Chapter 38: | IF Luna | Chapter 4: An Old Man’s Scheme.
Feeling warm and cosy, Luna found herself in the world of dreams. It felt pleasant, and her heart throbbed with some discomfort. But for whatever strange reason, she didn't mind. She felt a little anxious and restless, yet happy.
Not remembering what the dream was about, Luna woke up, and as she opened her eyes, she noticed how close Alum's face was to hers. He was still asleep and breathing peacefully.
(Sleeping like that must be uncomfortable…)
But as she remembered yesterday's event and the day before, she felt a little hotter, and her cheeks became warmer.
(Uwaaa!!!! I acted like a spoiled child!)
Coming to her senses, she realised how embarrassing all the things she did actually were.
(Ha-Having him feed me, laying on his lap…where is this even—I already know it's his room through!?)
Luna got up and shook her head. She hit her face with both of her palms, resulting in her cheeks turning redder.
She glanced at the peaceful Alum, who was still sleeping even after all the fuss she made.
'Sleeping like that is really bad for you, you know?' Luna uttered. She lightly shook him and gently said, "Alum…wake up."
"…"
"…I know you're awake," Luna said while poking his cheek.
"I feel a little groggy…" Alum said.
"You're finally 'awake,' Mister Sleepyhead."
After saying that, Luna shyly averted her eyes from his. Alum, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind, letting out a small yawn while he stood up.
"…Please spare me the sarcasm. I waited for you to get up and quietly leave, you know?"
"Hmph, that would only make it more awkward when we later meet, no?"
"I…didn't think of that," Alum replied with a surprised look.
"A-Ahem…" Luna cleared her throat. "Good morning, Alum."
Alum didn't expect a morning greeting from her, but he gently smiled and said, "Good morning, Luna."
"I'm sorry for occupying your bed," Luna apologetically said while getting out.
Alum tilted his head. "Why are you apologising? I'm the one that brought you here."
"I…still feel bad. A-Anyways…this is quite embarrassing."
"Sorry, I didn't know where your room was."
Luna shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'm embarrassed that…you're seeing this unsightly side of me."
She didn't know why, but she usually didn't care too much about how people saw her, well, to some extent, yes, she was a princess and had to keep up appearances, but she didn't really feel shy or any of the likes—not in this case however. Because this time, she felt uneasy, afraid even. Her hair was messy, and her clothes were wrinkly. All in all, she didn't want him to see her in such a messy state.
Alum chuckled. "You're not unsightly." He sat down on the mattress right beside Luna. "I think your bedhead is kind of cute," he softly remarked.
Taken by surprise, Luna threw herself into the pillow, burying her face. Alum could see her ears turn more red and chuckled at the sigh. Peaking out, Luna pouted.
"You're way too blunt!" she complained.
Stunned, Alum realised how embarrassing the words that left his mouth were. He usually didn't feel embarrassed, but… He blushed a little.
"…My bad," he said while covering half of his face with his arm.
(Th-This is a little awkward. Yet…it doesn't feel unpleasant.)
A little bit of time passed without the two saying a word—until suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
'Hey, Luna, isn't this…bad?' Alum asked while keeping his voice down.
"Hm? How so—" With a slightly delayed reaction, Luna panicked a little as well. "Awawawaa! Wh-What shall we do!?'
'Hide…?' Alum pondered with a stern face.
'Where!? This room is more baron than the Arctics!"
'Magic…?'
'We're in the dorms! We can't use magic…'
'we…can hide under the blanket…?'
'T-The two of us…?' Luna sheepishly asked.
'…maybe not.'
Even Alum got a little embarrassed by his own proposal.
—Then, with a deathly serious look on Luna's face, she suggested, "I'll just threaten them not to utter a word about this."
Her tone was so cold that even Alum felt chills down his spine, but since he was used to the cold, he didn't bat an eye at the idea.
'Mmm! That should work!'
They both seemed satisfied with the conclusion they'd reached and waited so that they could ambush when the individual entered.
