Lucilius was conflicted. He was left in the dining room with just the drunkard, now lying down on the marble floor, making a snow angel without the snow.

‘Wow, the snow in Hokkaido is as cold as they say,’ she giggled. ‘I have always wanted to come here.’

He took one last sip from the bottle of vodka and went to her, kneeling on one knee. Holding his hand towards Luna, he said, ‘Come now, Healer. Let’s get you back.’

To his surprise, she obediently grasped his hand and sat up. But before Lucilius could stand and pull her up, she released his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He immediately felt it. Like cold water running along his veins, filling his body with energy, making him relaxed––she was unconsciously healing him.

Lucilius sighed and slipped his hands around her waist before standing up, with her clinging onto him like a child, and began heading out.

Like a paid actor playing his part, the cool zephyr of the night blew softly and rhythmically as he took the garden path, wanting to savour the peaceful night. He would usually walk around at this hour alone to take a break from the documents piling on his table.

While Luna breathed steadily against his collarbone, he unknowingly enjoyed the skinship: her forehead resting on his neck, her hair brushing his chin, and her legs around his waist. The old Luna wouldn’t even let an ant come near her. 

There was a snuffle. ‘Where are you taking me, Sir?’ she asked, eyes still closed.

‘To your room,’ he replied.

‘Do you know my passcode?’ she said. ‘It’s my birthday, 1412.’

When he thought of it, he had always been alone. Working to his bones and only made time during the night to read a book or two and take a walk. The old Luna was absent most of the time, Elias was always with her, and Archer was always sent to secret missions. 

He didn’t need an aide, and he certainly despised the gossiping maids crowding in his palace so he only allowed some of them to linger and serve his needs. The butlers were so attentive that it got on his nerves.

‘Let’s see if I will behead you tomorrow, Healer,’ he muttered. ‘You really got under my skin tonight.’

Luna rubbed her forehead against his neck affectionately. ‘Yes, hot cocoa sounds good,’ she said faintly. 

To have someone tailing him all the time was annoying.

But, he thought. Maybe there’s an exception…

***

‘Miss Luna? Are you okay?’

There Luna sat at the corner of her bed, hugging her knees and biting the nail of her thumb with her head pounding like crazy. Helena just came in for the morning to wake her up and prepare her bath but she found that Luna had woken up, staring at the floor in that pose.

‘I made a hangover soup for you,’ Helena said.

At that, Luna’s head jerked up and she looked at Helena. ‘Hangover?’ she whispered.

Helena nodded. ‘Yes, you got back to your room heavily drunk,’ she replied. ‘And look at that hideous red mark on your forehead… Did you fall or hit your head somewhere?’

‘Helena, is there any potion to help you forget things?’ she asked.

The maid raised her eyebrows then laughed. ‘Why, are you embarrassed that His Majesty was the one who tucked you to bed last night?’ she giggled.

‘Oh God, so it wasn’t a dream?’ Luna covered her face with her palms. ‘I’m screwed,’ she murmured, muffled.

‘What’s wrong, Miss Luna?’ Helena asked again, worried.

She sighed and stood. ‘Nothing. Thank you for the soup. I’ll eat it after my bath,’ said Luna.

‘Sure…’ 

***

I will just pretend I don’t remember anything from last night’s event. 

Yep. Nothing ever happened. 

The bath water Helena filled for Luna felt warm. It helped clear her mind of thoughts clouding with unnecessary thoughts like a polluted city. Since her head felt like it was being cracked open, Helena also set up some scented candles in the bathroom and Luna spent a good fifteen minutes in it before she got out.

Helena had readied her breakfast and Luna ate slowly, enjoying each bite. Afterwards, the maid massaged her feet and Luna taught her how to play Tic-Tac-Toe. They chatted and laughed and Luna felt so much better, then.

‘I think you should take a walk in the garden to freshen you up,’ said Helena.

‘Why? It’s fun just talking to you like this.’

Helena pursed her lips into a thin line. ‘Well, it is fun. But I still have some laundry to do…’

‘Oh…’ Luna matched her expression. ‘Okay then. You can continue your work.’

Helena laughed. ‘Sorry, Miss Luna. I’ll have to take my leave now.’

When she left, Luna grumpily went out to the garden. She didn’t want to go out and bump into Lucilius. The chance was low but her head wouldn’t stop overthinking. 

The garden was amazing. Blooming flowers, freshly mowed grass, and the wind seemed to always blow, like it was placed there permanently. Perhaps it was some kind of a magical thing, she had thought.

