MOONLIGHT: The Curse Breaker

Chapter 3 : Chocolates

-Najara-

If you think about it, pretending to shop at the plaza while your companion is busy fighting isn't a bad idea after all. Fortunately, I managed to run quickly.

She had instructed me to wait outside the alley while she 'finished' her business inside, but who was she to tell me what to do? I've already made enough wrong decisions in my life, right now, I just want to spend my remaining time wandering around. Since it's almost lunchtime, I'll just buy something I can bring home to my father.

By this hour, he's probably on his way home from the palace. My dad is a well-known swordsmith here in Heraum, currently serving as the palace swordsmith. He's the one who crafts various weapons used by the Knights.

He's also the one who made the sword always used by our king, as well as his children, from the first prince to the fourth. He stays at the palace but still chooses to come home every once in a while to spend some time for me. Sometimes, I visit him, especially when he's busy.

"It suits you, my dear. Would you like to try it?" the elderly vendor asked me, wearing a sun hat to shield himself from the heat. "It's designed similar to what the moon goddess often wore in the old days," he added.

It was a hair ornament made out of silver, shaped like a crescent moon with blue diamonds in the middle. Below it hung three long silver strands, each adorned with diamond-shaped drops resembling raindrops.

"Would you like to try it?" he asked again. I smiled in agreement, and he helped me place it in my hair.

Half of my hair was tied up to put the hair ornament on it, while the lower part cascaded freely. It suited my jet-black hair, giving it a bit of liveliness, unlike earlier when it was plain and loose.

"How much is this, sir?" I asked as I rummaged through my pouch tucked at the side of my dress.

"It's free for you, my dear," he replied with a lingering smile as he looked at me. Just as I was about to thank him, he gestured for me to look behind me. Louise was standing there, smiling in my direction. "Your companion has been waiting for you," he added before attending to other customers.

As I approached her, her smile widened. She was still dressed in her brown cloak, but the hood was down, revealing a white cloth wrapped around her neck with a bit of a red stain, resembling a bandage, also seen on both side of her wrists. She wore the same attire she had on when we met in the forest. And she didn't think of changing her clothes after her little adventure at the alleyway.

"Nice hair," she complimented as I got closer, with a hint of sweat on her forehead and some red stains that I assumed were blood stains. "You should wear it often, darling."

"Where are they?" I disregarded her compliments, and she quickly raised an eyebrow, which I promptly returned.

"Somewhere deep" her eyes briefly sparkled after she said it. "and why did you leave me? I told you to wait" she added. I just rolled my eyes at her before smirking.

"When you said 'somewhere deep' do you mean underground?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Correct! Say 'thank you, honey'" she held both of my shoulders and smiled sweetly at me.

"Stop smiling, please. It's creepy " I replied, removing her hands from my shoulders.

I looked her up and down, noticing the dried bloodstains on her clothes from where I stood. Unsure whether to be pleased or frightened by her actions, as if I can do anything about it, she wasn't an ordinary person after all.

Giving her a sharp look, I walked to the neighboring shop, with her following closely while glancing around. They were only selling women's decorations and other stuff, so I left immediately. Some women glanced at us all of them are giggling as if somethings funny about us. When I glanced at Louise, boredom was evident on her face.

When she noticed my gaze, she quickly smiled and gestured for me to keep walking with a flick of her hand. I rolled my eyes at her before turning away to search for a nice gift for my father. He likes sweet things, but I doubted if anything here would suit his taste.

I headed straight to the store where Dad always buy sweets everytime he gets the chance to visit. I wasn't sure if he came here for the sweets or for the nice Countess who owns the store, who wasn't much younger than Dad. Anyway, I couldn't stop him from having a crush, even though Countess Elysia Anwen is a bit unusual, I know she's a lovely person.

Stopping at the familiar shop, I found the Countess busy entertaining her customers. The store was quite large because almost all the candies sold well, especially to the noble families. When she noticed me, she immediately ushered me in. I felt too embarrassed kissing her cheek with all the noble people staring at us.

