I earned my cheats fair and square

Horace glanced at Rellana nearby, who was standing on tiptoe, trying to help him check a row of texts related to "faith" on a high shelf.

Horace quietly moved to a more secluded corner, making sure no one but Rellana could see him.

He leaned against the cold stone bookshelf, closed his eyes, and sank his consciousness into the depths of his soul.

There, the Gate of Myriad Laws still stood in silence, indescribable colors of chaos flowing across its doors.

Only now, a lingering veil of bloody mist surrounded the gate, like diluted blood plasma.

Wisps of dark red energy also floated in the "space" before it-the remnants of the "cursed-blood" he drew from the Formless Mother each time, and one of the sources of the corruption.

Horace focused his mind on the Gate of Myriad Laws.

He asked: [How can I eliminate the corruption and assimilating effects caused by the Formless Mother's power?]

At the same time, he guided the streams of dark red energy originating from the Formless Mother toward the Gate of Myriad Laws, like an offering.

"The sheep pays for its own wool." Horace felt a slight pang at the expense and could only console himself.

"Using your power to pay for a way to deal with you. That's fair."

The Gate of Myriad Laws trembled slightly.

A moment later, a stream of information fed directly into Horace's consciousness:

[Night and flame, moon and blood.]

The message was extremely brief, just six words.

Horace Loux stared at those six words, stunned for a moment.

Night and flame? He immediately thought of that legendary weapon-the Sword of Night and Flame.

Could this sword's power have something to do with opposing the Formless Mother?

Moon and blood... that was even more direct.

To oppose the Formless Mother, he needed the power of the "moon"? Use an outer god against an outer god?

...That sounded feasible, but how exactly?

Caria's Moon True Magic, whether Rennala's Full Moon or the Twin Moons Rellana worked with, leaned more toward "cold" in essence.

How were they supposed to combine?

Horace focused his mind again, paying another large sum of the dark red energy he had "milked" from the Formless Mother to ask a more specific question:

[Please provide specific methods or paths for combining "moon and blood" to balance the Formless Mother's corruption and eliminate its assimilating effects.]

The Gate of Myriad Laws trembled again, devouring the energy.

The information it returned this time was more specific, but it also left Horace with mixed feelings.

Horace slowly opened his eyes and silently exhaled, his back resting against the cold bookshelf.

There were three methods in total.

The first was to abandon resistance and fully embrace the Formless Mother's will and power, turning the corruption into complete grace and becoming the Lord of Blood.

That would mean selling himself. Absolutely out of the question.

The second was to divide and transfer it... in other words, have children.

Let his offspring inherit this corruption of blood?

The thought filled him with visceral disgust and intense resistance.

Make a life that did not yet exist bear this trait originating from an outer god, just to free himself?

That was too selfish, too shameless.

Then, in truth, only one path remained.

The third: balance and mastery. Create his own "blood moon."

This was the hardest path: creating his own "moon"... not Caria's Full Moon or Dark Moon, but a "moon" that could resonate with "blood."

What depth of magical understanding and creativity would that require?

His current magical abilities were primarily based on Glintstone Sorcery, some Caria Sword True Magic, Dragon Communion incantations, and the great runes system.

As for the essence of the "moon," aside from some practical techniques he had learned from Rellana and having experienced her Twin Moon True Magic, he had never studied it systematically.

And where did "moon" and "blood" intersect?

Horace Loux had many ideas, but they were all only vague conjectures.

He needed time, a quiet environment, deeper magical research, and perhaps some inspiration.

He looked toward Rellana nearby.

She seemed to have found something and was carefully pulling out a thick, heavy book with a silver crescent painted on its cover. She turned to call him, only to meet his newly opened eyes.

Their eyes met, and Rellana saw the lingering contemplation and resolve in his gaze.

"Horace?" she asked softly, walking over with the book in her arms.

"Did you... find a clue? Or are you feeling unwell?" She had noticed that he seemed to have stood with his eyes closed for quite some time.

Horace shook his head and straightened.

"I haven't found any direct clues. But... I have some ideas." He glanced at the book about ancient moon worship in her arms.

"Thank you for all your help these past few days."

Rellana handed him the book. "This one seems to mention some sacrificial rites related to the moon. It might contain some... less orthodox material. Would you like to take a look?"

Horace took the book and casually turned a few pages. It did indeed record some primitive, bloody sacrificial rites. But this was not what he urgently needed now.

He closed the book and returned it to the bookshelf beside him.

"Rellana," he said, looking at her, his tone calm.

"I need to return to Lakeside Town. Uriel is under a lot of pressure, and the territory can't go without its lord for too long."

An unmistakable flicker of disappointment crossed Rellana's eyes, but she quickly concealed it and nodded. "Yes, it is time you went back. Then did you find what you were looking for? About your hair..."

In the end, she could not hold back the question.

Horace looked into Rellana's blue eyes, filled with concern and questions, and thought of the attraction she had described as a "campfire in the snow," and the path of the "moon" suggested by the Gate of Myriad Laws.

"You could say I've found a direction." In the end, he did not conceal everything, but neither did he explain in detail.

"The change in my hair color is a price. I need to find a way to deal with it. And that way might have something to do with the 'moon.'"

"The moon?" Rellana's eyes lit up, and she instinctively straightened her back.

"Caria's Moon True Magic? I can help you! My sister's Full Moon True Magic, or mine..."

"Not quite the existing Carian magic," Horace interrupted, choosing his words.

"It might... require a different understanding, or even creation. I don't have a clear idea yet. I need to go back and settle down to study it."

He paused and looked at Rellana. "Thank you for your help these past few days. Organizing the judicial materials, and... your feelings, both gave me very important information."

At his mention of "your feelings," Rellana's face warmed again, but a hint of sweetness rose in her heart at having been able to help him.

"Then... be careful on your way back. If you need anything for your magical research, you can write anytime. As a marquis, you also have permission to consult the Academy's Grand Library whenever you like."

"I will." Horace nodded.

"Take care of yourself too, Your Highness."

He made to leave, but stopped at the exit of the aisle between the shelves without looking back.

"Once I figure out the problem with my hair, perhaps... I can tell you more."

With that, he walked out of the dim section of bookshelves, his figure soon disappearing among the overlapping rows of books.

Rellana stood where she was, still holding the ancient tome he had not taken, watching the direction in which he had disappeared without moving for a long time.

Once he figured out the problem... he would tell her more.

She decided that after returning, she would consult every record that might have anything to do with the "moon."

If the "moon" he needed differed from Caria's traditions, then perhaps she could help him find some clues.

After all... he had promised to tell her later.

Meanwhile, Horace had already walked out through the Grand Library's magnificent doors.

The midday sunlight was somewhat dazzling. He narrowed his eyes and looked up at the sky.

The sun hung overhead, and no moon could be seen.

But he knew it was there, on the other side of the sky, and would inevitably rise at night.

He needed a moon of his own.

"Create my own blood moon..."

This would not be an easy path.

Meanwhile, between Caria Manor and the Academy, rumors about the new marquis's unusual red hair and ambiguous relationship with the second princess were quietly spreading, adding a touch of something less tense, yet sufficiently thought-provoking, to Liurnia, which had only just settled down.

What should I do with Big Messmer? After last night's nightmare, I can't look him in the eye at all now.

Speaking of which, was young Messmer a pretty boy? For some reason, I want to put him in women's clothes.

Little Godfrey managed to sneak out of Leyndell dressed as a woman back then, so how about having Big Messmer do the same?

Then it would become a royal tradition...