"Is he alright?" Luna's voice echoed as she stepped into Rich's study.
Rich had just returned from his fairly well-known store in Mierre-Park. The night wasn't too late yet, so his younger siblings had gone out with their friends to enjoy their last evening in Mierre-Park. Luna had deliberately given them a few gold coins to buy some things—maybe something that might help them at the camp.
"I mean Vincent. I don't know when Finn's men saw me entering the palace. Maybe it was when I came with Vincent, or perhaps after I came out of Rhea's room," she added to clarify who she was referring to.
"Vincent's fine. He stopped by the shop earlier to buy a knife. I'm sure he just wanted to let me know that he's doing okay." Rich said while still seated in his desk chair. "Take a seat, Luna. I know there's a lot you want to talk about."
Luna pulled out a chair to the left of the desk before finally sitting down. Just as Rich had said, there were many things she wanted to say. Her mind was filled with too much.
From the issue with Tom, to her two little siblings' disappointment, and then the uncertainty of life in the camp afterward. Luna sighed deeply a few times, clearly overwhelmed by it all.
"Should I have someone make some tea?" Luna lifted her head and slowly shook it. She'd make it herself if she wanted it—and right now, she truly didn't need tea.
"I just wanted to say thank you—to you, Jan, and especially Vincent. I didn't know your help would lead me to Rhea. Honestly, Rhea meant so much to me that I could travel this far." Luna looked into Rich's eyes—older than her, yes, but she felt he had helped her greatly even though they'd only met a few days ago. He had even prepared decent rooms for her friends and served them plentiful delicious food.
"Luna, listen. I help anyone who needs my help. All of you helped me—looked after me when I was injured by bandits. And don't forget what Elric did when I first arrived at the camp." Luna smiled at how Rich spoke. If her friends weren't good people, Luna wouldn't believe they'd have come this far.
"When you left, I honestly didn't know you had come." Luna replied to his earlier comment. "You know, I was the one most against Darren. He's so stubborn, it made me angry. I thought Darren was a fool for being so ambitious about staying in the camp."
"I'd probably think like you if I were in your situation, Luna," he said with a light laugh.
"Then, shamelessly, I started to feel at ease and was ready to stay there." She smiled. "I left that disgraceful job to be with my three younger siblings."
"Why do you think your job was disgraceful?" Rich asked, making Luna pause before responding. "Because you killed people?"
"Yeah, I killed them without mercy. Until I realized what I did would come back to me." Luna spoke plainly but calmly in her chair. "Was Rhea's death part of the karma I received?"
"I believe every loss teaches us something, Luna. Rhea surely knew you did what you did because you wanted to be useful, to support them." Rich's explanation made Luna turn and gaze deeply into his eyes.
He spoke like an older brother comforting his little sister. Luna felt embraced and soothed even though Rich never laid a hand on her.
"What do you think? Should I take revenge for what they did, Rich?" Luna asked in the bright room lit by kerosene lamps. "Even after two days, I can't lie—I'm still disappointed they did this."
"Who killed Rhea?" Rich returned Luna's gaze.
"Tom, Finn's right-hand man." Upon hearing Luna's reply, Rich didn't respond immediately. He turned his gaze to the window showing Mierre-Park's scenery from the second floor.
"You know that man?" He asked.
"Yeah. We once worked on the same team to assassinate a politician. I don't know what his motive was for killing Rhea like that." Luna was just as confused as Rich. "Do you know, Rich?"
Rich cleared his throat before answering. "His name's been mentioned often among palace guards. Pretty well-known—even Vincent recognizes him."
"By the way, tomorrow morning, we all plan to return to the camp," Luna said, changing the subject.
"Oh, really? Don't you want to wait until the day after? There will be a Harvest Festival in Mierre-Park." Rich's offer sounded appealing, but Luna immediately shook her head.
"Sounds fun, but I probably can't join. The camp would be left unattended." she declined politely.
"Come on, I'm sure this city will be packed with people from other towns. I heard the hotels and inns are already filling up with visitors wanting to enjoy the Mierre-Park festivals before autumn arrives." Rich didn't give up, emphasizing how lively the festival would be.
