The Luna Of Nine Lives

The Moons chone

I stood among the ranks of guards, watching the chaos unfolding before the ruins of the temple, my heart beating strangely. It was not from the excitement I should have felt at the success of my plan, but because something was bothering me, something I could not explain.

Draven stood in the center, loudly reading out the arrest order, and I watched Yura freeze like a statue of ice. This was supposed to be my victory. I was the one who had manipulated Kale into removing Vero. I was the one who whispered fears into his ears about losing Yura until he acted recklessly. But hearing the order, capture Yura alive, something inside me suddenly tightened, as though part of this plan had gone far beyond anything I had ever imagined.

I thought I was helping Kale get rid of Vero.

I never imagined that the person he truly wanted was Yura herself.

From where I stood, slightly away from the crowd of guards, I had a clear view of the altar inside the half ruined temple. And that was where I witnessed something that made my breath catch.

The crescent moon symbol carved into the stone wall, which had previously been nothing more than an ancient carving worn down by time, began to emit a soft silver light, pulsing like a heart that had just awakened from a long sleep.

Not a single guard noticed it. Their eyes were all fixed on Yura and Vero, who stood protectively in front of her, his body tense and ready to strike.

But I noticed it.

I had always paid attention to the things other people overlooked. That was how I had survived in this castle for so many years.

And I watched as the light grew brighter every time Yura moved, as though the symbol were breathing in rhythm with her heartbeat.

What is this? I wondered, my hand unconsciously curling into a fist at my side.

An old memory suddenly surfaced, something I had read years ago in my adoptive mother's private library, inside an ancient scroll that almost no one had ever touched.

The legend of the Moon Goddess.

According to the legend, thousands of years ago, the Goddess had bestowed a blessing upon a woman she personally chose. She was not an ordinary Luna who inherited power through bloodline, but someone chosen directly by the will of the moon.

They called her The Moon's Chosen.

It was said that anyone chosen by the Goddess would remain under Her protection. Every threat directed at her would meet a dead end, as though fate itself would deflect danger before it could ever reach her.

I had always considered the story nothing more than a bedtime tale, something the elders whispered to frighten children into obeying ancient traditions.

But now, watching the light pulse in rhythm with Yura, hearing Draven's words about "who the Blood Moon Eclipse truly needs," that old legend suddenly felt far too real to ignore.

Her dreams about the moon.

The symbol reacting to her touch.

The visions she claimed to have experienced.

All the pieces began falling into place inside my mind, forming an image that made my stomach turn cold.

Could Yura... be The Moon's Chosen?

And the moment that thought entered my mind, another memory followed, then another, like pieces I had left scattered for years without ever putting them together.

I remembered the poison I had once slipped into Yura's wine several months ago, poison that should have taken effect within hours.

Yet Yura had only fallen mildly ill for one night before recovering as though nothing had happened, as if her body had simply rejected the poison.

I remembered the "accident" I had arranged during the last winter hunt. A wild wolf I had deliberately lured toward her.

Instead, the wolf turned and attacked another hunter, while Yura walked home without a single scratch, completely unaware of how close she had come to death.

I remembered another attempt, the one that had come closest to succeeding.

A nobleman I had secretly paid to create chaos on the tower stairs, precisely when Yura was passing by.

He was the one who fell, breaking his leg, while Yura merely stumbled and laughed softly at her own clumsiness.

Every time.

Every time I, or anyone else who wanted to get rid of her, tried, something always changed direction at the last second, as though an invisible hand were shifting the course of fate.

I had always thought it was nothing more than luck.

Now, I was no longer certain.

What if it wasn't luck?

What if it was the Moon Goddess protecting her?

The thought was so terrifying that I could barely breathe.

I turned my gaze toward Vero, trying to find a clue in his expression, searching for some sign that perhaps he had known all of this for a long time.

But what I found was the opposite.

Vero stood rigid, his body like a wall shielding Yura from the surrounding forces, yet his eyes revealed something I had rarely seen in a Supreme Commander who was always calm and controlled.

Pure shock.

Genuine confusion.

Even Vero, who had always seemed one step ahead of everything, who always knew what to do even in the most difficult situations, now looked just as lost as the rest of us.

He doesn't know, I realized.

Even Vero doesn't know the whole truth about Yura.

If Vero doesn't know, then who does?

Only Kale?

How long had he been hiding this secret?

How long had he been planning everything in silence, waiting for the right moment?

"Take her," Draven ordered, his firm voice breaking the suffocating silence.

Several guards began moving forward, their hands reaching toward Yura, who still stood rigidly behind Vero.

But as they drew closer, the symbol on the temple wall lit up again.

This time, it was brighter.

More intense.

Silver light flooded the entire altar.

The air around us suddenly grew heavy, as though an invisible pressure were pressing down from every direction.

The guards stopped.

Their faces turned pale, their previously confident steps becoming hesitant. Some of them instinctively took a step backward, as though their own bodies were refusing to move any closer.

I felt it too.

That pressure.

It was as though something unseen was warning all of us not to take another step.

And in the middle of that radiant light, I saw something that made my entire body freeze.

Behind Yura, faint yet unmistakably clear to my eyes, appeared the figure of a woman formed from moonlight itself.

She was transparent and radiant, her figure shimmering like dew beneath the light of the moon. Her face was not entirely clear, but there was an elegance and authority about her that I could not deny, even though I saw her for only a brief moment.

The figure turned.

And for a fraction of a second, I was certain, absolutely certain, that her eyes met mine.

It was not an angry gaze.

Nor was it threatening.

It was a warning.

As though she knew exactly who I was.

As though she knew everything I had done.

As though she knew every scheme I had constructed in the shadows of the castle.

And she wanted me to understand that the path I had chosen could go no further.

A second later, the figure disappeared as though she had never existed.

I looked around, but not a single guard appeared to have noticed what I had just witnessed.

Even Draven, who stood closest to the altar, merely frowned in confusion as he watched his guards hesitate, completely unaware of the true reason behind their fear.

Only I had seen her.

My heart was still pounding as I slowly stepped away from the crowd, my mind racing.

I did not know for certain whether Yura was truly The Moon's Chosen from the ancient legend.

I did not know whether the baby Kale had been searching for all those years ago was really her.

But there was one thing I now believed with all my heart.

Kale could not be allowed to take Yura this easily.

I did not know where that conviction came from.

I did not know why I suddenly felt such a powerful urge to protect the very woman I had secretly hated for so long, when I had spent so much time helping bring about Vero's downfall.

Perhaps it was because of the figure made of light.

Perhaps it was because of something deeper that I could not put into words.

Whatever the reason, in the middle of that chaos, I made a decision that even surprised me.

I had to help them escape.