Once Claudia wakes up from her dream, the first thing she sees is the ceiling of her own room. She designed it with snowflakes all around. It was Luna's idea—something Claudia thought was unnecessary—but now she can't help but reminisce about her sister. Especially after seeing what Luna had to live through as a child. A mother dying in front of you is not something any child should see.
Why did I see that, though?
She remembers seeing Luna, then receiving the Dragon Claw. The moment she realizes this, Claudia immediately sits up and searches for it. Luckily, right next to her is a shelf, and the Dragon Claw has been placed there. Beside the shelf, a young man with long white hair sleeps soundly.
…So you do sleep after all.
But that's beside the point.
Once she confirms the Dragon Claw is safe and that she is truly in her room, another question rises in her mind. How is she here? The entire territory was supposed to be destroyed. Men, women, and even children who had nothing to do with the situation were killed. Her parents are missing, and her little brother has been missing for over a year. She never doubted Luna would survive—she is the most powerful person Claudia knows—so her only real worries are her parents and her brother.
But seeing that she is now in her own room… was she perhaps dreaming?
…No. What am I thinking? Shiro is literal proof that everything up until now has been real. But if that's the case, how am I here?
She turns and looks at Shiro.
Should I… ask him?
Just as she is about to speak—
"I see you're awake, Mistress Claudia."
A voice calls out. Claudia looks around and can't find anyone at first, until her eyes land on the door. A woman with blue and red eyes stands there, dressed in a black bodysuit and jacket. She lightly bows.
"I am delighted to see you're awake. If it's not too much trouble, can you please follow me?"
"…Follow you where?"
"You'll see when you get there."
I don't like this. A random woman telling me to just follow her. This reeks of a trap. Then again, the fact that I'm even here already raises questions.
"Fine. I'll follow you."
She slowly gets out of bed and takes the Dragon Claw. She looks at Shiro one more time, then leaves the room with the woman.
I'll play along for now, just until I get answers. She thinks to herself.
The woman and Claudia walk through the corridor. Claudia can't believe how clean everything looks. From the swords of their ancestors to the paintings of their forefathers, it is as if nothing was ever destroyed.
Does that mean… there wasn't any actual war? Did I receive false information?
Too many questions buzz in Claudia's head, but she has no answers. Whoever this woman is taking her to had better explain everything.
Finally, they stop.
"We're here."
They stand in front of a door Claudia recognizes instantly. There are still slash marks from when she accidentally cut it. It is the door to her brother's room.
Could this… perhaps… is he…?
She crashes through the door, driven by the faint hope that he might actually be inside.
Sure enough, a boy sits on the bed.
He has long black hair and pale skin. His appearance is far too girlish for a boy, but one thing stands out above all else—his golden eyes that shine like the sun itself. Those eyes are far too familiar.
The moment she realizes exactly who he is, Claudia dashes forward like a white blur and throws her arms around him. Tears pour from her eyes like a waterfall.
"You dummy," she sobs, holding him tightly. "Where have you been this whole time?"
The boy immediately hugs her back.
"I'm sorry for leaving for so long."
As he speaks, Claudia feels something warm fall against her cheek.
---
I never imagined there would come a day when a hug from Claudia would make me this happy. But then again, I never thought there would come a day when I would hug her back either. Guess there's a first time for everything.
Seems you really can cry.
Huh.
Before I know it, tears begin to drip from my eyes. Only a few, but they are tears nonetheless. Why can I cry now? When I saw the corpses of all those people, I couldn't shed a single tear. Yet now that I'm with my sister, I can suddenly weep.
I'm worse than a demon could ever be.
Perhaps. But unlike demons, you want to care. You're far better than them in every aspect.
Look at you being supportive.
I'm stating the truth. Doesn't mean that's what I think of you.
…Thanks for waking me up in time.
…Share your anylasis with me, and I'll considerit even.
---
She wants to keep hugging him as tightly as she can. This is her brother. But she still has questions—about where he has been, and most importantly, how he got so big.