"It'll still be just as festive if enjoyed from the camp, don't you think?" Luna replied before rising and leaving Rich's study.
As Luna walked down the hallway, her arm was suddenly pulled, causing her to turn around and find Rich standing behind her. It was clear she was confused—why did Rich look so rushed?
"Back at the camp, be careful. There might be spies working for Finn," he warned her.
****
"Your Highness, Luna and her companions left Rich's house this morning—the wealthy merchant you've been asking about these past few days." Tom smiled upon hearing the report from a palace guard about Luna's departure. She wouldn't be ruining the party. Everyone knew the Harvest Festival was approaching.
"Good, I like hearing that. But I'm still puzzled why Rich allowed his house to be used by that group. We all know they probably don't have any money." Finn said lazily, resting his head on his hand. Today, the middle-aged man didn't seem interested in doing any work.
"I heard from one of the servants that Rich was helped by those people when he was attacked by our bandits. No wonder he welcomed them so willingly." Tom now understood why Rich had been so generous. Everyone would see Rich's actions as fruitless—unless they knew he owed them.
"Alright then, continue preparing the Harvest Festival before sunset. The celebration will still be held, even though the throne room was slightly messy a few days ago. There might be a few dried bloodstains on the red carpet." The man's eyes widened in shock.
Rarely was someone killed in the throne room. That place held great importance in Mierre-Park's palace. Doing such dishonorable acts there could have dire consequences.
Not to mention, they hadn't called a spiritualist to cleanse the room. It would take time, and they might miss the Harvest Festival.
"Your Highness! I don't dare make this decision. We must summon a spiritualist. This place needs cleansing before the celebration begins," the man pleaded on the dais, equal in height to the throne. "For your sake, for Mierre-Park, and for the Brisstol Empire, Your Highness!"
For kings, queens, or even emperors, dishonorable acts in the throne room were considered to bring misfortune to the kingdom. Everyone believed this—except Finn, who saw it as myth.
Everyone knew murder wasn't honorable. Rich had already refused the offer to cleanse the throne room. Only a heavy sigh was heard—a sign of surrender.
"Calling a spiritualist takes too long. Besides, cleaning this whole throne room would take fourteen days. We can't let all the visitors who came to Mierre-Park be disappointed by a festival delay," Finn refused firmly.
"But Your Highness—"
"I've never been interested in listening to superstition! That's just an old wives' tale. There's no such bad aura you're talking about! I prefer thinking logically!" Finn shouted in the middle of the throne room. To hell with tradition—Finn believed calling a spiritualist was just old folklore.
And Finn, didn't believe in that tradition at all.
****
"Darren?!" That voice made Darren, still on horseback, turn his head. It was still early evening when he arrived at the Everglow house—situated between Mierre-Park and the camp. It turned out to be Cal who had noticed his arrival from the second floor, standing beside Kael.
Darren, Richard, Max, and Evan dismounted. The wagon they had brought was left at camp. They continued their journey to Mierre-Park and unexpectedly met their friends at Everglow's house.
"Darren?!" Mia called as she walked toward the four newcomers. This time Mia and Thalia had stepped outside, alerted by the commotion Cal caused. "You came here?!"
"The camp's empty, so the others and I thought there was no harm in coming here," he said while observing the people who had come out of the house upon their arrival.
Darren tried to spot the ones who had been on his mind for days. Mia and Thalia were there, Cal and Kael had stepped out and warmly welcomed them with hugs. Not far behind Cal, Leon and Elric also appeared.
Now, only two names were missing from this small group: Luna and Rhea.
"Come in, we have a lot to talk about regarding the accident from the past few days," Thalia invited before Darren chose to enter the house, and crossed paths with the stubborn woman he hadn't seen in days.
Luna's face looked tired. Seeing Darren arrive, she seemed listless. If Luna was still alive, Darren knew who was the unlucky one this time.
He wanted to ask her about Rhea. But once again, Darren held his words. He wanted to give Luna time.