Yotogi No Kuni No Gekkouhime

Color Ill.u.s.trations!

A lone woman, walking in the evening's setting sun.

Dressed in a crimson red dress with a bird themed accessory decorating her long and golden hair, just like her clothing, she walked in a straight and elegant manner. With a single glance, the fact that she's from a n.o.ble upbringing was but obvious to anyone watching.

Although, she, Arue Aquila[1] first princess of the Aquila Kingdom, is headed to a place unfitting to her appearance: A small and dirty stone building, inside the forest situated in a corner of the royal palace. As she approached, the elderly gardener standing in front of said building quickly got closer and kneeled before her in a servile manner a little fl.u.s.tered.

"Well, well, if it isn't Princess Arue. Is something amiss?"

"I had some leeway, so I ran away from the preparations for the party."

She said while sticking out her tongue, just like a child right after doing a prank.

Even though she's the first princess of the kingdom, she always treated her subjects like equals. Especially when dealing with this gardener, who knows her since her childhood. The gardener, for his part, couldn't help but smile at the girl acting her age and started talking to her fondly showing his delight.

"You shouldn't do that you know, especially not when we're to entertain a prince from a foreign country, you have a duty as the first princess after all."

"I've never wanted to attend such annoying events. Also, in reality, there should be another princess attending said events alongside me."

"Ugh…"

When she said that so firmly, the gardener had no choice but bite back his words, after all, this is something that should never be spoken of. Officially, the current heirs to the Aquila Kingdom's throne are only its current ruler, the queen, and her lone daughter, Arue; officially, that is.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to blame you. It's just, when I think about the fact that she's to be kept locked inside a place like this, while I go out and live a life of luxury, I kind of… You know?"

"You are much too kind, Lady Arue."

"I am not kind at all; and even if I were that's not enough. The only thing I can do for her is console her, just that."

Arue whispered while casting her eyes downward in a self-deprecating manner.

"The sun's already down; I bet Lady Selene is awake around this time."

"About mother…"

"But of course, we won't say a single word to the Queen. That is as much as we can do for you, after all."

"Thank you."

As Arue said her thanks, the elder, maintaining his gentlemanly demeanor, promptly turned around and opened the door to the building with his keys. As the rusted down door opened with a creaking noise, a moldy smell wafted through the opening. Getting a.s.saulted by the same smell as usual, Arue frowned, but quickly made way through the small corridor, into the stairs leading up to the second floor of the building.

This building is the storehouse where the antiques that already have lost their value, or things that have broken, as well as the servants' tools are kept. There are quite a lot of rooms in here, but since there's not much of value, it's not properly being cleaned or managed.

It is like this castle's dumpster.

But in the deepest part of such a place, a door that's clearly out of place stood there.

Different to the rotten wood doors before it; this one, made out of st.u.r.dy steel, had a geometrical design on it. Arue approached this door, and placed her hand in said pattern, which then emitted small phosph.o.r.escence alongside a clicking noise of the door getting unlocked. This is a magic used to protect important or secret state locations from things such as bandits and thieves, which can only be unlocked by those of royal blood. Even though she confirmed the door had unlocked, Arue didn't step right into the room, instead deciding to knock on it first.

"Selene. Are you awake, Selene?"

"I am."

When Arue asked with a soft voice to the door, from the inside an answer from an angelic voice came. While breaking into a smile, Arue proceeded to slowly open the door.

In the other side of the door, a small, truthfully, small sized room—or rather; a prison cell would be more accurate—came into view. A simple bed, the minimum required things necessary to live, and a single small window to let light shine into the room, that's as much as there was inside.

In the center of such a room, a girl wearing plain clothes was standing. Probably having just woken up, her eyes were sleepy, and she still had some bed hairs in her smooth white hair. While giggling to herself, Arue proceeded to fix her hair while patting her affectionately.

The girl's name was Selene Aquila. Never supposed to see the light of day, this kingdom's Second Princess.

"Elder sister, today, busy. Are you okay?"

In an awkward display, as if linking together the words, the girl called Selene asked her sister as she approached her and looked up at her with her crimson eyes. Looking into those eyes, full of concern for her always put Arue at ease. Selene is the only one that interacts with her not as a princess, but as a single woman; and thus, for such a kindhearted little sister to have to suffer this kind of treatment fills her with indignation.