Luna walked for quite a distance until she noticed something out of place. She stopped in her tracks and looked around. Something was beginning to cloud her vision. Is this smoke? She thought.

Her vision only became more obstructed as the smoke thickened. She waved her hand in the air in an attempt to clear it but nothing changed. It didn’t smell like anything was burning so it couldn’t have come from a huge fire. Is it fog then?

By the time she finished thinking, she was trapped. The fog was too thick for her to move anywhere. When she took a step back, she accidentally stomped on some flowers, so she quickly shifted to another side.

Her mind probed for a solution but she had no choice. Fog or not, she had to go somewhere; she couldn’t just wait for the fog to die down––if it ever will. 

Luna took one step to her right. No obstruction. Okay. Keep moving that way. 

A few more repetitive cautious steps and her head hit something really hard. 

‘Ow…’ she rubbed her head and felt the space in front of her. 

Oh, a wall… No wait. She felt it around some more. It’s a pillar.

She moved the other way and it was clear so she kept walking. But not until her head hit something again. She reached out and touched.

Hm?

This doesn’t seem like a wall or a pillar… Her hands slid up and down. Seems rather tough, but soft to touch—Wait, is this a—

A hand grabbed hers and she gasped loudly.

‘Healer?’

‘Lucilius?’

The fog cleared up a bit and Luna saw him staring down at her in confusion, in which her expression matched his.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked.

Immediately, the hazy memory of last night filled the void in her mind. Luna didn’t know to what extent she embarrassed herself, but she recalled crawling under the table and creeping up Lucilius’ legs. 

She quickly stepped backwards to get away but his hand was gripping her wrist, and he pulled her towards him.

‘Where are you going in such a haste?’ he asked with a raised brow. ‘To punish Queen Beryl in the name of the moon in your heels?’

All colours drained from her face. ‘What did you say?’ she whispered.

Lucilius hummed as if thinking. ‘Aren’t you the pretty guardian?’ he added, clearly making fun of her. He enjoyed seeing her face getting redder with each word he uttered. ‘I’m guessing I’m Tuxedo Mask?’

Luna clamped both of her palms onto his mouth in an attempt to stop him from speaking further. She couldn’t even retort—the heat reached her head and she felt like it was going to explode from shame. Before she knew it, she was panting, panic taking over her controls. 

She felt him smile against her skin. Luna so badly wanted to murder him to preserve her dignity, but she knew it was impossible. 

‘D-Drunk…!’ She stuttered. ‘Brain… illogical…!’ It was as though she was going to cry, but she needed to explain herself.

‘Brain cells connect slower when we’re drunk!’ she finally said. ‘So we’re not ourselves when we are under the influence! P-Please forget what you witnessed!’

Lucilius only stared at her, obediently shutting up as her hands were still over his mouth. Then, he raised his hand and touched her forehead with his forefinger. 

‘W-What!?’ Luna stammered yet again at the sudden skinship. At that, she had reflexively released her hands from Lucilius and covered her forehead instead. 

‘It left a bruise. You fell really hard on the floor last night,’ he commented with a scornful laugh.

Luna bit her lower lip to contain the overwhelming feelings. Self-destruction suddenly sounded like a good idea. ‘I’m leaving,’ she said angrily and turned on her heels. 

‘I created this fog,’ said Lucilius, halting her tracks. ‘You can’t move anywhere without me.’

‘Could you please remove it?’ she asked.

‘Not a chance, I would like to test out how long this can last,’ he said, swiftly encompassing his warm palm over her small one. ‘So let Tuxedo Mask escort you back.’

‘Ahh for God’s sake, stop it already!!!’ she yelled and Lucilius burst into laughter.

***

Last night, after he had carried her to her room and dropped her on her bed, Luna suddenly grasped his sleeve; eyes still closed. Lucilius tried to remove her hands, but her fist wouldn’t budge. ‘What’s wrong, Healer?’ he asked in a low voice.

‘Good night kiss!’ She used her other hand to point at her forehead.

‘You’re so going to regret this tomorrow,’ said Lucilius and attempted to uncurl her fist again but the girl began to whine.

‘Good night kiss, good night kiss!!’ she wailed and sat up. She struggled to open her eyes and ended up squinting. ‘Why are you so stingy?’

‘I am exercising an amount of patience I didn’t know I have, Healer,’ he said. ‘Let go of me before I throw you in a river full of snakes.’

