BLOODY LOVE'S
Episode 188's

Once out of Jose's room, Maria resigned to retreat to her room first to improve and tidy up.

Susan had been waiting for him while preparing the bathtub, had also prepared a dress and linen to change clothes. The day looks fresher now. The black shadow under his eyes even began to fade.

"You rest" said Maria as she finished her bath and got dressed. Her hair was already tidied up, woven in the form of loose braids curled up and pinned by many hidden sharp pins, showing off her white tie-neck neck. He twirled his body slightly in front of the mirror, looking at himself. I am still Mary, he thought. Sometimes I think I'm not myself anymore, but it has to stop. He looked at Susan through the mirror. "I'll just go see Marquis Argent in his room, then after that visit Madame Renata, maybe. You see a lot of people running around this house, I'll be safe. So take a break, I force."

Susan smiled understandingly. He corrected the ribbons in Maria's dress, made sure everything was neat, then escorted her out of the room.

It had been years since Maria had explored the Argent manor alone. He remembers the last time he walked alone was when he was seven years old, when he was playing hide and seek with Jose while their parents were talking in the park.

Mary walked with her eyes straight ahead, feeling like she was walking in a dream. This place always made her feel like she was in a storybook. Some things are still the same as he remembered in childhood. Giant wooden doors that hide large spaces, furniture and ornaments with an elegant ancient touch. The woods used, the layout of the space and the arch style and the architectural attractions, all like manipulating Mary to walk more calmly, more gracefully. This house is like having his own desires, making people in it inevitably adjust to be worthy to walk there.

And Jose lives in this kind of atmosphere, he thought, in this home upbringing.

How many women have come here and walked in the same hallway as him? How many already thought that she would be able to become the queen in this manor?

For a moment it was as if pain was slicing her heart, making Mary so sad that she wanted to cry, but she immediately blinked her eyes and opened herself. He did not know whose emotions he had just felt. Arabella or herself? Thinking about the question scared Maria.

Marco's boudoir door was wide open, but Mary kept tapping politely and waiting to be allowed in. He was actually still a little reluctant to meet the man. The relationship between the two of them is still cold since the case where he laughed at Marco when the man was talking, to be exact, was bringing up the idea of an engagement between him and Jose.

At that time Maria still considered Jose like her own brother, so the idea of being a fiancee of the man did sound so ridiculous. Mary always thought she was wrong. He was not interested in Jose.

In the past, he thought hesitating while stepping in was so welcome. And now how? What do I consider it?

Marco asked him to speak in the sitting room and they exchanged greetings and banalities. Maria bit her lips, feeling a bit awkward. The two sat face-to-face, just near the coffee table. On the table was a medium-sized metal chest.

"You know how much longer we have?" Marco starts.

"For at most three days," answered Mary, recognizing this pattern of opening. Marco didn't ask because he didn't know. They are exploring knowledge with each other, equating what info each already knows. "Now Tuesday. Friday's solar eclipse tomorrow. That's the maximum."

Marco nodded. Both hands are linked together, with the elbows resting on the thighs. "I thought for a very long time all night, about why this all had to happen in Bjork. Why doesn't the man move even if he knows we already know what he's up to."

"He's relaxed knowing we won't be able to leave" Maria gave an excuse. "That magic cluster is preventing me from leaving. You certainly can't."

Marco has not tried to leave Bjork, so he has not seen the illusion of the moebius ribbon himself. But he does not doubt the story of Mary or Jose in the slightest. Marco knew the two couldn't possibly lie. "And he locked us up for the eclipse. So chances are, he'll come at us by then. Most likely to you first."

Maria nodded, expecting that. "And what am I supposed to do?"

"It." Marco patted the metal box on the table and unlocked it. In the box was a weapon that Mary had never seen before. "Pistol from EUA. Unlike revolver, how to use it is quite easy and its range is further. The damage is also stronger. Recoil, too."

Maria observes the pritilan of the weapon, skillfully assembled by Marco. Upon receiving it, he was surprised to find how cold and heavy the weapon was. "This is gonna kill him?"

Maria shook her head.

"Antumbra," answered Marco carefully, his eyes watching Mary with judgment, like trying to find a sign. "We can't see the circle on earth, but the man could. I guess .. ah, no," she said immediately, "I know that's what she's waiting for, which makes her not kill me right away or do anything to you."

Maria thinks it makes sense. "Soul replacement obviously takes a lot of energy, and that kind of magic portal is impossible for him to create on his own" he said. All these crazy things could be accepted easily now, as if he already had that knowledge long ago. It was as if I had been through this ritual over and over again.

"Exactly. Magic requires a circle, and he will use the most powerful circle there is, a circle that humans cannot disturb. He will use the antumbral shadows that fall to earth when chanting or performing his rituals."

"How long does a solar eclipse last?" Maria felt she could already guess what Marco wanted to do. The man deliberately did not say it clearly because he was careful, both on the walls of this house, also on Maria herself—to other existences within Mary. They were currently discussing in front of their own enemies, and the two did not even know for sure if their voices would reach Sir William's ears.

They were both sitting on wooden rafts in the middle of the ocean with both eyes covered in black cloth, not knowing when the storm was coming or if there were sharks beneath them. All they could do was try desperately. Their lives are at stake, so are the lives of everyone in Bjork.

"Eclipses can last for hours, but the peak is usually only a few minutes." Marco stared with a meaningful look. "Highly, that's when he used antumbra."

Few minutes. Maria underlined the testimony in her head. "And if it gets distracted, we can derail it." He nodded.

"He may not have died, after all, we were just foiling his rituals. But the purpose of the distraction was not to kill him, but to save you for a while." Marco received the returned gun on him, tapped the muzzle several times at his own temple, then into his chest.

Maria watched closely, listening to Marco's every move. "I will try my best" he whispered, still managing to control his voice so as not to squeak shakily. A Garnet cannot be daunted. He took a slow breath. "Even if I end up dead, at least I die fighting."

Marco's smile grew sweet hearing that. "It's nice to hear that we have the exact same principle of life." He rose slowly, followed by Mary. "My friend from EUA is coming soon" he continued, handing the gun back. "You know Mr. Stuart, right? He'll teach you how to use this weapon—and other things."

Mary received the weapon while thanking him. He remained silent for a while, then suddenly straightened his back and straightened his shoulders. Both of his hands piled politely in front of the body; the right hand was placed on the back of the left hand that was holding the gun, both of his thumbs hidden. Maria pulled her right leg behind her left leg in a tiptoe position. Then he tilted his head slightly to his head, and bent his knees low with the elegance of a goose.

Curtsy is elegant and perfect. Marco was no wonder. The one in front of her right now was the daughter of Garnet, the girl who was educated hard by the palace-style rules. The girl he thought was the most appropriate to accompany Jose.

Marco replied by dropping a glance at the floor, putting his right hand in front of the heart, then bowing respectfully, ignoring his waist which felt like it was slashed.

They raised their faces at the same time. Marco smiled slightly, and Maria threw away a face to hide her piety. Then the two laughed together, feeling amused themselves by the chaotic order of their meeting structure.

**

- Recoil: the blow produced as a reaction when firing.

curtsy: formal greetings (especially women) by bending the knee with one leg in front of the other leg. In general, in front is the left leg, which is behind the right leg because there is the expression "left knee for the king, right knee for God (when praying)".

-antumbra: an extension/addition shadow when the umbral shadow (a very dark core shadow) does not reach the earth. This only happens if the sun exists within a certain distance until the disk of the sun looks larger than the disk of the moon. When the moon's antumbra falls on Earth, we can see the golden ring of annular solar eclipses in the region.