contract the Lord of Light, so those who could contract the Lord of Darkness were seen as a threat to the kingdom. I was horrified to have learned the truth.
“This must be what Lord Reineke meant when he said the royals finding out about the broken seal would be dangerous,” I murmured.
Nobody could know about this, not even my parents. If anybody found out, I’d meet the same end as my ancestor from my dream. And this time, the Renard domain itself could come under attack for harboring traitors.
“Good thing I cast that spell to hide the cave.”
Although I felt relieved, the secret weighed heavily on me.
I can’t rely on anyone...
Lune’s face popped into my mind, as though a light had been lit.
Right, Lune already knows. She’s the only one who knows I have a contract with Nott.
“Once it’s morning, I’ll have to tell her to keep it a secret,” I said, feeling a pang of yearning. “But I don’t want to wait. I want to see her now...”
I wanted to make sure that she was safe and unharmed.
I changed out of my nightclothes and looked out the window. In the glass, I saw my own reflection, melting into the darkness. Outside, the silver moon was shining brilliantly.