Chapter 36: Trust
One week later, Mallory was sitting at her desk. She had not slept for three nights staring at a pile of files. The door opened abruptly and a man entered.
"Steward, the investigation took longer than expected."
Mallory looked up. "Tell me."
The man stepped forward, closing the door behind him. "No one knows the origin of this Luna. Nevertheless, her face has been spotted by a few passersby here and there, in different districts and even in other domains."
Mallory nodded slowly. "Is she some kind of nomad?"
The man nodded. "Her comings and goings were strange, unpredictable. To be honest, I even thought it was an Eater hidden in Hundun. But what I discovered left me speechless."
"What is it?" Mallory’s voice was calm, but her fingers had stopped tapping the desk.
"I asked a witch to read the memories of everyone who remembers crossing paths with someone who looks like her. And it turns out that each of her appearances coincides with the death of someone influential in the area. The last two places where she was spotted were the twelfth district and the thirteenth, where she was seen in the street spitting blood."
Mallory stiffened. "The twelfth district?" She took a deep breath, because she knew that this place had been attacked several weeks before the young girl became Daemon’s personal servant. "The twelfth district was attacked and Blood Moon was seriously injured...."
"Are you suggesting that she is Blood Moon?"
The man held her gaze.
"It is only a hypothesis, based on many coincidences and doubts about her identity. I think you should dig into this, Steward."
Mallory stood up, walked around her desk and approached the window. "Blood Moon has not been heard from since she arrived here." She turned around. "It seems I must take matters into my own hands before the young master gets hurt."
...
Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the Winter domain, the cold of dawn had not yet given way to the sun. Daemon was shirtless, training with a new master his uncle had sent him, an old man with a gray beard.
"Breathe deeply," ordered the master, standing with his arms crossed. "Let the Chi enter your heart, then circulate it. Do as if you were meditating while you train. The Second Sense: smell resides in the ability to feel the Chi inside your own body."
Daemon closed his eyes for a moment, seeking that inner sensation.
"By feeling the Chi, you will know how to strengthen your body like iron," continued the old man. "This is the Steel Breath, the second sense of the sword."
Daemon nodded, then he resumed swinging his katana. The hours passed, but he did not stop. His muscles ached with intense pain in the joints, but he continued, again and again, until the master raised his hand.
"Good, good. You can take a break."
Daemon stopped, the blade pointed toward the ground. He bowed slightly. "Thank you for your teachings."
The old man looked at him with curiosity. "I suppose your endurance comes from your abnormal Chi. However, I am impressed by your footwork. Where did you learn it, Lord Daemon?"
Daemon smiled, and in his mind appeared the image of Luna training alone on the mountain, her feet sliding on the snow like a viper. He had spent hours watching her, copying her movements. "I had good foundations," he replied simply.
"Young master..."
Daemon turned around. Luna was standing there, a clean towel on her arm and a glass of water in her hand. Her white hair was tied in a bun, and her red eyes shone in the morning light.
"Thank you, Luna." He took the glass and drank a long sip.
Daemon was satisfied. His training was progressing well, and Luna had reached the third sense. Now he did what he wanted, and no longer what was imposed on him. For a few days, he had even forgotten the threat of the Spear Clan hanging over his head. He looked at the white sky and murmured to himself: "Nothing could go better in the best of worlds."
But the sentence had barely finished when the sound of boots echoed. A dozen guards burst into the courtyard and, in a few seconds, they surrounded Luna. Their hands rested on the guards of their swords.
"Luna, you are under arrest," declared the captain, "Pending the investigation."
Daemon frowned and took a step forward. "Huh? What does this mean?"
The captain briefly lowered his head. "Lord Daemon, we came on the orders of Steward Mallory."
"What? Release her! This is an order from the head of the Winter family."
The captain raised his eyes, and his gaze was hard. "Unfortunately, Luna is accused of being Blood Moon. This therefore becomes a clan matter. Consequently, you cannot interfere."
Upon hearing these words, Luna widened her eyes. Her right hand instinctively reached toward the guard of the sword of the nearest guard. Daemon grabbed her arm just in time. If she killed now, she could never be cleared.
He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear. "Listen, Luna. I will fix everything. Don’t do anything rash."
She turned her head toward him, her red eyes burning with anger. "I should just kill them and run away."
"And become an assassin again?" he murmured. "Trust me this time. I will free you."
Luna remained silent.
"Trust me," he repeated.
She breathed in deeply, then exhaled slowly. "Hurry up," she said finally.
The guards took her away. Daemon watched them disappear, then he turned around and entered the manor.
’She probably wanted to protect me by investigating Luna’s origin,’ he thought as he walked quickly through the corridors. ’But if I promise that she is innocent, I am sure she will drop it before my uncle finds out.’
He turned the corner of the corridor, passed in front of a row of portraits of his ancestors. "After all, Mallory is the only one I can blindly trust. She will not do anything that could harm me."
In Daemon’s opinion, even if he told Mallory that Luna was Blood Moon so as not to harm him. She would not continue the investigation.
He arrived in front of the office door. He was already reaching out to open it when he heard Mallory’s voice inside. She was talking to someone.