Chapter 38: The Moon Shining Upon The Stars

“Hooot!!”

“…I got it, all right?”

The owl tugged my arm with its beak and was dragging me somewhere.

If it just let go of my arm and flew ahead, I would still follow it on my own, but it just won’t stop tugging my arm. In fact, my arm is starting to hurt now.

“I’ll follow you on my own, so go ahead!”

“Hoooooooot!!”

So, when I swung my arm vigorously in panic, the owl tightened its beak even more firmly and began flapping its wings.

As expected, it’s smart enough to understand the human tongue because it resembles its master, not to mention it’s tenacious just like her.

“…This guy.”

“Hoot, hoot!”

But at this rate, I felt like it would tear off my arm, so I began tickling the owl’s feathers.

“Hoo… Hoot…!”

Then the owl twisted its body, then released my arm and began glaring at me. After all, this guy has always been weak to tickles since my younger days.

“…I’ll follow you, all right?”

With that thought in mind, I glanced at the owl and it stared back at me with distrust in its eyes. The owl then perched on my shoulder. I think it’s trying to keep an eye on me.

“…Would you like some snacks?”

“Hoot.”

Having rotated and stretched my now free arm once, I picked up a cookie on the table next to me and offered it to the owl.

It turned its head slightly with a sullen look, but when I placed a cookie in its beak, it began to nibble on it with a look as if he had no choice but to do so.

I thought the owl looked cute, so I gently began stroking its head.

‘…Should I raise an owl as well?’

I do like animals a lot.

My favorite is cats, but I also like other kinds of animals besides cats.

Because it’s fine for me to be kind to animals.

In the previous timeline, ‘Animals’ were exempted from the crisis where I had to commit evil deeds in order to make the ‘Hero’s Armament’ rampage.

So, when I felt exhausted from continuously committing evil deeds, I would try to find solace in caressing kittens and by doing good deeds such as treating wounded animals.

Perhaps that’s why I always had an ardent desire for pets. Later, when everything is over, I plan to raise a black kitten that resembles the doll that Kania gave me…

“Hooot!!”

“…Ugh.”

When I paused to contemplate for a moment, the owl got anxious again and pecked my finger.

As I glared at the owl, it opened its beak wide in response. Upon seeing this, I hastened my steps and quickly put my hands behind my back.

“…Oh, Young Master Frey! Are you meeting someone here?”

However, while I was passing through the central hall, someone grabbed my arm.

“Ugh!”

“Hmm?”

It was also the part that the owl bit earlier.

I turned around looking slightly annoyed and found Isabel was staring at me with a bright smile.

“By the way, who owns this owl?”

Dressed in an overly flashy dress, she tilted her head and reached out to the owl. Upon seeing that, the Owl frowned, then hopped to my other shoulder.

As expected, this guy is a good judge of character.

“…Apologies, but I’m a little busy right now.”

Anyway, I tried to hurry up because I didn’t know when this owl would snap and tear off my arm, but Isabel blocked my way and spoke with a smile.

“I didn’t know that the Silver-haired Young Master could be so romantic.”

“Pardon?”

“’I’ve been in love with you for a long time’… Is there any woman who wouldn’t fall for you when you say such a romantic line with that charming face of yours?”

“What are you talking about…”

“It was like seeing a knight in shining armor riding a white horse, who showed up to rescue the Princess in her hour of need. You’re really amazing, Young Master Frey.”

I briefly stared at Isabel, who was speaking ecstatically, then turned around with an expression as if I was looking at someone pathetic and tried to walk past her…

“Did you see how all the young aristocratic ladies were blushing earlier? Oh, of course, their faces are still flushed red. Take a look over there.”

Before I knew it, she stood in my path once more and pointed to the young ladies whispering amongst each other in the distance.

“What do you think? How does it feel?”

“I don’t care, so get out of my way.”

When the owl on my shoulder began staring at me, I broke out in a cold sweat and was about to leave, but Isabel suddenly smiled and said.

“Then why did you choose the Princess?”

“…..?”

“Why did you choose the Princess when all she has is that pretty face of hers? Even her personality is filthy?”

