The night air lay heavy over the garden, the gazebo lit only by a handful of dim lanterns.
Sera sat at the center, composed as ever. Seated beside her were Vina, Tia, Emma, and Alaric. A few guards and maids surrounded them, forming a quiet circle. The head maid stood close, little Lily asleep in her mother's arms.
The atmosphere was tense, thick with anger, disgust, and unease, after the maid finished recounting what she had overheard that afternoon.
The maids looked shaken.
Drowned in both fear and guilt, Emma looked worse.
"Damn *&%^*&#*&#*(#&!"
Alaric cursed, slamming his hand on the round table at the center.
The sharp sound startled everyone.
"Hey, be careful will you." Sera scolded. "Don't break the table. It was expensive, you know."
Alaric froze, then awkwardly scratched his head, feeling flustered at Sera's sudden reproach. "Ah... sorry."
'Mother, please be tactful will you.' Tia thought, Tia sighed inwardly. 'It's understandable that even uncle Alaric, who is usually jovial, would be furious when someone showed malicious intentions towards their friends and lover.'
But the small exchange broke the tension just enough.
Emma let out a faint, unexpected giggle, one that quickly dissolved into guilt.
"I... I'm sorry, Sera," she said, lowering her head. "If I had stayed quiet... maybe things wouldn't have escalated. I am usually not like this. I don't know what came over me. I was just... irritated."
'Indeed. This isn't like her.' Sera studied her.
'She was just a commoner till a decade ago. After I observed that she is quite intelligent and has some skills, she became my steward.
'Over time, she had grown into her role—confident, authoritative.
'And lately she has been managing the territory in my stead. So it may be normal for any person in her stead to become a little proud.
'But Emma did not let her pride control her.
'She never misused her authority and treated everyone normally, keeping her ego in check from time to time.
'She was never reckless.
'So her actions today may be due to irritation caused because someone insulted me, the Ravenscrest and her ego.
'If she was still the commoner she once was, then she might have kept quiet.
'And it is normal to get angry for the viscount's assistant's sharp tongue insults.
'Yet, it is still very unlike her to talk back. Normally she would have still endured.
'Not just her. Vina and I have been feeling restless too. Tia has been suffering from nightmares.
'This uneasy feeling is consistent nowadays.
'It's as if....'
Sera's fingers unconsciously brushed the back of her hand—tracing the artifact coiled around her hand, which is now invisible.
'Could it be...?' A faint unease coiled in her chest. 'Is this caused by the artifact?'
Her gaze flicked briefly toward Tia.
'Is it possible that Tia's constitution could no longer suppress it?
'Is it slowly affecting everything around it? Just like before Tia's birth.'
YOU ARE READING
The Eclipse Moons Grimoire: Lilith's Soft Whispers
FantasyA boy who wishes to be a girl dies in an accident and reincarnates in a world of gods and demons as the second son of the baroness with hidden past. His supposed mother disguises and raises him as a girl.