Selene's looks are considered an ill omen.

Arue and her mother both have golden hair and blue eyes, in contrast, Selene's body has not even a single mole in it, from head to toes she can only be described as "Pure White", with hair like silk threads, and skin smooth as a pearl.

With a beauty that seems to suggest G.o.d's infatuation with her, her two eyes, resembling a pair of rubies shone in her face. While still 8 years old, and nothing but a flower bud, no one is able to imagine what kind of gorgeous flower she will become in the future. If her looks were the only thing that was odd about Selene, anyone would have said that an angel had descended upon this world. So why is it that she ended up being concealed up?

The reason for that lies in her demeanor. Selene acts too much as an adult. Never crying in the middle of the night since she was born, and never acting spoiled to her own mother, from the first day she opened her eyes, those two rubies were looking around the world, as if inspecting everything around them. Without anyone teaching her beforehand, she would fold her own clothes, clean her own dishes and room never do something that would trouble her parents. Essentially, she did not act like a child at all. But she was unable to speak much, if at all, despite all of that.

Must children manage to start talking around the age of 3, but Selene, much like a foreign traveler, was only able to talk in broken language, the bare minimum to be able to communicate.

Especially for the queen, who interacted as a mother with her, found Selene's actions to be completely irregular. Holding two small wood branches and trying to eat with them was cute in its own way, but she even went and asked if there wasn't a food by the name of "Nattoo". When asked what kind of food that was, she would answer "Rotten beans". This made the queen think that her daughter could've been the reincarnation of a rat, if she wanted to eat such a thing.

Even after turning five, the fact that she kept requesting breast feeding instead of cute was eerie to say the least. Barely being able to speak, and being so slow at weaning, coupled with the fact that her sister, Arue, was a fairly normal child accentuated that eerie feeling that took a hold of everyone by that point.

The fact that every single one of Selene's actions was taken as weird, extraordinary, eerie and/or creepy was a matter of fact. As a result, her own mother the Queen started treating Selene not as a daughter, but as some kind of monster, and thus began to try and erase her existence.

But, the Queen is still human, even if it's some kind of inexplicable monster, she couldn't bring herself to kill the child she had given birth to. The fact they were blood related, and that she had Royal Blood flowing through her veins were the only things that became Selene's lifeline.

And so, when Selene turned five years old, she was put into dark cage in the corner of the palace, with a "Seal" to incarcerate her. Thus, this small and constricted s.p.a.ce became Selene's lone home, as well as the only place where her existence was allowed. Every time Arue remembers this fact, she gets a.s.saulted by a wave of emotion, threatening to rip her apart.

"Hey, Selene, do you know the reason why big sister needs to attend the party?"

"Yes. Welcoming, prince. For my sake."

As Arue spoke slowly so Selene could understand her, Selene gave a prompt response to her question. Because Selene can't talk, most people that know her tend to think that there must be some kind of problem with her intelligence, but that is only for those that only look on the surface, as far as Arue knows. Because when she was her age, Arue was unable to catch the meaning of what was being said to her as quickly as Selene did.

"You want to go to the party, don't you…? I'm sorry; with my current authority I do not have the power to get you out of here."

While biting her lower lip, she put her hands atop Selene's shoulders while making a dejected expression. Putting her hands atop of her sister's, Selene shook her head as if to signal that it was all right, and not worry about it.

"Don't want to. Here, my favorite, place."

"Selene…"

When she heard that, Arue's chest was strangled once more. Indeed, the parties in the castle were a ha.s.sle, but any girl was attracted to their intrinsic appeal. Selene's also a girl; there is no way she doesn't want to attend. But fully aware of her own situation, Selene is being mindful of Arue's feelings and saying, no, rea.s.suring her sister that she doesn't want to go of her own will.

"Listen well, Selene."

Her expression turning more serious, and putting more strength in her hands than previously, Arue spoke while choosing her words carefully.

"Tonight, the prince that is coming to our kingdom is on journey across the whole continent looking for a bride. He's the prince of a really powerful country. If I get selected as his bride, I will obtain that country's protection. Which means that, today, I'm the prize of this show. Understand?"

Without saying anything, Selene just nods. This might be a difficult thing for an eight year old child, but Arue knows that Selene has the intelligence to follow along this conversation from her previous interactions with her. And thus, continues talking.

