After comforting an upset Eleanor with a deep kiss, a highly effective method, I might add, I was forced to deal with a deeply displeased pair of siblings.

While I had managed to use a bit of innate charm to defuse Mia’s lingering anger, Oliver was a different matter.

He had taken care of the immediate fallout with the ruling lord of Solmire, but the moment he returned, he directed his full ire at me, delivering a stern scolding for my recklessness.

And honestly, I had nothing to say in my defense.

It wasn’t as though I could pull the same performance with Oliver that I had used to pacify Mia, and standing there under his reprimand, I could immediately tell why he was the elder sibling.

Jests aside, he possessed a great sense of responsibility and a real competence to match it.

Both he and Mia wanted to depart Solmire immediately, but I obviously could not allow that. I told them we had to wait for nightfall so I could retrieve what I had come for. One can only imagine the bewilderment on their faces when I made that declaration without offering a single word of explanation.

Though confused, they could not outright refuse a direct order from their King. In the end, we reached a compromise: I was to confine myself to the carriage until night arrived.

It was quite the restriction, but considering the circumstances, I could understand their insistence.

And so, alongside Eleanor, Leilah, Alan, and Elric, we remained within the secured grounds of the inn, sequestered inside our carriage.

Mia stood guard outside our doors, while Oliver went to cooperate with the town’s guards, reinforcing local security and sweeping the area for any lingering rats from the Black Sun who might have stayed behind.

He had left immediately after enforcing my confinement, and now, as evening settled over the town, he was still nowhere to be seen.

I suspected he was conducting his own private hunt for the assassins.

Regardless, I didn’t mind staying holed up inside the carriage all that much.

I was currently sprawled across the entirety of the cushioned bench, lying back with one arm tucked casually behind my head.

Not the arm attached to my injured shoulder obviously.

Despite Mia’s swift treatment, it still throbbed with a dull ache. An arrow had punched straight through the muscle and joint, after all.

Summoning a Healer would have been the most convenient solution, and Mia had strongly proposed finding one, but I had refused.

It was better to let the shoulder mend itself when possible.

Unless a wound was truly a matter of life and death, natural recovery was always preferable to magical healing, which often forced the body to mend at an unnatural pace. There was no need to rely on it for something I could simply endure.

The evening drifted by in this quiet manner, until finally, under the cover of full darkness, Oliver returned.

"Your Majesty, as you requested, we have cleared the area and the surrounding district around Apollina’s Stele," he said.

I smiled, satisfied with the news.

I hardly wanted the local townsfolk standing around with their mouths agape, watching me extract a hidden necklace from the ancient stone of Apollina’s Stele as it reacted to the moonlight. Imagine the uproar and spectacle that would cause.

So, I had instructed Oliver to evacuate the plaza.

This was one of the greatest perks of traveling with a Royal Guard. Their authority was higher than any other knights of the kingdoms; they could literally order an entire city district emptied and see it done. I had told him that if he met any resistance, I would reveal myself and command it personally, but it seemed Oliver had managed to compel the town lord and his guards to comply without needing to play my card.

"How did you manage it?" I asked him.

"It was not difficult, Your Majesty. As soon as they learned of an attack by the Black Sun within their walls, they were entirely inclined to listen to my instructions," he replied.

Figures.

These bastards from the Black Sun, much like the Thirteen Moons, were a renowned and deeply feared terrorist organization with several screws loose. Mentioning their name was usually enough to make any local lord acutely cooperative.

"Then let us move. This should not take long," I said, stepping out of the carriage.

I had originally planned to go alone, accompanied only by Oliver and Mia for protection, but...

I glanced back at Eleanor.

"Come on," I told her.

A bright smile immediately spread across her lips.

How could a creature be this cute?

"Yes, Your Majesty," she nodded eagerly, stepping down from the carriage with Leilah following close behind.

Alan and Elric remained behind, as they always did, holding the courtyard and keeping watch over our transport.

With my chosen company in tow, I set off through the streets of Solmire. And they were remarkably silent.

Had they evacuated the entire town?

No, I doubted Oliver had gone quite that far, but I supposed not a single soul dared step outside their door after hearing that the Black Sun had been shedding blood in their streets. A very sensible decision on their part.