"It's been a long time since we last met, Jara," she began, covering her mouth with a red fan. "How's your father, Tiago?" she added, her voice slightly rising as often happens whenever she mentions my father. She's a bit taller than me, she has brow eyes, her black hair is long and wavy that stops on her waist, she's wearing a red and black dress that complimented her white skin and she's also wearing a black pointed heels.

"He's in good health, Counte-"

"Aunt, call me Aunt," she interrupted with a smile, cutting off what I was about to say. I simply nodded in surprise. "Alright, my Jara, go ahead and pick out everything you'd like to buy. I have something else to attend to," she said as she walked away and started talking to her other customers again.

"Wow! What a strange woman," commented the person who had been standing beside me all this time. "No wonder your father likes her--Oww!" I gave her a strong kick in the leg before wandering around the store. I could still hear her complaining, but I ignored her.

"You know I can kill you, right?" I paused briefly in what I was doing and thought about how to respond to her. If she wanted to kill me, she shouldn't have saved me twice!

"No, you can't," I replied and I continued to do what I was doing.

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"Leave."

"Okay, I can't."

__________________________

"Wahhhhh! What a boring day, huh?" she exclaimed as we exited the store, both of her hands raised and resting behind her head.

"Yeah, especially with you around," I replied, focused on inspecting my purchases. I heard her sigh beside me and looked in the other direction.

"Be thankful I can't kill you," she muttered to herself, apparently thinking I hadn't heard her, as her eyes widened upon seeing me glaring at her. "W-well, what I mean is, you know? Like....okay, I'll stop talking."

When will this person stop bothering me? Doesn't she have anything else important to do? I shook my head in exasperation as I walked away from the store.

I bought quite a lot because Louise kept handing me everything she found. In the middle of my shopping, an employee approached me and charged me for what Louise had eaten while I wasn't looking. She's hiding everytime an employee approach me and she threatened to kill me a few times for no valid reasons.

"Jara! Over here!" We both turned to the source of the voice and saw my Dad waving not far away from us. I hurried over to him, leaping into his arms for a tight hug, which he returned with an even tighter embrace and a hearty laugh.

A lot of people said that my dad resembles a bear, because of his huge stature and muscles. It was all thanks to his job as a sword smith, I guess?

"What took you so long, my dear. Where have you been?" he asked as he set me down. I jumped excitedly in front of him, presenting the small box filled with chocolates and other sweets. There was another box full of chocolates that Louise had picked out for herself, so reluctantly, I handed it over to her.

"BWHAHAHAHAHA! My beautiful and kind-hearted daughter," Dad exclaimed, causing me to worry that he might be causing a scene due to his loud voice.

"Come on, my dear, food shouldn't be kept waiting," he paused briefly and scrutinized my companion with curious eyes. "And who might this be?" He gave me a questioning look, prompting me to introduce her.

"Dad, this is my friend" I motioned for her to step forward and 'lightly' tapped her back, causing her to cough. "Introduce yourself," I whispered to her.

"Hello, sir, I'm Louise Pierre," she extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, sir."

"Such a handsome kid, Jara" he said.

"she's a girl dad" I managed to forced a smile as I watched their hands shake each other. "hmm.....I haven't seen you before, where are you from?" my dad asked her curiously.

"The forest of... I mean, the kingdom of Etrinaia" she replied. She kept glancing at me, so I decided to cut their conversation short.

"Let's go, Dad, I'm hungry," I invited him again.

"Aren't you going to bring your friend along, dear?" Louise looked at me, and I knew she wanted to join us, from the way her eyes sparkle.

'Should I bring someone like her home?'

"D-do you want to come over for lunch?" I gave her a look that suggested she should refuse. But she just widened her smile and nodded several times.

"HAHAHAHA! This is such a fun day, my dear, I have so much to tell you," Dad led the way as he proudly displayed the food I bought for him, clearly wanting to boast to anyone who saw us. "My daughter is truly kind-hearted."

"So... what's our lunch for today, honey?"

'Dammit.'