The Heroines Are After My Fortune

36 – Eternal Moonlight – 3

Lately, Luna only had to show up at a banquet to draw attention. With the pattern of, ‘You’re the first to make me feel this way…!’ many noble men became fascinated by her.

“Miss Luna, I hadn’t realized you had such a daring side.”

“…I had thought of you as loose, but I’m seeing you in a different light.”

This shift in atmosphere even reached the Earl’s ears.

CLATTER—!

“No, no, no, that won’t do…!”

“Luna. You are mine. I won’t give you to any other man——!!”

The Earl, wearing such a sinister smile.

In the end, he couldn’t hold himself back, and crossed a line.

It was one day when Luna was returning to her residence with Daniel after a banquet.

“An ambush…!”

“Lady, you must get a—!”

*Shooosh-*!

“Keuh…!”

An arrow, from somewhere, flew true and lodged itself in Daniel’s chest.

Luna, stunned by the unreal moment, screamed.

He didn’t so much as twitch.

“Daniel—!!”

At that instant, Viscount Fletcher charged in.

Unable to bear it any longer, he’d come to kidnap her himself.

“V-Viscount Fletcher…? Why are you…!”

“Heh, you should’ve come willingly when I gave you the chance. A woman who’s nothing but a pretty face making me go to such trouble…”

Then, a mark appeared on Viscount Fletcher’s hand.

She recognized it. The emblem of the Black Dawn, the kingdom’s most notorious crime syndicate.

“Were you behind the last incident, too…!?”

“Indeed, I didn’t expect you to take care of Morrison, but it seems your luck’s finally run out. Now, Luna, you won’t be leaving my manor. Heh…”

Fletcher, with his brutish hand, dragged Luna along.

She was about to be loaded onto something, about to be dragged away by this man, when-

“Halt.”

“…………!”

Daniel, once more, emerged like a hero.

A lucky thing, that arrow striking his necklace, sparing his life.

The crowd roared at his appearance.

“Yes, Daniel…! We believed in you!”

“Go, take down that sly baldy!”

Fletcher clicked his tongue at his arrival.

“Looks like he dealt with all my underlings…”

“…Aye, I’ve cut down every last one.”

“But foolish you are, knight. Had you played dead, you’d have kept your life.”

“How can one call himself a knight, feigning ignorance of his master’s plight, clinging to life? I cannot yield until I’ve cut you down and saved the young mistress…!”

“If death is your wish, then so be it.”

Kugugugung———!

The moment he spread his arms, the earth shook madly.

The ground cracked open, and a spirit appeared.

“King of the Earth Spirits, heed my call…!!”

The spirit emerging alongside him was not a mid-level, nor a high-level, but a Spirit King.

Truly, this could not have been a more despairing moment.

“Heh heh, I wonder if you can stand against a Spirit King?”

Bound forcibly by the machinations of the Black Dawn, the Spirit King seemed to have some of its power sealed, yet its might was still immense, enough to overturn the very earth.

Shockwaves pulsed relentlessly from the ground,

Daniel, he ran, dodging as best he could, to save Luna…

“Slow, you’re so slow…!”

“Kurgh———!!”

The shockwave hit Daniel square, full force.

Fletcher didn’t stay still there.

“Be buried in the earth forever.”

He shattered the ground, and Daniel, he fell, deep, so deep below. Luna screamed, but his eyes wouldn’t open.

“Danieeel————!!”

“Ah, sweet heavens…”

“In the end, he can’t win…?”

The spectators, their sighs heavy,

Daniel, falling, he too thought it all was finished.

But that instant, he saw her.

Luna, tears streaming, desperately wishing he’d live.

‘…I can’t die. Not before I make the young lady’s dream come true!’

Falling, still he gripped his sword, eyes closed.

Then, from his body, a mighty energy began to burst.

‘How to climb up?’

I have to sharpen myself, keen.

I am a knight,

Her blade.

In the end, there was only one thing to do to win.

‘I become the blade.’

“hhhaaah…!!”

Aura began to erupt from his body.

And then, Daniel began to feel the earth’s energy coursing through him.

Tap, tap, tap-tap—!

He began to quickly ascend, stepping on the falling debris and stones.

“You still haven’t given up…!”

Though he hurled several massive boulders using the Spirit King’s power,

*Crack—!*

Daniel, cutting through them with his aura, continued his endless climb, finally reaching Fletcher with his blade fully cloaked in aura.