"Did you find any remaining traces of them, Oliver?" I asked as we walked.

"No, Your Majesty," he said, shaking his head. "I believe they have all fled the area, including the archer who slipped away."

"Let him run. I hope he returns to his masters and tells them exactly what he saw, that the new King of Helios is not a man to be trifled with," I said lightly. "And that they had best send an army next time."

Oliver, Mia, and Eleanor all turned to shoot me identical reprimanding looks.

I merely chuckled at the sight.

"I have no cause to worry, however. I have the Lawburn siblings by my side, after all. I saw what you both did today. It is no wonder Arges chose you to watch over me," I said with a smile.

"T—That is an honor, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Your Majesty..."

Both Oliver and Mia stuttered slightly, clearly touched and pleased by the praise.

That was just how much Arges’s name weighed among the knights of Helios.

We continued our quiet march until we eventually reached the open plaza. There, standing proudly at the center, was the beautiful white monument, bathed in an unreal, ethereal glow.

Usually, the Stele was protected by an iron gate and a standing guard, but tonight the barriers were drawn back and the gate hung wide open. It had been another of my requests, and Oliver had pulled it off flawlessly.

I wondered if he had thrown around my title as King, or if he had simply used Eleanor’s name. Now that she was Queen, her authority would have commanded just as much obedience here.

"You two stay back. I will go ahead with Eleanor," I said.

Oliver and Mia nodded in unison, fanning out to keep watch over the perimeter of the plaza.

I gestured for Eleanor to follow me, and together we walked until we stood directly before the Stele.

It was a breathtaking monument, easily twice my height, carved from what the locals called Dawn Stone. It was revered as Apollina’s Shrine, built centuries ago as a monument of gratitude to Helios following a decisive, blood-soaked victory against the Lunarian Empire.

And who wouldn’t be grateful?

I reached out my hand toward the center of the smooth white stone, where a beautiful engraved golden sphere rested flush against the surface.

Wow, this was...

I felt the Stele reacting to my touch immediately. Golden, vein-like lines began spreading out across the smooth surface from where my hand rested.

"It is beautiful..." Eleanor said, her eyes fixed on the glowing monument enthralled.

"It is," I agreed with a nod. "What do you see at the center, Eleanor?" I asked her, my thumb lightly brushing against the engraved golden sphere.

"A sun," she answered.

Indeed, to anyone looking at it, it was an obvious, beautifully crafted sun.

But...

"Take a step back, Eleanor," I said suddenly.

She looked surprised but obeyed without question.

It was best to be cautious. One never truly knew what kind of wards or defenses Apollina might have woven into the stone to protect what lay inside.

I closed my eyes and pressed my palm flat against the center of the sun engraving.

If I remembered the words correctly...

"By the light that divides us, let the dark bring us together."

The moment the words left my lips, the Stele reacted. The golden light flared, then shifted, the entire monument shedding its ethereal white radiance for a deep, pulsing silver glow.

High above, the silver moon shone brightly in the night sky, positioned at the perfect angle above the Stele for this exact night. As the stone reacted, a single, concentrated beam of moonlight pierced through a hidden aperture at the back of the monument, striking the golden sun perfectly in the center.

"W—What..."

Eleanor’s flabbergasted voice echoed softly from behind me as her eyes went wide with shock.

When I pulled my palm away, her mouth parted in real disbelief.

The golden sun had turned entirely silver. It no longer looked like a perfect, radiant sphere, but rather a silver moon, bearing the distinct, elegant shape of a crescent moon within it.

Then, the sound of grinding stone echoed through the quiet plaza. Mechanisms turned within the monument, and a small block of stone just beneath the silver moon slid outward, opening like a drawer.

I looked inside, and my smile widened.

I reached in and drew out a delicate silver chain, lifting it high so the moonlight caught it for Eleanor to see.

Hanging at the end of the necklace was a mesmerizing, perfectly crafted silver crescent moon.

It was one of the First Lunarian Emperor Elyas’s legendary Twin Moon necklaces.

As for where the other half of this set was, the necklace bearing the full moon...

Well, that one currently rested around the neck of the Imperial Princess of the Lunarian Empire, Selenia.