“…Sigh.”

My patience finally reached its limit as I was frustrated by her constant carping. In the end, I opened the lid to those suppressed emotions..

“Well, as I said before, tastes can be unique. By the way, you said we would dance together last time? If you don’t mind, can we do it now…”

“Don’t you realize both your personality and appearance are inferior to the Princess?”

“…Pardon?”

So, when I spoke with an icy look on my face, Isabel was stunned.

“No… I don’t think it’s even right to compare you to the Princess. Your personality is trash, you’re lacking in appearance, and you don’t even value your chastity? Do you really believe I’d want to associate with the likes of you?”

“Wh-What do you mean…my appearance is pretty… enough to be on par with the Imperial Princess…”

“…Sigh.”

As I looked at her, who began stammering in embarrassment, I added.

“…You can’t even beat my butler in terms of looks.”

Having said that, I turned my back on her as she began screaming.

“I knew it…! You’re in an intimate relationship with that bitch aren’t you…? Despite that you even proposed to the Imperial Princess? I’ll spread this fact to each and every family’s informant and soon it will be known to all the people of the Empire…! “

“…Please come with me for a moment.”

“W-What?”

However, the next moment, the Imperial Knights appeared and grabbed her arms. Meanwhile, Isabel looked at the knights in bewilderment.

“Wh-What are you guys doing? Why aren’t you letting me go?”

“…This is the order of the Crown Prince. If you resist, we will use force.”

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Soon she began struggling, but the moment the knights firmed their grip around her arm and mentioned the Prince, her complexion turned blue as if she had been stabbed.

“Hold on! I think there’s been a misunderstanding… Kyaa!”

However, the knights didn’t care about Isabel’s pleadings at all, and in the end, she was dragged away by the knights with a soulless expression on her face. While being dragged, she still kept yelling at me.

“F-Frey! You did this, didn’t you? Last time I suffered from a stomach ache for a few days, and now this! You were behind them all!”

I moved aside as I roughly listened to Isabel’s incessant howls. She was glaring at me as if to kill me.

“I’ll curse you!! I’ll curse you!! I’ll show you…”

“…Noisy woman.”

However, soon the knights knocked her out by hitting the back of her nape, and then proceeded to drag her limp body.

“”……..””

And the people who glanced at her for a moment soon averted their gaze and then began gossiping among themselves.

‘…At times like this, the notorious image I forged long ago is quite handy.’

There was quite a bit of commotion, but people didn’t take it that seriously because I was involved in the incident.

No matter how much the aristocrats are fond of incidents and gossip, they pay no heed to political problems regarding me and women or any violent incidents involving me and young masters of other noble households, because it’s an everyday incident.

Due to that, I was able to remove quite a few villainesses without anyone realizing.

“Hooot!”

While I was immersed in such thoughts, the owl flapped its wing at my face and let out a stern cry.

“…You’re not going to cut me any slack because of this incident, are you?”

“Hooot!!”

When I inquired as such, it managed to understand my words and began nodding its head vigorously.

“Lord Frey? May I have a moment.”

I chucked and fed the owl another cookie, but soon someone called my name while I was on my way.

“Sigh… Really, who is it this time…!”

Because of this, I felt really annoyed and when I turned around in annoyance the real ruler of the Empire was standing in front of me.

“…I greet the ‘Twin Sun’ of the Empire.”

“Nice to meet you.”

I hurriedly fixed my expression and greeted the Empress, who responded with a bright smile. She then nodded her head and signaled the servants.

Then the servants standing behind her stepped forward and handed me something.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a small token of my sincerity.”

“…But it doesn’t seem small at all.”

What she handed to me was a blank check.

“I’ve heard good things from my children.”

“I see.”

I answered calmly while masking my perplexed state. Meanwhile, the Empress smiled and said.

“Even though it was a little embarrassing initially. Shouldn’t I do my best to help you since we’re on the same side?”

“…Thank You.”

“If you need anything else in the future, just tell me. I’ll make it as convenient for you as possible.”

“Sure.”

