A Silent Night Under the Moonlight and Stars.
POV: Detective Clara
My name is Clara. I don't have a surname like most civilians. But the public often calls me Detective Clara.
I am currently in Rose Valley on a mission to capture two dangerous fugitives, Bragg and Garel, vicious slave traders as slippery as ghosts.
But after days of investigation… I haven't found any sign of them. Instead, I've encountered a mysterious woman in this remote village.
Tonight… I sat on a rock by the lake… I kept thinking about that silver-haired woman. She called herself 'young mother.'
But that title seemed too strange for her. Her gaze, her speech, her walk… everything was too elegant for a young mother living in a remote village.
I've been observing her for the past few days. Secretly. From afar. Without her consent.
I know this might be impolite. But as a royal detective, it's impossible to investigate someone… without keeping it a secret.
And as a detective… I have a clear code of ethics. I don't condemn anyone… before all the evidence is revealed.
I just want to know… who is that sky-blue-eyed woman? Her aura is too mysterious. But somehow… when I talk to her, she feels like someone I once knew.
Someone who might have filled my life… seven years ago, or even years before, before the world chose to forget.
On the cold, hard stone, I gazed at the calm waters of the lake… I took a silver locket from my pocket. It was worn and always accompanied my footsteps… wherever I went.
I touched the locket… and opened it. Inside were two fragmented photographs of two young girls that I had combined into a single image. On the left, a young girl with purple hair was smiling. That was my young self.
On the right, a girl with silver hair. Her face was so blurry… I didn't recognise her. But why would I keep a stranger in my locket? She must be someone precious… someone I had forgotten since the collapse of the world's memory.
I studied the photo… accompanied by the silent night. I tried to recall the buried memory. But I kept forgetting. I didn't know who she was.
While I was still contemplating and gazing at the moon and stars… Suddenly, the sound of grass rustling and twigs snapping could be heard in the distance.
I instinctively stood up and drew my dagger. I prepared for the worst.
"Srek… kraakk… srek…"
The sound grew closer and closer… But it wasn't the criminal or the two dangerous fugitives I was searching for, but a young woman with silver hair and a crimson nightgown.
Marry… that's what the villagers called her. A young mother of one who lived on a hill on the edge of the village. The villagers praised her as a gentle, humble, and helpful mother.
The woman seemed to love her little daughter very much. She patiently taught her to read and write under a shady tree, and she didn't hesitate to praise her, hug her, and kiss her cheek.
And her little daughter, Caelan, seemed to be just another innocent and cheerful girl who brought colour to her mother.
Marry walked toward me… each step so elegant, as if she had been raised as a noblewoman. And as she drew closer… suddenly, a faint scent of roses wafted over me.
Marry continued to approach me… I was still standing, holding the dagger in my right hand.
But Marry just walked calmly. She continued to walk toward me. Then she sat on another rock… not far from me.
The woman just sat there, gazing out at the lake. I let the silence accompany us both.
"Cricket… cracket… cracket…"
"Srrruuhh…"
"Srrrsshh…"
The sound of crickets, a gentle breeze, and the splash of lake water touched by the wind could be heard amidst the silence of the night.
Then… a melodious voice rang out in the night air.
"This place is too quiet… too quiet for a royal detective like you, isn't it?" Marry said sarcastically yet gently.
I stared intently at the woman. I saw her silver hair dancing in the night breeze.
"A quiet place doesn't mean it's free from shadows," I replied.
Marry smiled faintly.
"Indeed, even shadows can dance beautifully under the light of the moon and stars."
I tensed… this woman was clearly no ordinary young mother.
"Who are you, really?" I asked impulsively.
But the woman only stared up at the starry sky.
"I'm just a young mother… who wants my little daughter to grow up healthy… and smile every day."
I bit my lip… The woman was just toying with me. She was clearly no ordinary young mother.
"You're no ordinary villager. Your gaze, your walk, your speech… even the way you hide your intentions. All of that is unbecoming of a young mother living in a remote village."
My fists clenched tightly. My breath hitched. My lower lip bit down.
As a detective, I shouldn't lose my composure. But for some reason… tonight, I was shaken to my core by the sight of that woman.
But unlike my bluff, the mysterious woman didn't flinch. Her lake-blue eyes stared at me.
"And you… were thinking so much that you forgot to feel."
The woman stepped to the edge of the lake… Suddenly, the fragrant scent of roses wafted through the night air. I frowned.
The woman raised her hands. She danced. Her body twirled slowly. Her steps were light. Her movements were beautiful.
At first glance, it looked like a typical ballet. But upon closer inspection… her movements were so agile and sharp, as if she were dancing in a minefield.
The woman danced with grace and death, like an executioner executing her targets without mercy.
I felt like I'd seen it before. But where had I seen it?
My body tensed. My green eyes widened. The image of the woman in the rose dress flashed through my mind.
I remembered… The dance was called [shadow dance of crimson thorns]. It was a deadly move the blood executioner used to execute dozens of criminals in one fell swoop… ten years ago, before the world chose to forget.
Suddenly, my breath hitched. I reflexively covered my mouth with my left hand… and my pendant fell to the grass.
"I—it can't be…" I stammered.
The woman stood with her back to me.
"You've seen this dance before, right?" she said softly and sharply.
I stood frozen. Then… I screamed, breaking the silence of the night.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
My voice was so loud that the crickets stopped chirping. But the woman simply stared at the night sky. Her blue eyes glistened in the moonlight and stars.
