Erhard is gazing intently at the red sky and the stars, as when he was younger. An irregular star which is shining brighter than the rest – although it is hard to see for anyone else – has been his entire focus since Cenric went to the north. Despite its lack of movement, he feels uneasy about that particular star alone. However, upon seeing two familiar stars, he reassures himself, “Nah, It should be fine.”

The current events have resulted in every chaos possible, and he is the one pressured to find out the actual reason behind the dark red sky. When he finally returned after separating ways with Cenric, all people asked was whether the stars had been providing clues, as if counting the stars were as easy as counting apples on the table. He does not blame them, but he can not deny that he is exhausted.

To make matters worse, the grieving King has ordered him to locate Cenric’s whereabouts using the stars. He knows how desperate the King was that the King started to use his method instead of tangible ones. Well, he knows the answer even without the stars, but he does not intend to tell the King, of course. 

‘For the land of Valria,’ Erhard mutters silently to himself, his lips barely moving.

Erhard then takes a walk around the top of the post, trying to calm his mind down. For him, Cenric’s whereabouts is not the biggest issue. The dark red sky is, but it is not only the sky itself. It is also the fact that the sun no longer rises. Within his field, the sun represents the King, the moon represents the Queen, and all of the others are represented by the stars. What confuses him is that despite the sun no longer rising and shining over Valria, the King remains alive and continues to reign. The temperature also does not decrease to the point of freezing everything in Valria – which is strange enough for Erhard.

‘What would it be?’ Erhard asks to himself, lost in his counting and interpretations. All he gets is how similar the red sky is to the color of Valria royalty, but that’s it. Since the beginning, he has been aware that all those signs are linked to the royalty and they are dangerous, but how are they dangerous?

After a few rounds, he decides to face south, gazing at the red sky as far as he can from the small stargazing tower post inside the castle. Two specific stars catch his attention as he notices that both have shifted slightly to the east.

‘It’s time,’ Erhard mutters to himself, followed by a sigh. He remembers when he met Benette last month during his monthly ritual in the northern tower. Benette told him that if his star and one of the Ivor family’s stars – she did not specify whose – start moving, he has to guide that person to follow the stars. 

When he asked who, all he got from Benette was a brief response, “You know the answer.”

Benette also gave him a vial of unknown potion and asked him to make Cenric drink it on the morning of the new moon day. Although he did not give it directly to Cenric, he knew Cenric drank it. When he considers how everything is proceeding according to her plan, he smiles. He always believes it should be Benette who became the Stargazer – his official title – and he never believes otherwise. There is no way he could have foreseen and prepared what Benette has been doing.

Faint sound of footsteps approaches the top of the tower where Erhard is, interrupting his thoughts and causing him to glance at the stairs to see who is coming. Upon seeing that it is the regular old Benetta, he sighs in relief.

“I made what you’ve told me, and have no guarantee you’d miss nothing from her instructions. Did it work well?” Benetta asks as soon as she sees Erhard.

“For whom? For this land, yes, but he is definitely suffering right now,” answers Erhard, returning his gaze to Cenric’s star in the sky. That one star is now shimmering, but Erhard has no idea about what it means as the shimmering pattern is definitely different from what he knows.

“I feel a bit guilty, but I do believe we both, although clueless to whatever we are experiencing and doing, have complete faith in her,” says Benetta.

“Of course,” says Erhard, continuing his thoughts quietly, ‘There’s no way a true stargazer would lie or act against Valria’s interests.’

“Then? What’s next?” asks Benetta.

Erhard sighs before answering, “Do you know how to convince a father and a mother to allow their son to go on a trip with me?”

“Phrase it like that and your chance is zero. Don’t make it sound like a vacation,” replies Benetta.

“You know I have zero experience with parents, simply because I don’t have one, right?”

Benetta, who is typically known for her stern face, chuckles and says, “It depends on who the parents are. Now, you tell me who. I might be able to help.”

“Lord Atreus, the only son of General Ivor.”

Benetta freezes for a moment. She never expects that the only cousin of Cenric was the one that Erhard referred to.

“Now, that’s difficult,” she replies, pausing for a second, before continuing, “It might be easier from your position. Just tell the King you need this person to solve the mystery of this red sky. But I’d help from what I can. I have a scheduled visit with the household of Ivor to check on the man you need, so I’ll make sure he won’t reject the idea."

“Why would you check on him? Isn’t he so healthy that you never had to check on him?” asks Erhard. 

“He has been refusing all meals since he returned to the capital, and his worrywart mother forced me to. I want to reject their demand, as I should be focusing on the King’s health. But, maybe it’s fate after all.”