The Night Belongs to the Moon | Taeyong

34 | Faces of the Moon

Taeil remained stunned, paralysed under the weight of Dal-ae's words. Behind him, a lonesome raven, perched on his windowsill, cawed raucously as the clouds swam across the moon.

'I am that Yuta's accomplice who you have all been looking for,' Dal-ae said with a smile on her face. It was almost unnerving the way her eyes gleamed with the curl of her lips.

'Why do you look so shocked?' she asked. 'Weren't you absolutely sure that it was me?'

Taeil stared at her for a long time, his mind recalling every detail about her, right from when she was brought to the Night Mansion till last week when he was torturing her in the dungeon. He thought he had it all figured out. But now that she actually admitted it, questions rose inside him and the pieces did not fit quite as they should.

'What is your name?' he asked after a pause.

'Yuta didn't give me one,' she replied.

'Are you a human?'

Dal-ae nodded.

'Then how did you conceal your memories?' Taeil asked. 'When you were brought to the Night Mansion, the Lord checked you himself and he found no memories inside your head.'

Unexpectedly, Dal-ae smiled. 'An easy trick,' she shrugged and her hands reached the top of her head. Carefully, her fingers peeled what at first seemed like her own skin but as she pulled further, Taeil discovered it was a wig of black hair. Beneath the veneer of tresses glowed her own hair – long and silver like the moon outside. The moment they were free from their confine, they fell behind her flowing like a waterfall made of diamonds.

Taeil's mouth fell agape in realization. 'A Memory Concealing charm...' he whispered, more to himself than to her. 'But that's...'

'Too simple,' Dal-ae said, twirling the wig in her hand. 'I know. But why would anybody pull on a girl's hair when she is on the verge of dying. Yuta was sure nobody would check and he was right.'

'So, it really was you...' Taeil said, despite himself, clasping his hands inside the sleeves of his cloak.

Dal-ae nodded slowly.

'But I still don't understand,' he said. 'The blood of the ten thousand rats, the guard who died, the witness in Sollage... how can a human... it doesn't make sense. And if you are that capable then what are you doing here in the Night Mansion as a mere Familiar?'

The smile on her face dropped and her fingers clutched the wig tightly. She crouched in front of the metal bars of the prison cell, her eyes gleaming with malice. 'Want to know how I did it?' she hissed making Taeil gulp dryly.

But the expression on his face did not betray him. 'Go on,' he said, stoically. 'I am listening.'

Dal-ae sat herself on the cold stone floor, away from the blood. 'It's simple, isn't it?' she said. 'Taeyong cannot die, not in the usual manner anyway. His heart is hidden away and without it, there is nothing to stake, so to kill him you need to find his heart and that is why I am here.

'I was raised with only one purpose – to kill the Vampire Lord. Yuta is the one who trained me. He raised me to do what no human can. He taught me to endure what nobody can,' she said, her eyes distant and lifeless. 'But merely killing him won't suffice. We needed to prove that he is unfit to be a Vampire Lord so the realm doesn't revolt.'

Her eyes shifted to focus, holding Taeil under her gaze. 'It all started with the blood of the ten thousand rats,' she said. 'It was a warning and a distraction.'

'Did Yuta enter the Mansion that night to help you?'

Dal-ae shook her head. 'It was the most fascinating charm I have ever seen,' she said. 'The Siphoning System.'