As I was trying to end the conversation with her by answering as concisely as possible, the Empress suddenly erased the smile from her face and spoke with an impassive expression.

“And next time, if something like this happens, make sure to discuss it beforehand, all right?”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

If it were anyone else, they would have trembled at the aura emitted by the Empire’s real ruler, but I could reply to her in a composed manner because I even faced the Demon King.

“…Well then, farewell.”

The Empress looked at me with slight dissatisfaction, then disappeared with her entourage of servants.

“I’m sick and tired of this.”

I was already tired of these political maneuvers and psychological warfare, so I sighed and shook my head. Meanwhile, the owl began pecking at my shoulder with an irritated expression.

“It hurts! It hurts!”

“HOOOOOT!!”

In the end, after getting pecked by the owl everywhere, I used the stellar mana to erase my presence and then began heading towards the place where the owl was pointing with its wings.

‘…This time I won’t run into the Emperor, right?’

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“Is this the place?”

“Hoot.”

Fortunately, I didn’t cross paths with the Emperor.

As I heard later, the Emperor burst into laughter once more when Serena broke in during the meeting. Soon afterwards, he ran out of steam and felt exhausted.

Because of this, for the time being, it seems it will be the era of the Empress.

‘… It seems that Serena chose this place.’

Anyway, I wasn’t caught by the Emperor, the young ladies, or my drinking partners, and was able to arrive safely at the place led by the owl. And before my eyes the beautiful lake was illuminated by the Moonlight.

“…By the way, what happened to Serena?”

“Hoot?”

However, I asked the owl on my shoulder when I couldn’t see Serena, who was supposed to be here. It tilted its head and shrugged its wing.

‘Did it fly out on its own to find me?’

I frowned while pondering about such a possibility, but suddenly something began flashing in the grass from afar.

Because of this, I approached the grass and leaned over cautiously.

It doesn’t seem to be anything relevant… but when I meet Serena, I’ll have to be careful of her family and need to be cautious.

“…Meow.”

“What? Is it a cat?”

Right in front of me was a black cat.

Upon seeing it, I felt relieved, but suddenly I sensed a presence behind me

“Hoot!”

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I momentarily froze, but when I saw the owl on my shoulder flew away with a welcoming expression on its face, I immediately guessed the identity of the person behind me.

“You kept me waiting for a long time.”

“…Serena.”

While I was staring at her drenched in cold sweat, Serena suddenly radiated subtle lunar mana from her body.

“Meow!”

Then, the cat behind me quickly ran away and climbed up to the tree. Serena smiled upon seeing this.

“…I kicked out the stray cat. I did well, right?”

“Yes…”

Dark mana lingered on the spot where the cat disappeared, so I roughly figured out the situation. I then turned my head slightly to avoid her gaze.

“Are you a kid?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you being so childish? No matter how many theatrics you show me, I can tell you’re not sincere.”

“……..”

Then, after hearing Serena’s words, I came up with a hypothesis I had been thinking about earlier

‘…Don’t tell me, her memories have been erased?’

Serena is one of the ‘Main Heroines.’

In other words, she inherited the memories of the previous timeline due to that unknown penalty.

So, under normal circumstances, she should have been plotting to kill me right now or had already killed me, or at the very least despised me.

Because even though she tried to rehabilitate me till the end, during the last moment she began hating me and hurled curses at me.

However, now, far from hating me, she’s still trying to rehabilitate me somehow, like she did in my previous life.

“…Let’s go for a walk.”

“Yes, let’s go for a walk.”

There is even this ❰Absolute Obedience Magic❱ cast on her. Even now, she is still willing to walk along the shore of the lake with me without questioning my words?

“…Serena, look at me for a second.”

“Yes.”

In the end, unable to bear this frustration, I used the ❰Mind Reading❱ skill while looking at her.

“…Ah.”

And the next moment, my mind went blank.

[ Serena Luna Moonlight’s Current Emotion: Love / Concerned / Hatred / Anxiety]

Apparently, she did lose her memory.

And…

‘She truly loves me with all her heart.’

“…Frey? Is there something floating in the air?”

