Moonborne

Chapter 6: Sculpture Under the Moon

The sound of the door hinges turning was particularly harsh in the deadly silence of the circular hall, as if crushing Lin Yue's last hope. She leaned against the cold, rough stone wall, her nails digging into her palms. Moonlight poured through the crack in the dome, illuminating her pale face and the werewolf sculpture whose secrets she had uncovered. With nowhere to escape or hide, she could only watch helplessly as the heavy wooden door slowly opened and a figure stepped into the nexus of moonlight and shadow.

The expected smug, malevolent expression of Leah did not appear, nor did the guards' cold swords. Standing at the door was someone she had never expected—Sophia, the vampire with a gentle demeanor like moonlight, the chief scholar of the Blood Clan Medical School. She wore a simple silver-gray dress and held no weapon, but a thick book bound in ancient leather. When she saw Lin Yue in the hall and the werewolf sculpture exposed in the moonlight, a flicker of obvious surprise flashed across her lavender eyes, but it quickly gave way to a complex, inquiring understanding.

"Miss Lin Yue," Sophia's voice, as calm as ever, held a tinge of undeniable seriousness. "I didn't expect to meet you here. And I certainly didn't expect you to find this place." Her gaze swept over the howling werewolf sculpture, a sigh of awe etched in her eyes.

Lin Yue's tense nerves didn't relax, but instead intensified her vigilance. Was Sophia a friend or foe? Was her appearance at this moment a coincidence, or did she have a hidden agenda? "I... I'm lost," she said, trying to maintain a last veneer, her voice dry with nervousness.

Sophia shook her head slightly, approaching gracefully, her gaze lingering on Lin Yue's face, as if piercing through her clumsy lies. "Lost in this 'Watchroom,' sealed for nearly a century?" She raised her hand slightly, pointing at the sculpture. "And, you found 'him.'"

Lin Yue's heart skipped a beat. "Him?"

"The last chieftain of the werewolf tribe with the pure 'New Moon' bloodline, and also... the only werewolf to have made a blood pact with Prince Vanzo and perished as a result." Sophia's voice deepened, carrying the distant air of an ancient legend. "Legend has it that on the night of a lunar eclipse a thousand years ago, to prevent a devastating war between the two tribes, he sacrificed his own blood and life, forging the original peace pact with the prince. This castle, and even the forest outside, considered a buffer zone, were built on the foundation of that pact."

Lin Yue was speechless with shock. A peace pact between werewolves and vampires? And one forged jointly by a werewolf chieftain and Prince Vanzo? This completely overturned the historical understanding of eternal feuds she had been indoctrinated with since childhood. The sense of tragedy and power embodied in that statue now had a concrete purpose.

"Why... why is there one here..." Lin Yue's voice trembled with disbelief.

"A memorial? A confession? Or a warning?" Sophia's gaze grew dark. "The truth has long been buried in the dust of time, deliberately forgotten by those who came after. The pro-war elders are reluctant to mention this 'humiliating' peace, and the wolf tribe seems to consider it a taboo as well. There are probably no more than three people in the castle who know of this place and occasionally come to pay their respects." She gave Lin Yue a meaningful look. "The prince is one of them."

Fan Zhuo knew! He knew about the statue, about this buried history! Lin Yue suddenly remembered Fan Zhuo's suggestion at dinner about "fragile flowers having deep roots." Could he be referring not only to her identity as a spy, but also to this deeply buried past that might be connected to her bloodline?

"Why are you telling me all this?" Lin Yue couldn't help but ask, still wary.

Sophia gently placed the ancient tome on the dusty stone platform, making a dull thud. "Because I study bloodlines and history. I firmly believe that blindly perpetuating hatred will only lead to destruction. The existence of this sculpture proves that the two races once had the possibility of coexistence." Her gaze fell on Lin Yue, with a scholar's scrutiny and a faint glimmer of hope. "And your appearance, Miss Lin Yue, your 'difference', may... be another variable that can break this deadlock."

She reached out and gently brushed away some of the dust on the sculpture's base, revealing more blurred inscriptions. Among them was a strange symbol resembling a wolf's head and a crescent moon, which gave Lin Yue an inexplicable palpitation. "I detected an abnormality in your blood during routine testing. It's ancient, complex, and even... resonates faintly with the power commemorated by this sculpture. This is why His Majesty is so... 'special' to you."

The truth, like a puzzle, piece by piece, fell into Lin Yue's mind. Vanzo's indulgence, Leah's hostility, Kyle's sacrifice, this forgotten sculpture, and the ancient covenant revealed by Sophia... all clues pointed to her mysterious bloodline. She was no longer just a spy; she had unknowingly found herself at the center of the millennia-long vortex of fate between two ancient races.

"Has the covenant... expired?" Lin Yue asked hoarsely.

"The covenant's power long ago waned with the extinction of the New Moon bloodline. Now, only fragile fear and mutual suspicion maintain a semblance of balance." Sophia sighed. "Like a tower without its foundation, held together by inertia, it could collapse in an instant."

Just then, the faint clinking of armor could be heard from afar, approaching in that direction. Sophia's expression froze, and she quickly retracted the ancient tome. "You must leave this place immediately. We haven't met tonight, and we haven't had this conversation before." She spoke quickly, her tone unwavering. "Liya's spies are everywhere. If she learns of our encounter here, the consequences will be disastrous."

Lin Yue also heard the approaching footsteps, and a sense of crisis gripped her once again. She glanced at the werewolf sculpture, silent in the moonlight, and the symbol of the wolf's head and crescent moon was deeply imprinted in her mind.

"Hurry!" Sophia pointed to a narrow, shadow-shrouded crack in the wall of the rotunda. "From there, there's an abandoned servants' passage. It should be able to circumvent the patrols."

Lin Yue no longer hesitated. She gave Sophia a deep look and whispered, "Thank you." Then she sidestepped into the dark crevice. The gap was narrow, damp, and filled with a stale smell. She groped her way forward, the footsteps and Sophia's figure quickly swallowed by the darkness.

She struggled through the maze of abandoned passages, her heart pounding. Sophia's words echoed in her mind—an ancient covenant, the bloodline of the New Moon, resonance... Vandro knew all of this. Did he keep her by his side simply to observe an "interesting variable"? Or was he also searching in her for some possibility...to reshape the covenant, or break the cycle?

When she finally returned safely to her luxurious cell, locked the door again, and leaned against it, breathing heavily, the moonlight was already slightly slanted. She opened her palm, and the white petal she had gathered during the day lay quietly in her palm, and the cold touch of the werewolf sculpture seemed to linger beside it.

She was no longer a lone prisoner, nor a mere spy. She had entered a chess game far deeper and more dangerous than she had imagined. And it seemed Vandro was not the only one playing the chess.

Outside the window, the blood-red moon hung high, like a cold eye, observing the silent movements of the castle. Lin Yue clenched the petals, a single thought forming in her mind—she had to uncover the truth about her bloodline and its connection to the sculpture, to the broken ancient covenant.

Just then, a series of soft, yet rhythmic knocks echoed on the door: knock, knock, knock. Not Anna's timid knock, nor Leah's overbearing one. This knock was calm, controlled, and carried a sense of impermissibility.

Lin Yue froze, her heartbeat, which had just slowed, suddenly stopping again. She slowly turned her head, staring at the carved wooden door, as if she could see through it and see who stood outside.

It was so late, who could it be? Sofia, back again? Or... Leah, finally visiting? Or perhaps... him, the one who had always been in control, who had just returned?

The knocks paused for a moment, then began again, three steady, steady knocks. In the stillness of the night, they pummeled Lin Yue's tense nerves.