The Witch Doesn’t Miss Her Prey

Seeing Sylvia with my own two eyes only made my resolve surge even more.

Thanks to that, I think I spent about a month holed up in the castle after returning to the main family.

I briefly considered visiting Sylvia in between, but since I’m just a cumbersome burden to her now that she’s regained her freedom, I cleanly gave up.

Instead, I decided to devote all my energy to finding what I should be doing now.

Among those things, the most important was, of course, the Eyes of Dawn.

It was about approaching the group that the man who reached out to me before my regression belonged to.

Tok. Tok.

I shook the pen in my hand, making a sound, and fell into deep thought.

The notebook on the desk only had the simple words “Eyes of Dawn” written on it, and nothing else.

This one page seemed to represent my current state of mind and situation.

In the end, all I know is the name of the group and the existence of the unidentified man who approached me, and nothing else.

What should I do to approach them in this situation?

“…Alp, are you outside?”

– Yes, Doryeon-nim. Did you call for me?

After a long period of contemplation, I secretly called Alp, who was outside.

He was originally just an ordinary servant working in the castle, but he became my attendant not long ago.

With my permission, he opened the door and came in, and I quickly put away the notebook I had spread out on the desk and opened my mouth, pretending to be nonchalant.

“I just found it while reading a book, what is the Eyes of Dawn group?”

“Heok…! Do, Doryeon-nim. You shouldn’t mention that name carelessly.”

When I asked, trying to act like I had overheard it, he was horrified and looked around as if worried that someone might be listening.

There’s no one within my senses, so he doesn’t have to worry, but he’s such a fuss.

“I was just curious about what kind of guys they are, so don’t make a fuss and just answer as much as you know.”

“Well, they are one of the most notorious rebel groups in the Empire. According to rumors, they are derived from the Order of the Moon.”

“Order of the Moon?”

I frowned when a rather unexpected name popped out.

If it’s the Order of the Moon, isn’t that the group that worships Lethe, the Goddess of Dawn, as their main god?

At the same time, it is also a cult treated as a kind of heresy in the Hespia Empire.

Originally, the Hespia Empire did not have a state religion, but due to Erze, the Goddess of Peace, who is worshiped as the main god in the Holy Kingdom of Arcadia, the number of believers in the Order of the Sun, which serves her, gradually increased.

I heard that this gradually spread to the Hespia Empire and became a state religion before I knew it.

And the Order of the Moon, or more precisely, Lethe, the Goddess of Dawn, was the only adversary of Erze in mythology and tried to kill Erze by digging a trap, so the followers of the Order of the Sun are known to be very hostile to the followers of the Order of the Moon.

Anyway, back to the story, so the Eyes of Dawn are beings related to the Order of the Moon?

‘That’s why they may have rejected the Order of the Moon even more.’

If that’s the case, then the reason for persecuting the Order of the Moon until now can be explained to some extent.

If a rebel group that is one of the most notorious in the Empire’s history is actually derived from a religious group, then naturally the view of that religion will have to worsen.

In other words, is this a somewhat credible story?

In short, in order to approach this Eyes of Dawn group, I eventually have to dig into the Order of the Moon.

When my thoughts reached that point, I realized that there was no time to delay, and I quickly got up from my seat, put on my coat, and gave instructions to Alp.

“Alp, get the carriage ready right away.”

“Yes? A carriage, are you going somewhere?”

“Yes, I’m going out for a while. Make up an appropriate excuse to Father.”

If it were like before, I wouldn’t need to say these things.

In the first place, Father wouldn’t have been curious about what I was doing, and he wouldn’t have even called me separately.

But recently, Father has been looking for me more often than Hasel, so this level of precaution was essential.

Even though he looks foolish on the outside, he seems to have some brains, so he’ll make up an appropriate excuse on his own.

“Haa, you’re asking me for another difficult favor….”

“That’s your job.”

I lightly ignored him muttering something, grabbed my coat, and was about to leave the room.

Knock knock.

“Who is it? Come in.”

When I heard someone knocking on the door, I stopped in my place for a moment and replied.

Then, a maid with a very urgent expression came in through the opened door, bowing as if she was sorry.

“Ka, Kyle Doryeon-nim. A guest has arrived.”

“A guest?”

Who would come to visit me?

In the first place, Hasel, who has a wide network, has guests from various families visiting him all the time, but I don’t have any connections like that.

So what kind of guest?

“Ma…. Ah, no, the Young Lady of the Eleanor family has come to visit.”

“…What?”