As I clenched my teeth to hold back my tears, Serena suddenly opened her eyes wide and reached out to the air.

“I think you’re staring at a square plate that’s formed roughly from here to here… by analyzing the tremors in your eyes, it’s probably something opaque and has text written on it…”

“…No.”

As she tried to deduce my system window with a curious expression on her face, I quickly averted my gaze from it and shook my head in denial. She then heaved a sigh and asked.

“So, what kind of black magic are you planning to use this time?”

“…What?”

“What evil deed are you planning to commit this time?”

I frowned upon hearing her remarks, as she kept staring at me with a worried expression and continued speaking.

“You must tell me so I can hide it or cover it up from behind the scenes. Please tell me.”

“…I’ll be fine.”

As I glossed over her words and moved slowly, she followed me and continued speaking.

“Frey, something’s wrong with you. You look way more worn out and tired, as if you have aged a few decades since the last time I saw you.”

“It must be because of my mood.”

“No, it’s not your mood. The slight tremors of the muscles, the deformation of the eyebrows, and the shape and tone of your expression somehow changed…”

“Stop prying.”

I urgently ordered her when she began digging too deep. She nodded her head in affirmation and continued walking in silence.

“…Look at that. Isn’t the Moonlight so beautiful?”

Eventually, she stopped in the middle of the lake, then pointed to the distant moon shining in the sky.

“…I hate the moon.”

“Don’t lie to me. You said you liked the moon the most among the sun, the moon, and the stars when we were young.”

I spoke to Serena in a low voice, but she immediately rebutted my words.

My favorite memories are those of my childhood, but at times like this, it’s rather uncomfortable.

“…And you said you hated the sun the most.”

Seren smiled bitterly for a moment, then soon began glaring daggers at me.

“But what happened today?”

“About that…”

“You’ve crossed the line by openly proposing to the Imperial Princess by using the covenant in a place where all the important aristocrats of the Empire have gathered.”

“……..”

I couldn’t utter a single word after seeing the furious look on her face. Soon she eased her expression and said.

“…if the Moonlight family didn’t have a covenant, it would have been a disaster.”

“Serena.”

“They said it’s for one year? Is that the grace period?”

I tried to say something, but she cut me off and continued speaking while smiling bitterly.

“For a year, I’ll do everything I can to change your mind.”

“I…”

“I’ll keep trying and continue working hard to make you look at me again before the year ends… and capture your heart once again.”

After saying that, Serena approached me without leaving a moment for me to say anything…

– Chu

Then She kissed me

“Although this might mean nothing to you because of how experienced you’re…”

After such a long time, Serena spoke slowly and said with a soft smile.

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“…but it’s still my first kiss, so I hope you’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”

Upon seeing her like that, I clenched my teeth, then closed my eyes tightly and gave her an imperative command.

“Serena…”

“Yes?”

“…Don’t love me.”

I felt my heart shatter into pieces when I uttered that command. However, the response I got was something I never expected from her.

“I don’t want to.”

“Huh?”

After staring blankly at her as she responded with an impassive face, I hurriedly began giving orders again.

“Don’t love me.”

“How do I do that?”

“Then don’t worry about me.”

“I don’t know how.”

I broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing her continued rejection, but Serena opened her eyes wide and inquired.

“Why are you speaking in an imperative tone? Are you brainwashing me?”

“Forget everything I’ve ever said in an imperative tone.”

I felt the system window flickering in front of me for a moment, and when I gave the command urgently, Serena nodded and began staring at me with a vacant gaze.

“…If you know anything about the ‘weakness’ of ‘Absolute Obedience Magic,’ explain everything at once. I don’t know much about it.”

When I asked her that question, Serena nodded her head once more and began speaking.

“The weakness of ‘Absolute Obedience Magic’ is that it can’t give orders that can harm the subject who obeys them. The reason is that the Demon King who invented this magic a thousand years ago deliberately put this restriction on purpose in order to rule out the threat to his safety posed by this spell… The theory behind this magic…”

“…That’s it.”

Having figured why this had happened, I took a deep breath and gave her an order.

“Don’t be so sure about everything related to me in the future.”

