Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

"So this is her little, dilapidated abode."

Amelie Rose, in a gentle, low voice, spoke. At this very moment, the seemingly unending White Thread of Fate finally reached the other end of it. Standing in front of the cabin, which looked ancient, where Ayleen Mayfield often visited whenever there was something she was curious about.

"Let's go-"

Russell Moon, the one with the Star Quest related to this mission, paused for a moment because the wooden door slowly creaked, which soon revealed a foot before the entire figure walked out of it.

What appeared in the visions of the three of them was a woman. If one had to guess her age based on her appearance alone, she would be in her middle to late twenties. She was wearing a worn-out greyish linen dress, without any footwear to keep her feet from touching the ground. Her hair was long, around waist-length, which was colored greyish white like the enormous moon in this place. Her eyes were captivating, with whitish pupils just similar again to the hovering moon in this Strayed Dungeon, Cemetery of Oblivion. Her skin was pale snow, and her body was considered lithe that the three of them couldn't believe that his entity was considered a Boss Monster as her physique was too similar to that of a human.

'...This is Lunaria…'

Russell Moon muttered to himself as he scrutinized the one who might know a thing or two about the truth behind his reincarnation since Lunaria was a part of the Star Quest that the Goddess of Night had given, and was also related to the "Moon" or the simple surname of their family.

On the other hand, Freya Moon and Amelie Rose Merveil, who also looked at Lunaria, had their mouths agape at her physical appearance. Then, before anyone could voice their thoughts, they heard Lunaria's soft voice enter their auricular senses.

"Greetings! My Master! I have been waiting for your return, even if it takes an eternity."

Clearly referring to the young man in the middle, Russell Moon, the two young women looked at him in silence and waited for his response.

'Master…?'

Since Russell could not just arrive at any conclusion regarding their current circumstances because of his ignorance about the truth behind his reincarnation and his identity itself, he responded in a way without assuming anything for now.

"Master…? Me…? What do you mean by that? It's my first time meeting you, so I'm confused. Can you please enlighten me?"

"Of course, but first, Master, let's go inside my already ruined abode."

Bowing her head in front of a mere human, which she had called her 'Master', Lunaria gave way to the three of them.

After a few seconds, the Moon siblings and Amelie Rose found themselves within the cabin, and they proceeded to take their seats on the wooden chairs whilst Lunaria closed the wooden door before shifting her gaze to the three visitors, as she had yet to address the two young women.

***

"Again, I greet my Master, and… Miss Freya Moon, my Master's younger sister. Then, I greet Amelie Rose Merveil, Miss Daedeya's-

Russell Moon's ear quickly picked up the last words that came out of Lunaria's mouth as his thoughts raced. It's because of the name that he only heard for the first time in his life, since his reincarnation and even before he reincarnated as he wrote the now-considered mysterious book. Daedeya was the name of one of the women with the Goddess of Night in an underground chamber of the unknown palace that Russell had seen in one of his visions, where the countless peculiar, enigmatic coffins were laying.

'...Hmm, so, the name of the Lady of Shaded Spade is Daedeya, then it means that the name of the other one is Daedessa…'

'But, why did she stop ending her words…?'

Russell Moon noticed that Lunaria cut off her words. After a few seconds, in awkward silence, Lunaria then fell silent, seemingly waiting for something as she kept looking at her Master.

Realizing the meaning behind such an action, Russell sighed as he said:

"You may take your seat. By the way, please, do not wait for my orders to proceed. As long as it's not harmful by any means, then you can do what you think is necessary."

'If she's really considering me as her Master, then I should act like one. After all, it's another potential, yet unexpected ally.'

After hearing her Master's words, Lunaria then took her seat across from her Master's. As they sat in front of a small rectangular wooden table, causing Freya and Amelie, then Russell and Lunaria, to face each other, the "Maid of the Moon" listened first to his Master's words before responding in a polite manner.

"Okay… Lunaria, can you enlighten me about anything you are allowed to speak about?

"And… you can speak informally. This is also another order."

Russell thought to himself, as the number of his quests from the Star Quest were quite something, that Lunaria wasn't able to tell him everything. It might also be probably the case why Lunaria cut off her words after muttering the name of the Lady of Shaded Spade, Daedeya. However, this wouldn't mean that he would be receiving useless information either.

