~Chapter 117~
“Wow… a purple moon.”
As usual, the head maid woke up at 6 a.m., opened the window, and muttered blankly.
She expected to see the bluish dawn sky before the red sun rose, but instead, she saw the purple moon she had always wanted to see.
“Honey!”
She immediately called for her husband, the head butler.
He also opened the window and stared at the beautiful purple moon, completely mesmerized.
“Does this mean our Master and Madam will finally be at peace…?”
A lot had changed over the last few months.
With all the fiancés sent by the imperial family running away, their Master’s face had become darker and darker.
He started acting like he would never trust anyone again.
But one day, their Master suddenly brought home his own bride, and that’s when he began to change.
“They really are meant for each other, aren’t they?”
The head maid smiled at the head butler.
“They’ve even decided to go through the final step together…”
The two of them had a love marriage, so they understood each other well.
The Madam, who everyone thought would run away someday, fit perfectly into this mansion.
The Master, who never smiled before, started to smile—and that smile was always for Madam.
“I’m glad we get to see Master do the soul contract.”
The head butler chuckled as he wiped his glasses.
The head butler and head maid, who woke up earlier than anyone else in the Maledictus mansion, finished all their chores and headed straight to the dining room.
And there, the Master and Madam were already sitting.
“Master, Madam!”
The head butler rushed over in surprise.
This was not the time they usually woke up.
After the Halloween party last night, both of them should still be sleeping. The butler and maid were shocked to see them awake and sitting in the dining room so early.
“Why are you up so early? The other servants aren’t even awake yet… how did you get everything ready…?”
“It’s fine. It wasn’t hard at all,” Damien said.
Rubiana added,
“I woke up early because I wanted to tell you about the purple moon. You’d see it as soon as you woke up, but I thought you’d have so many questions.”
“Haha, that’s true, but…”
The butler laughed.
“Still, you could’ve just told us after you woke up a little later.”
“No,” Damien slowly shook his head.
“Sometimes it’s nice to wake up at this time.”
Hearing Damien’s words, the head butler and head maid smiled softly.
Since Chef Martin was still asleep, they brought out a simple snack instead of a full meal for the Master and Madam.
“So, is the third rite ready?” the head butler asked.
Damien nodded.
The head maid, her face full of emotion, turned to Rubiana.
“Madam… are you sure you’re okay with going through the last step of the soul contract?”
“Yes,” Rubiana nodded without any hesitation.
“I always want to…”
She paused for a moment, then smiled and spoke in a clear voice,
“I want to stay by Damien’s side.”
“And…”
She held the head maid’s hand.
“I want to stay with all of you, too.”
These simple but honest words brought tears to the head maid’s eyes.
“We want to stay with Master and Madam forever, too.”
The bright purple moonlight shined on everyone sitting at the table.
They were already like one family.
“Ruby, aren’t you cold?”
Damien and I were looking through books under a temporary tent on the west tower’s rooftop.
The nights were cold now, but I could handle it.
“I’m fine. But Damien, please stop taking off your clothes. You keep giving them to me, and soon you’ll have nothing left to wear.”
Because Damien kept giving me his clothes so I wouldn’t get cold, I was actually starting to feel a little too warm.
Meanwhile, Damien only had a thin shirt left. Now, he looked colder than I did.
“You need it more than I do. Here.”
I handed the blanket I was using to Damien.
“Use this.”
“No, Ruby, you use it.”
“I made this blanket, you know?”
Of course, Damien quietly took the blanket I gave him.
“Let’s share it, then.”
I made sure the blanket covered Damien’s knees, then looked at the magic circle under the moonlight.
“I wonder if it’ll happen tonight…”
Ever since Halloween night, Damien and I kept coming to the magic circle on the west tower’s rooftop.
After the ghost butterfly told us to come to the magic circle that night and showed us the purple moon, we hadn’t heard anything more.
‘Maybe it just wanted to show us the purple moon and nothing else…’
But I still couldn’t stop wondering about the vision the ghost butterfly showed me during the first part of the Halloween party.
Why was Damien crying and holding onto me, begging me not to go in that vision?
‘Was that really just a vision?’
What if it was a warning about something that could happen in the future?
‘If so, maybe the butterfly showed me so I could be prepared…’
But with just that vision, there was no way to know what it meant. So, after the purple moon rose, I kept waiting by the magic circle, hoping the ghost butterfly would come back.
Tonight, the butterfly still hadn’t appeared. I rubbed my tired eyes. Damien took out his pocket watch and said,
“It’s late. You should go get some sleep. I’ll stay here.”
“No.”
I patted my cheeks, trying to wake myself up.
“If the butterfly showed me that, I think it has something to say to me.”
Damien understood, but he still wanted me to get some sleep.
“Okay, but just ten more minutes. Then you have to go.”
I nodded.
We’d already been waiting for hours tonight, so maybe it was best to wait for tomorrow instead.
I opened my eyes wide and stared at the magic circle glowing under the purple moonlight.
‘I hope that vision wasn’t about the third rite.’
If it was a warning about something going wrong with the ritual…
I felt a little anxious, but shook my head.
‘Even if it is, if I know about it ahead of time, we can find a way to fix it before the ritual.’
So, I tried not to worry too much.
While I was calming myself down—
[Are you really planning to do the third rite?]
I suddenly woke up at the sound of a familiar voice.
My sleepy eyes flew open.
“Ghost butterfly?”
“Ancestor?”
Damien and I both called out toward the magic circle at the same time.
I looked over. Damien was looking right back at me, his eyes wide.
He could hear the ghost butterfly’s voice, too.
“Yes, we are. Both Rubiana and I want to do it,” Damien said, squeezing my hand tightly as he looked at the magic circle turning purple.
Suddenly, countless ghost butterflies poured out from the magic circle and flew toward us.
So many butterflies filled the air that we couldn’t see anything else. Instinctively, Damien pulled me close and held me tight.
After the wave of butterflies passed, I opened my eyes and saw the magic circle where we’d been waiting.
But now, there was someone on top of the magic circle.
“Please… please, it has to work…”
It was Damien, his face covered in blood, mumbling like a madman.
Damien’s expression grew stiff as he watched himself.
“Please…”
Blood pooled under him as he cried desperately.
He was holding someone in his arms.
As if drawn by some force, I grabbed Damien’s hand and walked toward the magic circle to look at the face of the person Damien was holding.
That person was—
“Ruby…”
It was me, dead in Damien’s arms.