I frowned, wondering if I had misheard, and the maid quickly corrected her title and finished speaking.

At that, my eyes widened as big as lanterns.

Sylvia came to find me?

＊＊＊

As soon as I rushed out of the castle, I saw a familiar woman walking gracefully in the garden below.

As if she felt my gaze, she gently stroked the flowers blooming in the garden, looked around, turned her head towards me, smiled brightly, and waved her hand.

What on earth brought Sylvia all the way here?

“Eleanor Gongnyeo!”

“Lied Gongja, it’s been a while. How have you been?”

Sylvia greeted me brightly, unaware of my confused inner thoughts.

“Yes, I’ve been well…. But what on earth brought you all the way here?”

I nodded awkwardly and asked the reason for her visit.

Then, Sylvia suddenly made a sulky face and pouted her lips.

“Well, since Lied Gongja doesn’t come to find me, I have no choice but to come on my own. You clearly said you would come to see me from time to time….”

“I, I’m sorry. Due to various circumstances….”

“You could have at least sent a letter.”

“My consideration was lacking. I apologize.”

Her words were a hundred times right, so I apologized politely, but my heart was nothing but bewildered.

Of course, it’s true that I said I would visit her first, but at that time, I was just saying it as a formality.

In any case, since we are ostensibly in a relationship, it was true that I had to continue meeting her to show this.

However, I didn’t bother to visit because it was obvious that she would feel uncomfortable if I went to see her…. I never thought it would turn out like this.

Doesn’t she feel uncomfortable with my existence?

“By the way, were you about to go out somewhere? Considering you came out in a hurry, your outfit is….”

“Yes, that’s right. I have some business to take care of, so I was about to call for a carriage in a hurry.”

“I see. The timing wasn’t right.”

When I explained the situation, her face showed regret.

If I were just going for a stroll nearby, I could just take her with me as is, but since I had to go quite far, I would have to part ways with her as is.

It’s not easy to be so out of sync.

“May I ask where you are going?”

“Yes, I’m going to Ruben for a while.”

Ruben, a city known to have the most followers of the Order of the Moon in the Empire.

I heard that they also call the city they live in the Ruben Holy Kingdom, just like the Holy Kingdom established by the Order of the Sun, but I don’t care about such facts.

In order to find out about the Order of the Moon, there is no place as fast and accurate as that place, so I plan to visit for a while.

I heard that there is no culture of rejecting outsiders. Rather, they are friendly.

That’s why I heard that it is treated as a kind of tourist attraction by atheists who are imperial citizens and do not believe in any god.

“Ruben, that’s quite a long way. What business do you have there…?”

“It’s not really business. It’s such a private matter that I’m embarrassed to tell you.”

“…Is that so.”

For some reason, Sylvia’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

As if she had some idea, she tapped her index finger and was lost in thought for a long time.

“…Eyes of Dawn.”

She muttered something in a very small voice, almost drowned out by the sound of the wind.

Because it was so small that I couldn’t hear it properly, I moved a little closer to her and listened.

“Did you say something? Eleanor Gongnyeo.”

“No, it’s nothing. Rather, Lied Gongja, would it be okay if I asked you for a favor?”

“A favor, you say?”

Then, she erased the serious expression she had just had in an instant, put her hands behind her back, and asked me slyly.

It’s not difficult to grant her request, but the timing is strange.

Feeling a sense of unease creeping in, I nodded, not bothering to answer, with the intention of just listening.

“I heard that Ruben is very friendly to outsiders and is a very sacred city. I would like to go with you for sightseeing, would that be okay?”

As expected.

She has always had an unparalleled curiosity, so it seems that she has become interested in an unknown place that she has only heard about in books or hearsay.

Of course, I have to refuse here.

There are restrictions on movement when I’m with her, and that’s not even the main problem.

If that place is really related to the Eyes of Dawn, I don’t know what kind of danger she might be in.

There’s no way I can take Sylvia to such a place.

“I can’t….”

“Surely you wouldn’t abandon a woman who has come to visit you so kindly after a month without a single letter or even coming to see her, would you? I believe you wouldn’t, Lied Gongja.”

At the moment I was about to open my mouth firmly, Sylvia cut me off with a smile and a sharp tone.

I, who had become speechless, stared at her for a long time, and in the end.

“…Wait in the carriage. I’ll just go back and get a few things I need.”

“Hehe, thank you for your consideration.”

I had no choice but to declare surrender and allow her to accompany me.

Anyway, I can’t win against her with words, then or now.