“Th-this, this fool…! Protect me! Spirit King…!”

In that desperate moment, the earth spirit king resisted using his own power.

Thanks to that fleeting moment, Daniel was able to cut down the spirit king, forcibly reversing its summon. The manipulated spirit king expressed gratitude to him.

[Thank you…]

“Cough…!”

Having lost the spirit king, Baron Fletcher had no means of resistance, and in the end, he begged for his life, only to have his neck severed by Daniel’s blade.

“P-please, just spare my life…! Gurk—!!”

The situation, with Fletcher, the root of all evil, beheaded.

The threats that had haunted Luna were gone, resolved.

“Daniel… are you… alright?!”

“My Lady, I am fine. It is you who should be asking that question, are you well?”

“Yes, I’m alright.”

They worried over each other’s well-being,

A shadow falling across Luna’s face, even after being saved, once more.

“I feel like I owe you a debt I can never repay, not in a lifetime.”

“Debt? This is merely a knight doing-“

“The day I knighted you, it was the luckiest thing to ever happen to me.”

“My Lady…”

A subtle current flowing between them, many onlookers watched with approving smiles.

“Ahem, is something finally… happening?!”

“That heartless young miss, expressing gratitude like that? This scene alone is enough to fill my belly…!”

Just as they were staring intently at one another, the approach of several presences could be felt. They were the Royal Knights, arriving to pursue the Black Dawn.

“What in the world….”

“We were fortunate enough to eliminate a Black Dawn operative.”

The captain, examining the traces, realized this was no mere stroke of luck.

‘…That is undoubtedly Aura Blade.’

To other knights, it would remain unseen, but it was unmistakably the trail of ‘Aura,’ the hallmark of a Swordmaster. Someone of that skill would be counted amongst the top three warriors of the kingdom’s knights.

Knowing Daniel belonged to the Roslyn family, practically fallen nobles, the captain put forth a bold offer of recruitment.

“Say, you wouldn’t by any chance be thinking of joining our Order of Knights?”

An offer from the Kingdom’s Knights, practically a closed door for a commoner.

Considering his dream was to become the Knights’ commander, it was an obvious yes, yet,

“I am sorry.”

“…………!?”

“I am not yet…”

Daniel refused it.

Just as he was about to explain his reasoning, someone cut in.

“Daniel, how fortunate to find you here?”

It was Luna, who had been observing this whole exchange.

“You’ve been dismissed from our family anyway.”

“Miss, what…!?”

“Miss Luna Roslin, is that the truth?”

“Yes, our family is going through a period of austerity. Father said there’s no need for a simpleton knight who only ever puts his master in trouble.”

“Miss……….”

“Farewell, Daniel.”

And with that, Luna turned abruptly and left.

Daniel just stared blankly at her retreating figure.

The onlookers were simply saddened by the situation.

“Truly a cruel circumstance, to send Luna away when she was likely unwilling…”

“Hoo, you know, if Daniel’s dream doesn’t seize this chance, it’s a promise with no end.”

Daniel, dismissed like that out of the blue, returned to Roslyn Street to pack his things.

He hadn’t seen Luna for days, leading up to his departure.

“The young miss is unwell and wishes to see no one…”

“Is that so…”

He hadn’t yet heard her true feelings.

It felt like he would have to leave without even a single word exchanged.

“Lady Luna has vanished…!”

“……………!”

At those words, Daniel rushed headlong to Luna’s room.

An open window, she was not in that room.

At first, he wondered if it was the doing of the remnants of the Black Dawn that had been recently eradicated, but discovering something within the room, he knew. She was calling out for him.

Daniel ran with all his strength, somewhere.

And then, he was able to meet her.

“You were here, young miss.”

“You’ve come, Daniel.”

The reed field Luna had mentioned in passing.

A place she’d said was more beautiful than anywhere else, under the moonlight.

There were many places she could have been, but he somehow had the conviction she’d be here.

“Is there something you wished to say?”

“…Yes, I do not wish to leave your side, miss.”

“Why?”

“I swore an oath. To make sure your dream comes true…!”

“Is that really for *my* sake, truly?”

“… … …!”

*Is this truly good for both of us,*

Luna pondered, *or a deed born from wrong feeling?*

A noble young lady and a commoner knight, a relationship that cannot be, if they succumb to mere emotion and cross the line, only ruin awaits. She squeezed her eyes shut and soon, hurled a bolt of lightning at him.