And…
It didn't go as planned. When Alum went to open the door, he was greeted by the sight of Rigeld.
—Luna, who tried to chop the old man in the neck, froze up at the spot.
"Good morning, you two. You seem awfully lively."
Rigeld greeted the two with the smuggest grin Luna had seen. Feeling frustrated and embarrassed, she hurriedly hid behind Alum.
"G-Good morning, Uncle…" Luna shyly replied to his greetings while peeking out.
Alum followed suit. "…Good morning, Sir."
She glanced at Alum, and they peered deep into the other's eyes, trying to form a connection.
(We can't threaten him!) Luna communicated.
(I somehow doubt we need to,) Alum replied.
Rigeld chuckled while watching the two. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
"Taking a princess back to your room, how bold of you."
"…you already knew that I brought her here. Why didn't you stop me yesterday?" Alum replied to the teasing.
—Well… He couldn't exactly deny his statement, either.
"Whaaat? I was certain you knew~," Rigeld said while glancing at Luan. "Or did he perhaps bring you here unwillingly?"
"I-It isn't like that!" Luna denied.
"Oh, my? Luna, are you perhaps defending him? Now that's rare," Rigeld teasingly said.
He smugly leaned on the door frame with his arms crossed and waited for her to come up with an excuse.
Though, to his surprise, Luna said, "So what if I am?" she warily inquired.
Rigeld was stunned for a moment. (I didn't expect such a blunt reply…) he thought. "Very well then, what's the relationship between the two of you? Though I suppose I already know based on the reports."
Having heard that, Luna and Alum glared at Rigeld. Both were probably thinking: What could he mean?
With sharp gazes directed at him, Rigeld cleared his throat and looked at Alum. "Anyways, Mister Alum. The Church will hold a ceremony to welcome you wanderers. Of course, Luna, you'll have to attend as well."
(Did he come all the way here just to tell him…?)
"Did you come all the way here to tell me?" Alum queried.
"Well… The other wanderers already knew since they were all at the assembly this morning. You, along with Luna, were the only ones missing from the meeting—rather, what you're actually asking is why I'm personally here, right?"
""…..""
It was obvious that Alum wanted to know why someone like him would personally come, but it wasn't totally unthinkable considering the events that occurred in the short time span.
"Let's just say, if someone other than me came to get you and see my niece in such a 'messy' state, how would you think it would end well?"
—Of course, Alum and Luna had plans for that…sort of.
"You weren't thinking of silencing them, were you? Luna, you have an abundance of power. Do you think that using it that way is justifiable for someone your status?"
Luna made a grim expression and quietly nodded. "I'm sorry…" she meekly said.
Rigeld was relieved somehow. Luna was still young, and as her uncle, he thought it was forgivable to act her age, even though she hadn't for the past eighteen years.
"Well, many people have already seen you too together, and…reportedly, a bit too close to one another."
"….."
"Luna, you're an Imperial Princess. I don't think you've forgotten that, have you?"
"…I haven't…Sir…"
Rigeld didn't expect her to act so meekly and was left more astonished than surprised. The report about these two isn't about the two being scandalous or anything.
—Rather, the short version was, "Princess Luna might've fallen in love."
Due to Luna's good reputation, people would find it difficult to believe she was playing around with a man; hence, they could only conclude that she'd fallen in love.
Rigeld sighed. (Well, I doubt she'll find someone at this rate anyhow. She'd rejected pretty much everyone so far, even those supposedly prince charming's from other empires.)
In all honestly, Rigeld really didn't mind if it was Alum. He had the looks, he seemed intelligent, and most important of all—he got along with Luna.
His brother and his wife have given up on finding her a fiancé, leaving Rigeld with that task. He honestly had a headache since their princess was almost at the marriage age—yet didn't have a fiancé.
"How about it?" Rigeld suggested out of nowhere.
There was no context to his suggestion, which left Luna and Alum tilting their head in confusion. Both asked, "How about what?" at the same time.
