Chapter 62
Raelin, catching the faint change in her expression, began to persuade her more enthusiastically.
“Go on! Now that the curse is lifted, you’re allowed to go outside, aren’t you?”
“But…”
Ael’s firm warnings still lingered in Kiara’s mind, making her hesitate.
But Raelin was already packing away the food she had laid out, like Kiara had already agreed without protest.
“Perfect! Have a little picnic outside! The eclipse is nearly over, so it’s a bit brighter out now. And it’s quiet near the archives — very safe!”
“A picnic…”
A picnic. The idea of being outside without having to run or hide from someone — it was an irresistible temptation for Kiara.
While she hesitated, Raelin delivered the decisive blow.
“There are scholars in the archives too. It’d be the perfect opportunity to start learning how to read.”
“Scholars?”
Maeve, the knight-mage, surfaced once again in her thoughts. If he was stationed at the archives, surely it would be safe. Besides, if she helped investigate the soulmate bond, it could even benefit Ael.
And the chance to learn how to read…
In the end, Kiara nodded.
“Alright.”
“Great! Let’s go right away!”
Raelin grabbed her hand and pulled her along, as if she had been waiting for this moment all along.
She was moving so quickly that Kiara nearly lost her balance and gasped in surprise.
“W-wait, Lady Raelin! I’m going to fall!”
“Hurry up! Because of the eclipse, we won’t have a lot of daylight! Once the sun sets, it gets so dark you can’t see a thing!”
Despite Raelin’s impatient urging, Kiara silently followed her steps.
She was just as excited at the thought of going outside. As expected, although she had hesitated for a moment before stepping out of the room, after passing the tall northern tower, she walked forward without any hesitation.
“…So this is the lunar eclipse?”
Having come outside for the first time in a while, Kiara looked around in wonder. Though it was roughly afternoon by the clock, the surroundings were so dim it felt like the early evening just before deep nightfall.
This wasn’t as bad as she had expected at all.
Following behind Raelin, Kiara thought absentmindedly that in Altnebra’s northern frontier, around the summer solstice, the sun hardly set for several days, and likewise around the winter solstice, daylight barely came through for days.
Though it was a bit darker than during the solstice, compared to imagining herself inside a room with thick curtains drawn for days, this was much brighter.
‘Ael made such a fuss about the eclipse being ominous that I got scared for nothing.’
What had she been so worried about? Kiara snorted softly. By now, Ael’s concerns seemed like nothing.
Raelin, walking briskly ahead, heard Kiara’s laugh and asked with no small amount of amusement.
“Are you that happy? To be outside?”
“No, it’s just that this is my first time experiencing an eclipse, and it’s not as dark as I imagined.”
“Oh my, Lady Kiara, that’s because the lunar eclipse is almost over now!”
Raelin, who had been walking briskly without hesitation, suddenly stopped and began to lecture about the dangers of an eclipse.
Even though she was the one who had convinced the hesitant Kiara to come out in the first place.
“The room was dark for days, right? Such pitch-black darkness lasts for several days. Because there’s no light, a lot of accidents happen. People stumbling while walking is the least of it — carriages overturn and such…”
“But that’s no different from the winter solstice, is it? The solstice is dark for several days too…”
“That’s obviously just a naturally dark time!”
Raelin raised her voice suddenly, furrowing her brow as if scolding a child, and began explaining the lunar eclipse of Altnebra.
“It’s natural that the solstice is dark and the midnight sun is bright — that’s something that always happens. But the eclipse is different. It does happen every year, but the timing shifts subtly, so even scholars who study the movements of the sky only notice the signs a few days before. That’s why the royal marriage had to be rushed. Can you imagine how much effort that took?”
“W-why the royal marriage…?”
“Because it’s the marriage between the witch and the king, of course!”
Raelin blinked in disbelief, her expression making it clear that she thought it was impossible for someone not to know that. She let out a deep sigh and began to explain carefully.
“You see? The day of the eclipse when sudden darkness falls over the bright moon, and the power of the goddess Kiara grows overwhelmingly strong, enough to overturn all of Altnebra. That’s why, when an eclipse happens, the beasts and monsters around the Black Forest run wild! But this year, since the eclipse lasted several days, all the settlements near the Black Forest have long since evacuated.”
For a moment, Kiara felt as if she could clearly see Ael’s large bruise right before her eyes.
She had heard that the creature that hurt Ael was far larger and fiercer than an ordinary giant grizzly. Could it have been the influence of the eclipse?
If so, then Ael’s warnings about the dangerous times weren’t exaggerations at all.
Kiara fell silent, lost in thought. Seeing this, Raelin spoke again, her voice gentler as if trying to soothe her.
“That’s why Lady Kiara, you had to marry King Blaine on the day of the eclipse.”
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