"Hmm… Alright. Master, firstly, I know that you would wonder why I'm referring to you as my 'Master'. It's only the normal reaction when you think it's our first time meeting each other.

"But… I can guarantee you, in the name of Madam Night, that we've known each other for a very long time. It's the same case, of course, for Miss Freya, who is my Master's younger sister.

"...It means that you've lost your memories of the past."

Seeing the serious expression of Lunaria, which Russell thought wasn't speaking any nonsensical claims, Russell arrived at the conclusion that… If she's truly telling the truth about the two of them not meeting each other for the first time, then it would only be the right thing to assume that he'd lost his memories of the past, although how it transpired was something he could not make any guesses of.

Then, as Russell's mind was flooded with questions, the next words of Lunaria shocked him even more in a strange way.

"...Similar to the Main Character of the story you have written, who also lost his memories of the past."

According to his unpublished novel, Han Jiho's memories were lost, and the progression of the story was for him to recover them while facing great adversities in the long run. However… The Glory Fragments or Glory Shards that Han Jiho was collecting weren't as simple as they seemed to be on the outside as these fragments contained truths about his identity.

'Does it mean my situation is somewhat similar to the Main Character I've written? This is quite a bullcrap.'

"Main Character…? Russell, are you an author…?"

Amelie Rose, with a curious expression across her face, interjected as her glance shifted from Russell and Lunaria alternatively.

"It's complicated, but yeah, sort of."

Russell responded, but after a second or two, Lunaria spoke, seemingly not leaving room for Amelie Rose to discuss anything, at least for this moment.

"I know what you're thinking, Master. But fret not, although it might be somewhat similar, your situation of losing your memories was far more complicated than the Main Character you've written about.

"Though it's unfortunate, I can not provide an answer on what method or how you lose your memories, but I can ascertain that it's perhaps Madam Night's doing… Under your permission at that time, of course.

"Didn't you see the System's message earlier before coming here? I'm just your maid, after all."

"..."

Russell fell silent. He realized that the Title of how the System referred to Lunaria might be more literal than he thought. In other words, if Lunaria was just a maid, then her authority to know far more controversial information was limited, but it wouldn't mean that the Goddess of Night wouldn't be able to entrust her with some crucial information or duties to be performed as soon as they got out of this place.

'Considering the visions I've experienced, it's easy to conclude that I lost my memories. Not only me… It might be the same case for my parents, Freya, Amelie, and some others who I already met or I have yet to meet in the future.

'The mysteries keep piling up that my head would explode, but I should keep my priorities straight and ask her about the matters at hand.'

Russell's mind continued to race as he thought of one thing he was curious about as he learned from others' mouths about his memory loss.

"Lunaria… since my memories were lost. The reason behind it must be because of an enemy, right…?"

Russell didn't ask her 'Who' because of one reason – it might bring great danger upon speaking the name of the one who made the Goddess of Night and himself use the method that caused memory loss.

Lunaria fell silent, but she nodded in agreement before speaking.

"Master, we are all connected to you and Madam Night. It means we can sense, even faintly, whatever's happening from a seemingly infinite distance. So, Master, do you remember anything that Madam Night had mentioned before She went into Her slumber?"

Russell racked his brain, remembering the night when the Goddess of Night, through the utilization of the Symbol of Night carved in his heart, left Her last words before going to slumber.

"Hmm… Apart from my book which She considered unfinished, and told me to trust… Uh, there's one more thing that stood out.

"Though it's vague and I was pretty much having an existential crisis at that time, the Goddess of Night told me about 'reality that keeps moving forward.' It's also the reason why She needed to go into a state of slumber to recover Her power."

'And my book, according to the System, is Titled as the Last Defector of Reality… I can't process everything at the moment, but I'll get to the bottom of this, especially after the Last Close Mystery Tower opens!'

Russell's resolve became stronger within him as he thought that if there was an entity that could threaten the Goddess of Night's existence, then it could threaten the entire Great Universe as well.

"Yes, Master. It might be vague, but that's all I know. That aside, there are followers of reality across the Great Universe. They're corrupted by it and… we refer to them as the 'Deceived Ones'."

"Deceived Ones…?"

***

In the far Southwest of the Eastern World, a young man with purple eyes, the one related to the death of Amery Blight's parents, looked around the vast plain as he muttered in the air.

"A fateful meeting with the maid..."