Luna gasped and retracted her hand. But as Lucilius took a step forward to leave, she reached out again. All the emperor heard was a loud thud as the Healer fell forehead first on the floor. He turned to look.

‘Well, I guess you did get your good night kiss, huh,’ he muttered and proceeded to lift her and tuck her back in. She seemed to have lost her consciousness; never moving an inch as he pulled the blanket up to her chin. 

He stared at her for a long while before touching her forehead. ‘That looks like it hurts,’ he commented, seeing how it had turned red from the impact. Then, as if bewitched, he slowly leaned forward—and planted a kiss on her forehead. 

Was he drunk? Maybe.

He could feel his ears burning as he walked back to his manor, and his neck felt like it was being boiled. Why did it suddenly become hot around here?

***

As he expected. Lucilius liked the way her small hand sat in his grip. It gave him a sense of fullness. He convinced himself that it was because of her healing touch.

‘Are you lost?’ Luna asked.

They had been walking for a very long time in the fog and she was getting tired.

‘No,’ Lucilius replied curtly.

Luna frowned. ‘But we’ve been walking for years,’ she exaggerated. ‘You’re lost, aren’t you? You can’t see in the fog.’

‘I told you I created the fog, no one can find their way aside from me.’

‘Then why are we still walking?!’

Lucilius squeezed her hand. He wasn’t going to let go any time soon. Luna didn’t know where they were heading to, and Lucilius had taken that chance to make a detour and walk around aimlessly.

‘I knew it. You’re definitely lost,’ Luna muttered.

‘I’m not lost, Healer.’

‘You are.’

***

Elias was back at the mine. There were no more guards, probably because the mine had exploded, Alshain had no reason to guard it. It had a “No Trespassing” sign at the entrance. 

He didn’t need to enter. He merely closed his eyes for a moment to investigate. 

The magic was casted by a Primaeval Magician, but had a mixture of a Faux as well. Could it be the work of two magicians? But a simple explosion wouldn’t need more than one. 

He opened his eyes and crossed his arms. Somebody interfered with our plan, doing exactly what we wanted. An ally or an enemy?

***

‘Miss Luna.’

The maid bowed at her as soon as she reached the entrance of Orion. Luna nodded at her and the maid gestured inside. Earlier that morning, after Lucilius got her out of the fog he created, which took him two hours, he informed that he would need to see her in Orion after tea time.

‘His Majesty is waiting for you,’ she said politely.

She followed her inside without any questions. The maid led her to a series of turns and flights of stairs and finally to a door, where she excused herself as she wasn’t allowed entrance. Luna thanked her.

When she opened the door, she was greeted with a study table across the room, right by the double-glazed window with Georgian bars. The curtains were opened on each side, giving the person sitting on the study table an unnecessary glow from the sunlight (the person: Lucilius).

‘You’re quite early, Healer,’ the emperor greeted with a smile. 

From the door to the table, there was a narrow bluish grey carpet laid out. The window behind the study table was between another set of the same window design on either side; all with curtains opened. 

Luna stepped further in and looked around.

On the right side of the room, there was a wide and long bookshelf filled with various colours and sizes of books and by it were two sofas facing each other, with a coffee table positioned between them and an expensive-looking carpet beneath the furniture. The bookshelf continued adjacently towards the door frame while the left side of the room mirrored the whole setting. Due to the wide windows, the room appeared more spacious than it was. 

Lucilius stood from his chair and walked towards her. 

‘It’s my little and simple humble library,’ he said, seeming proud. 

Luna raised her brows. ‘This would’ve been sold for at least millions back in my place,’ she murmured under her breath.

‘What do you need me for?’ she asked him.

‘I couldn’t find you any mentors to train your healing skills,’ he said and walked over to the bookshelf on his right side. ‘But I do have books on Healers.’

She followed him. ‘You want me to read them?’

‘Yes. Read them and practice,’ he said. ‘If you need a partner, I’ll be here to help.’

Lucilius chose a book that was within his eye-position and handed it to her. It was a thick book with a dark red spine and old, dull-coloured pages. Luna took it and was surprised at how heavy it was. It didn’t stop there. He kept handing her books from different levels of the bookshelf. 

When he was done, Luna’s arms were shaking at the weight and she had to put it down. He tilted his head, absorbed in his thinking then nodded.

‘Those are enough for now. Read them,’ he said and walked back to his study table.

She obediently sat down on the carpet and began reading.