The Broken Halo

"Have we met before?"

The world seemed to have gone silent as Mira and Simon stared at each other.

Akaza and Sonya looked at both of them with intrigued and curious expressions.

Devia, Brukk, and Orven had wary and tense expressions as they stared at Mira and Sonya. Orven occasionally took glances at Akaza and Sonya, his eyes flashing with a myriad thoughts.

As for the driver, he was extremely baffled and did not what to say or do.

All he knew was that the atmosphere had suddenly become tense, and he was worried that things would escalate to a battle with how tense the atmosphere was.

As for Simon, he kept on staring at Mira with his indifferent and cold eyes.

However, his mind was filled with the question Mira asked him.

A part of him wanted to just tell her that they had not met before.

Mira was not his mother first of all, and even if she had an idea or knew where his mother was, what would he do with that information?

If he decided to meet her right now, what would he do then?

Beat her?

Slap her?

Shout and curse at her?

Kill her?

Simon definitely hated his mother for what she did to him, and because Mira had suggested that his mother should sell him, he also didn’t have any good feelings toward her.

But the main question was, if he told Mira who he really was and she happened to tell him where his mother was, what would he do?

Simon knew the answer immediately.

Nothing.

Despite what his mother did, he couldn’t bring himself to kill her or lay a hand on her.

She had brought him into this world, and for the first fifteen years of his life, she had been there for him.

She had sacrificed a lot for him.

She had suffered for him in the beginning.

Though she had fallen to greed and she had effectively destroyed their relationship, killing or laying a hand on her was something he couldn’t bring himself to do.

Besides, what was the point?

What would he gain?

Satisfaction?

Absolutely not.

He knew the sort of revenge that would give him the satisfaction that would soothe and make his soul happy.

The sort of revenge where his mother sees him at the peak.

Where his mother sees what her son had become.

How great he had become.

But at the end of the day, she would not reap the fruits of her labour.

At the end of the day, she would realize that the money she betrayed him for was nothing but trash to him.

This was the sort of revenge he wanted for her. He had no desire to kill her.

The people he wanted to kill were his comrades of his past life.

Those ones would not escape death.

Although Simon had no desire to kill his mother, he knew that if he told Mira that they had never met before, their journey to Velmora City was going to be tense, uncomfortable, and would seem longer than it was meant to be.

It could also lead to some misunderstandings between him and Mira’s companions.

He knew what could happen if both of their groups traveled together and there was visible suspicion and wariness.

About five seconds passed as Simon thought about all of these, and the five seconds felt like five hours to Mira who felt like a mountain was bearing down on her mind as she stared into Simon’s eyes.

Fortunately for her, Simon finally broke the silence with a single word.

"Blackmoon."

"What?"

Mira was baffled. What was a black moon?

No.

Wait.

Was he actually talking about the black moon of the demon realm?

Mira subconsciously looked up, and she was not the only one. Devia, Brukk, Orven, and even the driver looked at the black moon in the sky, believing that Simon was referring to it for some reason.

Sonya could not help but chuckle when she saw their reactions.

Simon raised his brows slightly, then he shook his head softly.

"My name is Blackmoon."

Mira looked at him in confusion.

’His name is Blackmoon? What sort of a name is Blackmoon? Who would ever name their child Black...’

Mira’s eyes slowly widened in immense disbelief, shock, and confusion as she recalled a memory she had nearly forgotten.

A memory she had pushed to the back of her head because it was during one of the darkest times of her life.

"You... Blackmoon?... Lyssa’s son?"

She stuttered in shock and disbelief.

Simon nodded slowly, causing Mira’s eyes to widen the more.

"How? What? When? Who?"

Mira struggled to find the exact questions she wanted to ask because she had so many to the point that her brain was having a hard time keeping up with them.

Simon saw this, and though he expected this, he found it a little bit amusing.

"You know you have to calm down if you want to say something, right?"

Mira stared at Simon, and after a few seconds, she finally controlled herself and exhaled deeply.

She looked at Simon once again, and this time around, the suspicion in her eyes had deepened.

"You said you’re Blackmoon?"

Simon nodded slightly.

"I am."

She narrowed her eyes.

"From where?"

"The Wildlands."

Mira’s pupils constricted when she heard this. She thought that Simon was lying to her which was why she asked from where. But his words made her to be even more baffled.

"You’re seriously Blackmoon? Lyssa’s son? That brat?"

Simon’s lips twitched, but he still nodded.

"Third time you’re asking, but yeah. I’m Blackmoon."

Mira’s expression and gaze was one of amazement and surprise once again, and this time around, she looked at Simon from up to down.

"You look so... different? What happened? How did you change so much?"

Simon smiled, and he was about to speak, but the driver suddenly spoke.

"Hey. If you guys are going to Velmora City, then pay up and enter the carriage. There’s space for all of you. I don’t have all day."

Simon glanced at the driver from the corner of his eye, and the big demon driver suddenly felt a chill across his spine after seeing Simon’s utterly indifferent eyes.

Simon shifted his gaze back at Mira, then he smiled.

"I guess we’ll continue our conversation on our way to Velmora City."

Mira absentmindedly nodded.