"Right now the Queen—our mother—has you locked inside this place and I don't have the power to defy her. But if I become the wife of that prince, I may be able to use my influence to convince her and get you out of here. That's why I'm gonna do my best, okay?"

Saying that, Arue tried to give Selene some hope. But that so important Selene's reaction was to frown and look not pleased at all.

"Stop that."

"Eh!? W-why? You may be able to get out of this cell."

"Don't want to go out. Also, Elder Sister, not object."

Those words were a shock to Arue. In an environment where no one treated her as a woman, but as a means to make connections to other countries through political marriages, this girl, her little sister that is in such a precarious situation is more worried about her wellbeing than herself. While holding back the tears that wear threatening to come out due to her sister's kindness, she is struck with an even more impactful string of words.

"I, marry Elder Sister. That's why, you can't marry, prince. Don't."

"Eh?"

Hearing such an unexpected answer, Arue couldn't help letting out such a weird voice in spite of herself.

"You see, we're sisters, and also we're both girls. Two girls can't love each other, you know?"

"We can. I love Yuri."[2]

"Lily? You really love lily (Yuri) flowers, don't you Selene."

"Not the flower. Yuri, I like it."

Arue, fl.u.s.tered, tilts her head at this answer. From time to time, Selene says some impossible to understand things, who knows what she means by saying that "She likes Yuri". Unable to understand the meaning of it, but understanding that she loves her all the same it's good enough for her.

The fact that her little sister, in her tragic situation, not only doesn't despise her for being in a better place, but rather loves her and cares for her wellbeing gives her an even bigger reason to put her all into helping her.

"Wait for me, Selene. It may be hard right now, but I will make sure that you can go out into the sunlight once more. That way, you won't be alone any more in this kind of place."

"I'm not, alone, though?"

Seeing her say so nonchalantly, she could only hug her. Selene is such a bright and kind girl, she must know that Arue doesn't wish to get married without ever having fallen in love before. That's why she's saying it's all right not to give herself to the prince, to not sacrifice her own happiness. And because of her sister's kindness, Arue only reaffirms her conviction once more, that, no matter what, even giving away her own body is but a small price to save her beloved sister.

"All right! Big sis is gonna give it her all! I'm going to make the prince fall head over heels for me and set Selene free!"

Showing to Selene her real self, Arue pumps herself up in a loud voice, gives her a kiss on the forehead, and leaves the room while mumbling that she hasn't ever seduced anyone. As Arue leaves the room, the design in the door glows once again and with it comes the sound of the Seal once again locking the door. What was left behind, in a room clouded in the darkness after the day became night, was Selene with her hand in the place her sister kissed her, alone—Or not.

{To say that you are alone is so vexing. Lady Selene has such a talented steward at her side.}

Suddenly, a clear baritone voice resounds inside Selene's head. Unshaken, she looks in the direction from whence the voice came from, and from there, below her bed, a small shadow the size of Selene's palm, quickly darts out and stops right in front of her.

"Thanks, as always, Butler."

{What are you saying? If it is for the princess, this Butler, your humble servant is ready to lay his life in order to repay the debt he owes you.}

"Don't need, life. Want, the usual, Butler."

{You're heading out into Paradise, right? Understood.}

The shadow known as Butler bows reverently in front of Selene, to this, Selene gives it a sweet smile. No one but her knows this, but this conversation has become a daily occurrence by this point.

In a room filled with moonlight and silence, in a night like any other, unbeknownst to anyone, the tale of the later known as the Messenger of Peace—the Moonlight Princess—Selene Aquila, started.

[1] So, this is a pretty straight forward one. I decided to follow along the steps of Seraphic, who translated the Web Novel version of the first chapter of this novel. This also applies to all the names here. If you want to check out the specific reasons as to “Why” it was translated as such .

[2] I decided to NOT translate the pun, which I could've done, but found utterly unnecessary and bothersome, and 9/10 times I would've still need to explain the translated pun I came up with that fit the scenario so people got it anyway. So, if you don't get it, I can't even understand what attracted you to this Light Novel in the first place. Really, I can't even.

Any and all constructive criticism about my redaction skills are appreciated, I'm aware of how sucky I am. I try mah best okay?

You can probably expect Thing Numero Dos in a couple days. If my life doesn't go to s.h.i.t, that is.