The immense amount of information and the extreme sorrow completely overwhelmed me. I felt as if the black rune beneath my feet had come to life, and countless sharp claws were reaching up from the depths of hell, dragging me down into an endless darkness.
I awoke in the darkness, gasping for breath. The fear and grief from the vision still held my heart in an icy grip.
A stone platform silently extended from the wall of the water prison, stopping in front of me. Morgana stood on it, watching me quietly. On her pure white ceramic mask, a series of twisted, changing expressions appeared.
"So… it really was you," my voice was hoarse, but exceptionally calm.
The expression on the mask shifted from surprise to amusement.
"From the moment Liam told me that everything pointed to the Lethe Shrine, I suspected," I looked at her. "Lisa, Nora… all the missing girls, it was you. And the death of the former matron, that was you too, wasn't it?"
"She was too nosy," Morgana's tone was dismissive. "As for her daughter, Finney, I was just 'mercifully' sending her to the Wailing Canyon. Whether she lives or dies is up to her own luck."
"You devil," I said, my voice filled with emotion. "I saw them! Lisa, Nora… all the missing girls, they've all been turned into those monsters you created!"
"The 'Tears of the Dream-Weaver' seem to have unlocked a great deal of your potential," the expression on the mask was one of pleasant surprise. "I didn't expect you to have the 'Moon Soul Sight' ability as well. You are full of surprises."
"Surprises?" I sneered through the pain. "I was just playing along. If I hadn't deliberately walked into your trap, how could I have seen with my own eyes the evidence of you imprisoning the concubines and creating monsters?"
"Evidence?" Morgana let out a small laugh, as if she had heard the world's greatest joke. "Do you really think you're getting out of here alive?"
She leaned over, trying to touch my face, but I angrily turned my head away.
"Naive child," her voice was filled with mockery. "You don't really think you discovered all of this through your own cleverness, do you? From Clara's betrayal to the trial in the council hall, every step was a clue I deliberately left for you. If I hadn't let you walk into this water prison of your own accord, into this state of despair, how could I have gotten what I want most?"
"What do you want?"
"What I want is your blood, right now," her voice was tinged with a fanatical zeal. "The ancient texts say that only in a state of extreme pain, fear, and despair can the 'Silver Frost Blood' be catalyzed to its most perfect form—it is no longer just a simple healing power, but the blood of a god that can control the 'soul' of a creation!"
With that, Morgana suddenly reached out and, with a silver ceremonial dagger, quickly cut my wrist.
Pure, silver-glowing blood flowed uncontrollably into the crystal vial she had already prepared.
In the throes of extreme physical pain and mental collapse, I gradually lost consciousness.
In the last moment before my consciousness faded into darkness, the image that flashed through my mind was that of the little girl, Nuoya.
Nuoya… you have to find Liam…
You have to… give him the dagger…
That is… our… last hope…
Morgana looked at the precious, liquid-moonlight-like blood in the vial and murmured with satisfaction.
"The violent power of destruction… and the sacred power of healing… are finally both here."
"With this, I can finally create… the perfect creation that transcends life and death."
She turned and disappeared into the darkness, leaving me, on the brink of death, alone in the cold water.
Several days had passed since Aila's arrest.
Ever since Lisa had disappeared, the task of washing all the laundry in the courtyard had fallen to Nuoya.
Another full moon was approaching. On this day, Nuoya woke up early and, with a heavy wooden cart, transported the concubines' dirty laundry to the river behind the Moon Shadow Courtyard.
Ever since the former matron had drowned in the well, this had become the new laundry spot.
The riverside was quiet, which gave her an opportunity.
When no one was around, Nuoya secretly took out the cold dagger she had been hiding.
It was an exquisite silver shortsword. The blade and hilt were forged from a single piece, its lines smooth and elegant. The guard was carved in the shape of a rose surrounded by thorns, and in the center of the rose was a warm, moon-white gemstone. In the morning sun, the entire dagger glowed with a soft, holy light.
Nuoya was mesmerized.
At that moment, as the warm sunlight happened to fall on the silver blade, a miracle occurred.
A line of text, as fine as a hair and previously invisible, slowly emerged from the smooth surface of the blade.
Nuoya couldn't read the complex script, but she recognized a few of the most crucial words—"full moon," "Liam," and "Aila."
She instantly understood.
She immediately put the dagger away and quickened her pace, her heart pounding with a great secret.
That evening, under the pretext of "changing Prince Liam's laundry," she carried a pile of neatly folded clean clothes and successfully entered Liam's chambers, where he was under house arrest.
She wrapped the dagger in the bottom layer of the clean clothes and presented them to him, then quickly left.
These past few days had been an eternity for Liam.
Aila was imprisoned in the Lethe water prison, her fate unknown. He had tried to leave his room several times but had been stopped by his uncle, Barton, under the pretext of "discussing political matters." Behind the affectionate mask was an undisguised surveillance.
That evening, when Nuoya entered his room with the clean clothes, Liam, as he took the basin, felt the familiar, hard shape in the bottom layer of the clothes.
He looked up and saw the girl's eyes, filled with a determined hope.
He gave a subtle nod and sent her away.
After the door was closed, he immediately took the "Moon Shadow's Sting" from the clothes. In the candlelight, he immediately saw the fine, now-visible script on the blade:
"Full moon, seek Liam, this as a token. —Aila"
Liam's mind instantly flashed back to their last conversation in the courtyard.
"All the clues point to the Lethe Shrine… but it's heavily guarded. No one can get in unless they're a follower."
"...Unless, through the water prison beneath it."
He suddenly realized that Aila's arrest was no accident! She had deliberately gotten herself captured to investigate the secrets of the shrine!
He looked at the cold dagger, and the thought of Aila, alone in the water prison, her fate unknown, filled him with an anxious urgency.
Tonight was the full moon. He had to act!
He quietly went to the door to check on the guards, and a hushed conversation reached his ears.
"Did you hear? The Lord Regent just gave a secret order."
"What order?"
"On the full moon, the Lord Alpha is secretly returning to the castle to personally execute that southern witch in the water prison!"
"Really? Isn't the Alpha still at the front?"
"Who knows. Maybe that witch really did do something to deserve it… come on, let's go see. We might get a reward."
Then, the sound of two pairs of footsteps, fading into the distance.
A chill ran through Liam. This clumsy performance was clearly a trap.
But he also knew that, true or not, Aila's life was in danger tonight.
Taking advantage of the guards' desertion, he grabbed the "Moon Shadow's Sting" and, without hesitation, rushed out of the room.
The Lethe Shrine was the most mysterious and forbidden place in the castle. Its entrance was not in any building but was hidden behind a giant statue in a deserted garden on the west side. It was said that its main structure extended all the way to the castle's foundations.
Liam didn't go there directly. He knew that one more person meant a better chance of success.
Under the cover of night, he snuck to the castle's dungeon. Tonight, the dungeon was also sparsely guarded. He easily distracted a few of the guards he knew and got the key to Ulf's cell.
"Ulf."
"Lord Liam?!" Ulf, chained to the wall, was both surprised and overjoyed.
"My uncle has set a trap for me in the water prison," Liam said, quickly unlocking the chains and handing him the "Moon Shadow's Sting." "This is a token from Aila. She is in danger tonight."
"Miss Aila saved my life," Ulf said, taking the dagger, his eyes burning with a fighting spirit. "I don't care if it's a trap or hell itself. I'm with you!"
He handed the dagger back to Liam and, grabbing a battle-axe from the weapons rack, he followed him, and together, they ran towards the secret passage to the water prison, a path of unknown dangers.