"I've already answered, Miss Clara," she said curtly.
I gritted my teeth and took a step forward.
"You… are the Blood Rose Princess…?" I said sharply, judging the young woman.
But Marry only smiled faintly. Her smile… was like the smile of a mother missing her little daughter.
"The Blood Rose Princess has long been 'dead,' since the world forgot her sins seven years ago…"
The woman turned and looked at me. "All that remains now… is a mother and a wound she didn't want to pass on to her daughter."
I fell silent. The vague memories that had been haunting me… began to flood into my head. My head tensed. My hands trembled.
I raised both hands to cover my mouth. And without realising it… my dagger fell below and impaled itself on the wild rose petals.
Now, I remembered everything. Ten years ago… the memory of a noble assassin I had been investigating for months… and I saw how her soul radiated a pure, white, and bright light even though her rose-colored dress was soaked in blood.
And most importantly, she was more than just a bloody executioner; she was my saviour during a night of bloody siege.
At that time… I was dying in the ruins of an old church. I thought… I would never see the next day. But that woman came and embraced me… and uttered a final message that haunted me throughout the night.
My heart broke as I remembered her final whisper in the midst of the apocalypse. The vague memories that had haunted me… were revealed, opening the wounds of a history I had forgotten.
My body trembled. My hands wavered. Unconsciously, the dagger I held fell into the rose petals.
I covered my mouth with both hands. I stared at the woman before me and began to recall the vague image of a woman in a rose-colored dress.
At that time… I chose to reveal the truth… about the serial killer feared by the nobles. After months of investigating… what I discovered shook my conscience.
Finally, I told the truth about… who the serial killer was… why he killed the nobles… and why he bore all those wounds.
I knew what I was saying would shake the kingdom. But I just wanted to tell the truth… without hiding anything, simply to voice my conscience to the people of the Rose Kingdom.
But the truth isn't always accepted; behind the cheers of acceptance, there are always voices of opposition. Just a week after I released my statement in the newspaper… I was hunted by a dark organisation.
They set me up, but I fought back and escaped… and hid in an old church. But they wouldn't let me rest that night.
They continued to bombard me with magic weapons and explosions on a full moon night. I was covered in blood, dying, and on the verge of despair…
When my hopes for life were as thin as paper… a girl in a rose dress sacrificed herself to protect me from the explosion that shook the night sky.
In her final moments… she hugged me and whispered:
"You must live on… the world can still be saved with your heart."
When I remember her gentle voice, my eyes moisten. My shoulders tremble. My tears fell, wetting the rose petals.
I covered my mouth and stared at the woman.
"I... knew you before... before the world chose to forget... Why did you save me then? Why did the world forget you?!"
But the woman neither confirmed nor denied me. She stared at me under the moonlight.
"If your memories have returned... and you feel the need to capture me, I will not fight you."
The woman was silent for a moment. Her nightgown fluttered in the night breeze.
As I studied her shoulders... they tensed when she mentioned her little daughter.
"But you must not touch Caelan... She is my little daughter... a child born without inheriting the memories of the world."
I stared at the woman silently. I remembered how, over the past few days, she had held and gently stroked her little daughter's hair.
Without realising it, my shoulders tensed again. My vision blurred. Then, I bit my lip.
"I... don't know what to do."
The woman simply stared at me with a faint smile.
"Then… don't do anything for now… unless you listen to your heart."
The woman walked away from me. But before she left, she turned back and looked at me.
"Detective Clara… you're different from those who turn a blind eye. You're always steadfast, true… and always listen to the pain…"
The woman paused for a moment. A small smile played across her lips.
"You're a detective with a conscience. Follow your heart!"
She walked away… and when she disappeared from my sight, the scent of roses vanished from the night air.
I remained standing by the lake, clutching my chest. It felt so oppressive.
"Blood Rose Princess… why did you come to see me?! What should I do?"
The wind blew against my face. The air felt colder and more piercing. Tonight, I finally looked back at the shadows of my past.
—
Back at the Inn…
A few moments later… I returned to the inn. I opened the door and saw a knight waiting for me.
She asked me what happened, but I remained silent, shaking my head and leaving her in silence.
Then, I opened the door to my room and walked over to the wooden chair. I sat down. In front of me, the documents were still neatly stacked on the table. But I didn't touch them.
I took out the silver pendant I'd been staring at by the lake. I touched the pendant. On the back of the pendant, a symbol of a broken crown was neatly engraved. But I turned it over, revealing the pendant.
Inside, I saw two fragments of a photograph. Two young girls.
The young girl with purple hair… that was my teenage self.
And now I finally knew… who the blurred face of the silver-haired girl in the other fragment belonged to.
She was Marry El Rose, the former princess of the Rose Kingdom, who abandoned her name, honour, and compassion, and became the final judge of humanity.
The executioner of blood, that's what the world called her 10 years ago, before it chose to forget her. But to me, she was my lifesaver.
I held the pendant tightly. Then, I pressed it to my forehead. And as soon as I closed my eyes, I remembered the warmth of her embrace 10 years ago.
When I opened my eyes… I stared at the dark ceiling. But my heart now felt both warmer and uncertain.
"Marry El Rose… why did you reveal your identity to me?"
Suddenly, I remembered the smile of his little daughter with Marry. I swallowed hard.
I didn't know what to do… should I become a conscientious detective like 10 years ago… or should I become a royal detective? Tonight, I was unsure, but tomorrow I would find the answer.