“Daniel, I despise you terribly.”

“… … …!”

“So please, just disappear from my sight.”

Moonlight reflected, a sparkle on Luna’s cheeks, and tears trickled down.

The audience could not breathe. The deep, complex feelings she was expressing, were not the kind a person her age could express.

*‘I’m going insane….’*

*‘To progress even further than that play, what truly monstrous talent….’*

“………….”

Daniel gazed at Luna, silent.

He knew. That she was lying.

But Luna, too, knew he would realize.

She was telling a lie, begging him to see the reason behind it,

It was a ‘final stand,’ a plea for no further approach.

That’s how immensely high the barrier of this world, the wall of ‘status,’ truly was. In the hush where all eyes focused on Daniel’s next words, he looked up at the sky and spoke low.

“The moonlight is beautiful tonight, is it not?”

“…………….”

A remark completely out of sync with the moment.

But….

“…Pfft.”

Luna burst out a soft chuckle.

She wiped away her tears and smiled.

“Will you dance with me, Daniel?”

“It would be an honor.”

Luna extending a hand,

Daniel taking it, going down on one knee.

The instant their hands clasped, their eyes locked-

“Hah, what in the…!!”

“What am I even seeing…?!?”

The starlight in the sky,

The wide expanse of the yellow reed field,

Rene’s lustrous red hair,

Daniel’s composed brown hair,

Their flushed faces were returning to their natural hues.

The color screen, appearing for the first time, made the audience doubt their very eyes.

At that instant, a majestic orchestral score erupted.

The audience could no longer utter a single word. Now, they weren’t simply ‘seeing’ the beautiful spectacle before them, they were ‘experiencing’ it with their entire beings.

Luna and Daniel, hands clasped, began to waltz. The reed field where they danced had, before they knew it, transformed into a backdrop of a ‘moonlit night’. As if they had entered some beautiful fantasy.

“It’s been a while, I might step on your feet. Bear with it.”

“My lady is as light as a feather, it’s quite alright.”

“…A lie.”

“Was ‘feather’ a bit too much?”

Daniel grinned, and both realized.

This was a sort of signal.

‘Once a lie, then once the truth.’

The words he had offered her during the stressful banquet.

They had already exchanged a lie each.

Next, it was time to convey their honest feelings.

Their dance flowed like water, as if they had been rehearsing for a long time. And, instinctively, they sensed that this blissful time was drawing to a close.

Luna deliberated, again and again, until the very last moment.

And then, after much thought, she uttered a single phrase.

“Daniel, I will never forget this day, not ever.”

In the end, she did not voice the ‘certain emotion’ she had been harboring within her heart.

Thus, the two of them did not cross that irreversible river.

“…I, too, shall never forget this day for the rest of my life.”

Daniel doesn’t know if Luna’s dream of dancing with the one she loved came true.

But for him, this was enough.

He too, would never forget this day for the rest of his life.

Ten years later, a royal event.

“The new Knight Commander, Daniel Raine, come forth and receive your medal!”

Amidst thunderous cheers, Daniel, clad in armor, walked forward.

One step, then two.

As he walked, his eyes met hers.

Luna, attending the event with a man who appeared to be her husband.

“………….”

“………….”

Neither spoke, only looking at each other.

Her dream had come true, yet Daniel could not be by her side.

But even so, they smiled.

Even if they were not together, they both knew that the memory of that day held them strong.

And as they met each other’s gaze, before turning to their own paths,

the film ends.

“…………………….”

“………………”

A theater, still as a dead mouse.

Only sniffles echoed here and there. And then, before long, a standing ovation erupted.

‘Hmph, tears at this age, how embarrassing…’

‘How beautiful a tale this is….’

Two souls bound but unable to utter the words of love,

Yet feelings conveyed without a single syllable.

That is why this heartrending emotion touched the very core of the audience. In a society where ‘unrequited love’ was a stark reality, such a ‘plausible story’ possessed even more potent destructive power.

The influential figures of the empire’s premiere audience, weathered by life’s harsh blows, were those whose standards were impossibly high. If they were moved to such an extent, the conclusion was simple.

‘A colossal success……!!’

And so, the endless tempest of ‘Eternal Moonlight’ began.

A tempest so vast that it would raise the bar of the still-lacking cultural landscape itself.