The remaining hours of moonlight swept past, and before long, day had broken onto the horizon. Claud, who could never sleep on the first day of Half Moon, gazed skywards, where the sky was returning to normal. It was as if the descent of the great Dark had never happened, but in the top left corner of his vision, one of the hourglasses had vanished.

The day seemed even more muted somehow, to the point that everything seemed quite monochrome. Normally, Claud would feel a bit displeased at his unnaturally low mood, but it was a fitting sight for today.

Lily, who was snoozing away with dishevelled clothes, rolled onto her side and hugged his arm. Despite his low mood, Claud couldn’t help but smile — his mother would be happy to know that he had found a soulmate.

Poking her left cheek gently, Claud decided not to dwell on the past too much. It would not do to feel sad. What he wanted to do was to remember his mother’s life and the many things she had done for him, and celebrate them.

Nothing more, nothing less.

He lay in bed for a while, holding Lily close to his chest, and thought about the future depicted in his Second Tutorial. Now that the great Dark had descended, and two more tumultuous events would soon follow, Claud knew that he might very well just be in for the fight of his life. Everything that should have happened had indeed happened so far, and if he failed at this juncture…

Claud looked at Lily again, and felt his heart clench up. He never wanted the feel the pain of eternal loss again. He would sooner die than to do that…which was why, in the Second Tutorial, the Claud there had strangled his own emotions and delved into a dreamscape where all was happy and pleasant.

The Frozen Emperor was one of the strongest people in that nightmare, but all that strength was pointless if he couldn’t protect the people he cared about.

Claud was determined to never go down that route, no matter what.

Shaking his head, he reached out for a little pyramid in his backpack. He glanced at the mismatching markers once, nodded in satisfaction, and then placed it back.

Lily made a little noise, and then shifted slightly. At that moment, a sunray fell into her eyes, and she stirred awake. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at Claud blearily.

“M-morning…” Grabbing his head, she pulled him down for a kiss, and then fell asleep again.

“…Normally, one does not fall asleep after a deep kiss…right?” Claud muttered. He wasn’t sure of these things himself either; this was his first and only experience with love. However, now that she had woken up, falling asleep was probably not a good idea.

Poking her cheeks, Claud woke her up gently again.

“Oh, it’s morning…odd.” Lily yawned. “I had a weird dream where I slept through a whole day, hehe.”

“No, you woke up just five minutes ago, stuck your tongue into my mouth, and then went back to sleep,” Claud replied. “Not a dream.”

“Oh.” Lily straightened a stray lock of hair. “Good morning!”

“Good morning to you too.” Claud looked up at the sky. “Feels like a normal day, doesn’t it? Despite the great Dark descending and everything. Nothing much seems to have changed.”

“Yet.”

Claud, who was about to say the same thing in the exact same ominous tone, felt a bit stifled. However, their speaking habits had melded after some time, and Lily was quite the mind-reader when it came to him. After all, how else would she have figured out who he was back then?

She grinned mischievously, before rolling off the bed like a ball. “Don’t just stand there. Today is…”

“Yeah.” Claud paused. “It’s a shame I can’t bring you to her grave, though.”

“We’ll have next year, and the year after next, and the years that stretch out forever,” Lily replied. “And we won’t miss them. I promise.”

“I’ll make sure to protect that promise too.” Claud smiled. “Let’s wash up and check on the little guy next door. I wonder if he’s finished all the sweets.”

“It’s nice to have a guinea p—uh, someone who’s happy to eat my sweets, so I really hope he’s not sick of them yet,” Lily replied. “Still, eating too much of anything is unhealthy, though. Is it really a good idea to feed him so much?”

“He’ll be fine…probably.”

“Maybe the little guy’s a she,” Lily muttered. ‘Anyway, we’ll bring the little shadow to the palace tomorrow. I’ll take this chance to test out my half-done creations…”

Claud rolled his eyes.

After washing up, the two of them checked on the baby shadow. The door, however, had been locked by the little thing, but its regular breathing was more than enough to reassure Claud that it was still very much fine.

“Let’s go, then.”

The two of them left the inn and headed outside the city, a small package in Claud’s hand. Under the muted sunlight, Claud found a small hill with a few trees on it, and then laid out a small mat. It was the usual setup, just that in front of him, it was now a tree with his mother’s portrait laid against it.

“That’s your mother?” Lily asked, looking at the aged, lined face. “I can somehow tell that she’s young, but…”

“Hard work and toiling,” Claud replied quietly. “This is the only portrait I have of her. Fortunately, I’ve protected it fastidiously, and it’s lined with very expensive materials to prevent any blemish.”

Pulling out a Porta-Pyro, Claud ignited three thin sandalwood sticks, which had been carved for the express purpose of rituals and occasions like this. They would give off a nice smell, but more importantly, they carried a great deal of symbolisation.

Like life, the incense sticks would burn to an end. Legend had it that burning three sticks of sandalwood would bring back loved ones for that short duration. While the border of life and death was uncrossable, the distance would be closed, allowing the grieving to at least speak one-sidedly.

He didn’t know if that was true, but Claud wasn’t going to hold back.

Placing a small cake in front of the portrait, Claud introduced Lily and then narrated the events of the past year. If his mother really was listening, she would probably be shocked at what exactly transpired. In fact, he could already see her befuddled expression, and he had to hold back a grin.

There wasn’t much to the short ritual, and before long, the incense sticks fizzled out. With Lily at his side, his mood this time around was far better, and even the customary urge to cry had vanished.

Was this proof that he had walked out from the shadow of his mother’s death?

Claud didn’t know.

Letting out a small sigh, Claud packed everything up, leaving behind only the stumps of the incense sticks. There they would stay for a few months, until the elements took them. It would be proof that his mother had reappeared in the world of the living, if only for the shortest of moments, and left a mark on him.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah.” Claud smiled. “I am. We’ll go to her grave next year, and for the years that follow. I’ll do the same for you too. I want to thank your mum for raising you too, just like what you did earlier.”

Lily nodded with a faint smile. “I wonder what she’ll think of you.”

Claud laughed. “I’m handsome, strong and faithful. I think I’ll score ten out of ten points easily. Still…thank you. For coming along. I never knew how much easier it was to bear all these emotions and thoughts with a soulmate, until you came into my life and kicked the door down.”

“I didn’t kick the door down, okay? I just waited outside your room and everything,” Lily replied. “Don’t make me sound like a boorish person. I’m cute, elegant and really adorable.”

“You missed out ‘very’, ‘extremely’ and ‘truly’,” Claud replied, before falling silent. He didn’t know how to convey his thoughts to Lily; there were no words that could tell her just how much she meant to him.

As Lily blushed, Claud simply hugged her once, holding her tight for a few seconds. “Thank you.”

“There’s no need to be formal. I have many things to thank you for too…”

The two of them looked up into the muted blue sky, and Claud abruptly found himself looking forward to the future. Even though tumultuous times were upon them, Claud knew that he wasn’t ever going to give up. He would protect Lily, protect the others, and make sure that the Frozen Emperor would never appear in reality.

Even if he had to get rid of the Moons, the Dark and the Coloured Gods.

Taking a deep breath, he held Lily’s hand and led her back to the city, which was now devoid of any little shadows waddling around. He could sense an incredible presence residing in Lostfon Palace, which meant that they were definitely not going there today.

“Let’s get some sweet food, then,” Claud suggested. “We’ll wait for a good day to bring that guy over.”

“Alright!”