She finally lets go and takes a proper look at him.
His height and appearance have completely changed. Claudia is considered a bit tall for a girl, though she is still slightly shorter than most boys. Abel seems to be around the same height as her, maybe just a little shorter. Height aside, his appearance is far more girlish, and compared to other boys she has seen, he is far less muscular.
"So, Abel," she says, trying to sound confident while wiping the tears from her eyes, "how did you suddenly grow up?"
Abel simply smiles and nods.
"Alright. I've got a few questions for you too," he says.
"Then answer mine first."
"Alright. But I'll have to start from the beginning. promise me you won't tell anyone."
Abel holds out his pinky. Claudia immediately hooks hers around his.
"Promise." she replies.
"For your own sake, I can't tell you everything. But I realized I was far too weak, so I went somewhere to train. That's where I've been this whole time. For you it was a year. For me, it was only a day."
She has questions about that, but for now, she'll let it slide.
"Once I finished training, I came back to find our home completely destroyed. I immediately went to confront the patriarch of House Celestia."
Abel's gaze drifts slightly, as if looking at something far away.
"When I got there…"
---
When he reached the Patriarch, Aurelius, he caught him in the middle of a sentence: "This world is truly wonderful indeed."
The moment Abel heard those words, he snapped. He created thin needles of mana and threatened Aurelius.
At first Aurelius refused to speak, going on about pride and his dignity as a noble.
So Abel drove the needles through his hands, carefully avoiding anything vital. Aurelius was worth nothing to him dead. The man screamed in pain and rolled on the floor. For the representative of House Celestia, he was surprisingly weak to pain. Tears welled in his eyes as blood ran from the holes in his arms.
Even so, Aurelius still refused to talk. His body was weak, but his will was strong. It was starting to annoy Abel.
So he killed him.
With a single swing of his mana sword, Abel severed Aurelius's neck without resistance. That was it. The Patriarch was dead.
It was a rash decision, but Abel had not done it purely out of spite. He was standing in the Patriarch's own office. There were bound to be records. And if there weren't, he could simply resurrect Aurelius as one of his soldiers, drain the memories from him, and then discard him.
A simple, effective plan. He had wanted to do it earlier, but he decided to give the man a chance. Aurelius wasted it. Thankfully.
Abel began searching the office. Most of the documents were about building a new StarSphere or paving new roads—things he had no time for.
Then he found one that caught his interest. It described a ritual his father had performed before Abel's birth. The ritual connected his blood to that of an individual named Luna, essentially making them blood-related. In a way, she had been made his sister.
Luna… as in Luna Dragonheart? he thought. Interesting, but not what he was looking for.
He kept searching and found another document, older but still readable. It contained detailed information about the assassins sent to kill Claudia. They were all ranked red stars with their leader being a black star. Apparently, once they completed their mission, they were supposed to bring back her blood as proof. They never returned.
That was when I killed those men… Does this whole thing have to do with that prophecy?
The moment the thought struck him, Abel shifted his focus and began looking for anything related to the prophecy.
He found several documents mentioning a certain organization—a cult. Their name was blurred out on every page, but they were described as highly trained individuals who surpassed even the Arcane Knights. Abel had never seen the Arcane Knights in action, so he couldn't properly gauge their strength.
One document showed that Aurelius's grandfather had contacted the cult nearly fifty years ago for a specific job: the capture of the vampire princess and her daughter.
His grandfather? Does that mean Aurelius himself was innocent?
For a brief moment, Abel felt a flicker of guilt for killing a man who might have simply been too proud. That feeling vanished the second he found proof that Aurelius himself had made a deal with the cult only a few months earlier.
The job was clear: kill Claudia MorningStar. Aurelius had been willing to pay a huge sum of platinum coins for the death of one girl. The cult had accepted, and they had taken the vampire princess's daughter with them to complete the mission.
That was where the records ended.
The only name left behind was that of the vampire princess daughter —Luna Dragonheart.