The Daughter of Evil - Volume 3 - Chapter 3.23

Chapter 3, Section 2-Full Moon Visitor; Scene 3
Praeludium of Red, page 181-184

✥ Kyle ~In the Lucifenian Palace, “Corridor”~

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I was in the great corridor linking the Hall of Mirrors and Hall of Sounds. The various golden furnishings set up in there never lost their shine even in the dead of night. Perhaps that was a result of the moonlight coming in from outside the window.

There was a beautiful full moon tonight.

On a night like this a demon flying through the air wouldn’t be out of place.

On nights of a full moon, a demon comes out–I recalled hearing such fairytales when I was young. Had it been my wet nurse who told them to me, or my mother, who always favored stories like that? I couldn’t remember, even upon pondering it for a little bit. Memories from childhood were always fuzzy.

There were quite a few paintings on the ceiling. Like the one in the Hall of Mirrors, these were all painted by Nikolay Tolle. To live surrounded by the works of the man who shut my future as a painter was like a cruel irony, wasn’t it?

I would like to get rid of all of the paintings. However, despite the fact that I harbored a resentment for Nikolay Tolle that made me want to spit on anything related to him, at the same time I admired his work more deeply than anyone.

There was no doubt that the group of paintings put up in the Lucifenian palace was some of his best work. As someone who had once sought to become an artist, I could never bring myself to end such fine art pieces by my own hand.

Nikolay had committed suicide six years ago. The one who could paint those pictures was no longer in this world.

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Even though it was midnight, not everyone was asleep. As I walked around the corridor, a young guard spotted me and started to speak to me.

“Do you need something this time of night, Your Majesty?”

“I just couldn’t get to sleep. I’m taking a midnight stroll.”

“Try not to wander about too carelessly. Things have been a bit dangerous as of late, so don’t let anything serious happen.”

The armor he wore was brand new. Seemed this was a new recruit.

“Isn’t that what you guards are here for?”

“You’re quite right…By the way, I heard during the shift change that right now we have Miss Yukina Freezis here in the palace.”

“Yes, she’s staying here tonight. Is there something wrong with that?”

The guard hesitated, as though he was reluctant to speak, before finally cutting in, “Do you think she might…give me her autograph?”

“…Ask her yourself in the morning.”

It was right then that I heard a loud boom from the room on the opposite end of the courtyard.

When I looked towards the noise, I saw that the room’s window was broken.

“Well, before getting an autograph you better do your job. Looks like something’s happened,” I prompted the guard.

He hurriedly headed for the room. Watching him go, I realized something.

Wasn’t this the room that Yukina’s servants were staying in?

The Almoga Mobarez. Those strange servants wearing masks. Hopefully nothing unusual had happened.

“Oi! Wait a second!” I called to the guard from earlier.

“Yes sir! What is it?”

“I’ll go with you. Escort me.”

“Looks like there’s been some trouble. It looks dangerous, so please leave this to me, my king.”

Even if he hadn’t told me directly, I could tell that there was some trouble just by looking.

“That is a room that guests are staying in. It would be a disaster if they were to get injured. No, I’ll step back immediately only if it turns out to be fine.”

“But if something happens to you…”

“Don’t you lecture me. It’s your job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Taking along the reluctant guard, we headed for the room that the servants were in.