"If you got engaged, this wouldn't turn out to be a scandal," Rigeld said. (Well, it wasn't going to turn into one, to begin with.)
""What…?"" Alum and Luna uttered.
Flustered, Luna demanded an explanation. "U-Uncle! What are you even saying!?"
Unexpectedly, Rigeld said, "What? I'm getting tired of Enon pestering me about you still lacking a fiancé."
It was rather blunt coming from him, but if he laid it bare, not cornering Alum into it—though it kind of does at the same time. Rigeld did genuinely think he wouldn't find someone who got along with Luna like Alum. And they barely knew one another! So he thought if they got to know one another better, things would be smooth sailing from there.
"B-But!" Luna still protested.
"Don't like it? C'mon, Luna, you've rejected every offer thus far. You 'can' reject this one as well. Alum, you 'can' as well, tough. I'd suggest you accept no matter what Luna's answer is."
Luna shyly stared at Alum, pleading for him to say something. "Alum…say something…" Luna said while tightly gripping the hem of his shirt.
"…What are the benefits?" Alum bluntly inquired.
"Well…do you think she's pretty?" Rigeld asked.
"…I…do…" Alum replied.
Luna could tell that he was blushing a little. Thus, she blankly stared at him. Seeing him like that made her face heat up, leaving her all crimson while she tried to process the situation. And since it was all new to her, her brain sort of…stopped working.
"…Right? A beautiful Princess. An Imperial one at that. That's what you get. Of course, there are more benefits to being her fiancé. As an example, No one will bother the two of you, neither will they question your relationship. Besides that, you'll have much more freedom."
Rigeld sounded pretty happy with himself, and he was. Not only would he secure Alum, but he would also not trouble himself with finding Luna a fiancé ever again.
—However, to his dismay, Alum said something he wasn't expecting.
"No, that's not what I meant," Alum calmly said while peering into Rigeld's eyes. "What I want to ask is, how would this benefit you? In this world, I have no real value, perhaps a little since I'm from another world. Other than that, what could I possibly offer in return?"
"…Brat…" Rigeld remarked his displeasure and sighed. "Very well. As of yet, you may not have realised your own potential, or perhaps you're just playing dumb—though I believe it's the latter. But that's beside the point. So, I'll say this either way: The Hero has concluded that you wanderers have immense potential, and with some training, your value will grow over time. Hence, prove yourself by then; at least…if you choose to play the former."
"….."
Alum glanced at Luna and asked, "…What do you think, Luna?"
"…I…I'm not against it," she shyly replied.
She hid behind him again so that he wouldn't see her expression, but even he could tell how uncomfortable this situation must've been for her.
Alum basically had no choice but to agree. The same goes for Luna since Alum pieced together some of the pieces left by Rigeld.
But…that wasn't all. He also thought that Luna looked more adorable for some reason. Were he able to say no, he wouldn't because he didn't have a reason to.
"Then…I don't see any reason not to," Alum said.
Even though he weighed the benefits and all that, in the end, it boiled down to him being attracted to her—at least, that's what he believed. It did feel embarrassing for whatever reason.
"Ahahaha! Good! I wouldn't know what to do were the both of you to protest strongly. I mean, I've already sent the documents to Enon."
"".....""
Alum and Luna were in disbelief. They had no say in the matter in the first place. Thus, they begrudgingly stared at Rigeld. But at the same time, it didn't feel bad, no. Not at all.
A/N
Parts of this chapter were cut. It's in the next chapter, though it isn't rewritten like this chapter—yet.
The reason for that was because it would make a better conclusion for this chapter.
The next chapter will also be the last chapter of IF Luna. Thus, I wanted to end it with a longer chapter, playing out some of the parts more elaborately than the first version.
So, basically, new events, like it's been with the rewrites, but also more dialogue and more expressions.
Also, what I meant by the end of IF Luna is that—it's the end of this chunk of IF Luna, and I'll make a chunk per volume consisting of 5 chapters or so.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone