"Solmire, Your Majesty," Eleanor said the name of our destination.

I had already informed the group of our second stop, yet once again, it had been met with puzzled expressions. First Helianth, and now Solmire.

Solmire was another of the ancient towns that had existed long before the very foundation of the Kingdom of Helios. It did not carry quite the same singular historical weight and cultural influence as Helianth, but it possessed its own proud and storied history, and once again, that history was bound to the legendary founding Queen of Helios, Apollina.

"What do you know of the town, Eleanor?" I asked with a smile.

"Hm," she pondered briefly, gathering her thoughts. "Apollina achieved a decisive victory over the First Lunarian Emperor and his forces there. If I recall correctly, it was also the Emperor’s final battle before he succumbed to his wounds."

Indeed, she was correct on all counts.

Naturally, what most citizens of Helios remembered with the greatest pride was Apollina’s legendary stand at what was now the Capital. At that pivotal moment in history, she had been forced to retreat with her battered troops from the fallen Helianth, falling back northward to the city that would one day become the heart of the Kingdom. It was there, during the Lunarian Emperor’s siege, a battle immortalized in the annals and histories of every household in Helios, that Apollina had held strong, ultimately breaking the Emperor’s will and forcing his army into a full retreat southward.

What followed was a great pursuit. Apollina’s forces hunted them south, reclaiming Helianth in the process, before the final, decisive confrontation of the First Great Helios-Lunarian War unfolded at Solmire. It was said that the Emperor drew his last breath there, in the shadow of his own defeat, and that his death brought the war to its definitive close.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, visibly surprised. "The Lunarian Emperor truly breathed his last in Solmire?" She asked.

That was actually a matter of considerable historical dispute.

The Helios records glorified the event with characteristic greatness.

Apollina had driven Hyperion through the Emperor’s chest after a magnificent clash of blades, and the great Emperor Elyas had fallen there upon Solmire’s soil. The Lunarian accounts, however, told a rather different and far less flattering story, that their Emperor had been treacherously backstabbed by Apollina and had thus died of his wounds back home in the Lunar Capital, having fought with immense valor to the very end.

Naturally, both sides had embellished the account to suit their own national pride, and given that these events had transpired over a thousand years ago, sifting through the layers of heroic mythology to unearth the bare truth had become a near impossible task for any historian.

But I, at least, could say with certainty what had actually occurred.

I had seen it, or rather, I had read it in the Game. Not in a direct flashback or a cinematic sequence, of course, but in those small, informational text fragments that appeared on the loading screens between cinematics. Those brief, easy-to-overlook trivia passages had been a quiet goldmine of lore that the main story never directly addressed. A significant portion of my knowledge regarding the Amber Heart had come from those very screens, since no living soul in this world knew its precise location, only that someone within the Black Sun had eventually uncovered it, though the circumstances were never elaborated upon in the main narrative. The same applied to the moon necklace I was currently seeking; its existence and significance had been quietly disclosed through those very same interstitial texts.

And it was within one of those passages that the Emperor’s true fate had been clearly recorded, without embellishment.

"He did," I confirmed, meeting Eleanor’s gaze. "He died of his wounds a day after the battle, within their own conquered territory of Solmire, behind their retreating barricades. Shortly after, the Lunarian forces abandoned their positions entirely and withdrew, bringing the war to its end."

"You are very well knowledgeable, Your Majesty," Eleanor said, her tone tinged with curiosity as she noticed how perfectly confident I was in my words. "Was this documented in any authentic historical record?"

She clearly wondered how I could be so unerringly sure of a fact that had been debated for a millennium.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," I replied vaguely, sidestepping the truth. "Regardless, after that decisive victory, you are aware of what Apollina did next, correct?"

"Yes," Eleanor nodded thoughtfully. "She demanded the construction of a stele at the very center of Solmire to commemorate the end of the war." She paused, raising an elegant brow. "Do you intend to visit the Stele, Your Majesty?"

It was entirely expected that she would ask. She was evidently beginning to suspect that I was merely dragging her along on some sort of grand, historical pilgrimage honoring Apollina. First, we had visited Helianth, touring the fortress where Apollina had briefly resided. And now, we were bound for the very site where Apollina had finally defeated the Lunarian Emperor and brought the war to a close.

It was difficult for her to discern my true motives. She seemed to sense that I was seeking something specific, but since I had divulged so little, it was nearly impossible for her to deduce my actual goal.

"Indeed. We are here for the Stele," I confirmed with a faint, knowing smile. "By the way, you are aware of how important tomorrow is, are you not?"

"An important day?" Eleanor repeated, her brow furrowing deeply in thought.

Was tomorrow an important day for Helios? She searched her memory but struggled to recall any significant historical events tied to the date. I was pretty sure she suspected it might be the anniversary of Apollina’s victory over the Lunarian Emperor, but the dates simply did not align.

"The Silver Night."

The answer came not from Eleanor, but from Leilah, who had remained entirely silent until that very moment.

"Exactly," I said, directing an approving smile toward her.

"Excuse me?" Eleanor, however, looked dumbfounded.

The Silver Night was indeed a sacred, momentous day, but certainly not for the Kingdom of Helios. Far from it. It was one of the most sacred day in the Lunarian Empire. A thousand years ago, on that exact date, Emperor Elyas had finally united the scattered, warring lords of the broken territories, founding the Lunarian Empire and crowning himself its first Emperor.

It was understandable why Eleanor was so confused by my sudden mention of the Silver Night. From her perspective, it had nothing to do with us or our current journey.

"In fact, the Silver Night being tomorrow is precisely the reason I was in such a rush to reach Solmire," I added lightly.

But my explanation only seemed to deepen her confusion.

I simply smiled at her.

"You will see."

The sun had already set, cloaking the carriage in darkness. At our current pace, we were set to reach the ancient town of Solmire perhaps an hour past midnight.

"Your Majesty," Eleanor called out, breaking the quiet rumble of the carriage once more.

"Yes, Eleanor," I asked, turning to meet her gaze.

"At Helianth... were you searching for something specific?" She asked carefully.

"What do you think?" I asked with a small smile.

"I simply do not believe Your Majesty visited the Fortress only to see Queen Apollina’s former residence," she said, her eyes scanning my expression.

"You think I care so little about visiting the famous historical sites of my ancestors?" I teased her.

"O—Of course not!" She answered quickly, a flash of panic crossing her features. "It is hardly unheard of for a new King to embark upon a pilgrimage. But... perhaps you were looking for something more tangible? Even now, do you wish to obtain something in Solmire?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

It truly was impossible to fool a woman as sharp as her.

"I obtained exactly what I wanted in Helianth, just as I told you, Eleanor. And yes, I am currently seeking something of equal importance in Solmire as well. It had to be retrieved today, which is precisely why I am so glad we have arrived ahead of schedule," I confessed lightly.

"I see," she said, nodding her head slowly as the pieces began to click into place.

"Do you really think I would place myself in such a dangerous position, traveling with only two guards, if this errand were not of the utmost importance, Eleanor?" I asked, my smile softening.

"No, of course not," she agreed.

"I wanted this journey to remain as strictly confidential as possible," I told her, my tone dropping to something more serious and more meaningfully.

First, the Amber Heart. And now, one of Emperor Elyas’s Moons.

These two objects were not mere trinkets; they were legendary artifacts, the very symbols of their respective Kingdom and Empire.

I fully intended to keep the fact that I possessed them a secret for as long as possible, right up until the exact moment I needed to use them. Should the world learn that these ancient relics had resurfaced, the shockwaves through the continent would be consequent. I knew exactly how massive a shift their reappearance would cause, and I was acutely aware of the potentially dangerous consequences.

But it had to be done eventually.

For my sake, and for the sake of my Kingdom.