“…Understood.”

This way, I won’t be threatened by the penalty because of Serena. This is because the system penalty only activates when the person is absolutely ‘certain.’

However, having committed a grand act today, my life will be threatened by her soon or later in ‘another way.’ Of course, not because of her will, but because of the will of her ‘family.’

My guess is that Serena is the one who decided to cast ❰Absolute Obedience Magic❱ on herself … maybe it’s the system, but it’s highly likely that she did it on her own will.

So, from now on, I have to figure out a way to save Serena’s life… while also try finding a way to stop the Moonlight Ducal family from persecuting her. On top of that, I need to deal with the curse of the system that’s cast upon those who are worried about me…

“…I’ll give you the love letter next time. I crumpled it up in anger earlier.”

As I was immersed in such thoughts for a while, Serena spoke to me with a shy expression on her face and a moment later, bid her farewell.

“Well then, farewell.”

Having said that, Serena turned to the carriage that had been waiting for her in the distance with a subtle smile on her face. After momentarily looking at her, I also turned to the carriage waiting for me on the other side, but—

“Oh right.”

My footsteps came to a halt, and I glanced back when I heard Serena’s voice from behind.

“I love you.”

Then Serena, who glittered under the mellow moonlight, smiled broadly and uttered the words she had always said to me.

After seeing her like that, I turned around once more with a bitter smile on my face and began heading towards my carriage—

“…Perhaps?”

However, when I heard her following word from behind, I once again came to a standstill and took out the letter I had kept in my pocket until then.

– I’ll see you soon.

P.S. I love you (perhaps?)

Serena Lunar Moonlight

Soon after, I reread the contents that had been illuminated by the mellow moonlight that shined upon her and muttered with an absurd expression.

“… Don’t tell me you have calculated this far?”

Looking back, my fiancée has always been an unparalleled genius.

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<b>– Serena. Do you realize what you did?</b>

“I apologize, but…”

After such a long night, the dawn has finally arrived.

<b>– How dare you use the covenant of the Imperial family and the Moonlight family without consulting us? You even did that for Frey…</b>

“But that’s the only way…”

Serena, who was riding in the carriage, was talking to someone using a communication crystal ball with an aggrieved expression on her face.

<b>– The Sunrise Imperial House is the sun that brightens the dawn of the Empire, the Moonlight Duchy is the moon that illuminates its dusk, and the Starlight Duchy is the star that shines upon those devoid of their light..</b>

“Yes, I know.”

<b>– This balance has been maintained for a millennium. However, the evil heir who appeared in the Starlight Ducal family for the first time in a thousand years is trying to break that balance.</b>

Upon hearing those words, Serena began speaking urgently while drenched in cold sweat.

“B-But… My Lord, I made a new appointment with him today. So, if you give me a year…”

<b>– Today, Frey abandoned you and proposed to the Third Imperial Princess. At that point, the opportunity given to you was already over.</b>

“…”

However, when the Lord’s cold words flowed out of the crystal ball, Serena closed her eyes. Soon afterwards, the Lord gave her a crueler order than anything else before.

<b>– Kill Frey Raon Starlight as soon as possible.</b>

“…Pardon!?”

<b>– All the elders of the Moonlight family, who secretly guard the night of the Empire, have agreed.</b>

“But I…!”

Upon hearing those words, Serena panicked and screamed, but right at that moment, magic circles appeared all over her body as Serena began trembling with fear in her eyes.

“Acccckkkk!!!”

Eventually, when the magic circle began glowing, Serena shrieked in agony and the icy voice of the Lord was heard once again from the crystal ball.

<b>– Don’t forget that you’re under the curse of ❰Familial Subordination❱.</b>

When those words were delivered, the light of the crystal ball went out, and Serena muttered under her breath while trembling.

“Still, I… can’t give up on him…”

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She tried to speak calmly while holding on to her fading consciousness, but just before she collapsed, she uttered a word after struggling for a bit.

“…Perhaps.”

Having said that, Serena eventually lost consciousness and collapsed, and the carriage of the Moonlight Ducal family began heading towards the Sunrise Academy.