This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 742: The Moon Belongs to No One

Shadow.Q could hardly wait to get back and call a meeting.

Even though Avery had given her full authority, this kind of deal wasn’t something she could finalize alone.

"I promise," she said, "I’ll get you a price you’ll be satisfied with."

Rita gave a nod, but no confirmation.

Even though she had already decided to accept—as long as the offer wasn’t completely outrageous—she didn’t say it out loud.

"For now, that’s everything," she said. "Once you’ve reached a consensus, just message me. I’ve got plans later. Earliest I’ll be available is tomorrow."

Shadow.Q agreed. But just before leaving, she turned back and asked,

"What about Samuel and Scarlett—any instructions?"

Rita’s treatment of her blood relatives had always been vague, hesitant, inconsistent. Eclipse Vanguard’s sharp-eyed political operatives had long since seen through it.

They had helped her keep Samuel and Scarlett locked up in the Su family estate.

They had even taken the fall for it publicly, letting the world believe "Eclipse Vanguard is holding Rita’s family hostage to keep her in check."

This was the first time either side had addressed it openly. But the message beneath Shadow.Q’s words was crystal clear:

If you can’t—or won’t—handle them yourself, Eclipse Vanguard will do it for you.

Why she wanted them gone, they didn’t need to know.

They’d play the role of the silent enforcer.

Whatever needed to be done, they’d handle it—no dirt would ever stick to BS-Rita’s name.

Hearing those long-forgotten names, Rita fell silent for a few seconds. Then she let out a long breath.

"Just... keep them there. No need to send them into dungeons. No special treatment just because of me. Keep them alive. That’s all."

Shadow.Q didn’t ask why. Didn’t argue. Didn’t offer opinions. She simply said,

"Okay."

Then she left.

Rita stood in the doorway to the backyard for a long time, arms folded, silent.

Cat’s Ideal floated nearby with a few cats orbiting her gently, trying to cheer her up in its own way. It sensed her sadness and was doing what it could.

Wrathful Moon, on the other hand, was acting completely differently from yesterday.

Gone was the harmony, gone was the playfulness. It hovered at a distance, sulking. The light inside flickered erratically, like it was huffing in frustration.

Rita found it oddly amusing.

"You’re angry?" she asked.

To her surprise, Wrathful Moon flew up and nodded vigorously. Its lantern handle swung forward and back in a sharp, irritable motion.

"You think I should kill everyone I hate?"

The lantern nodded again.

And with that, the weight pressing on her chest eased, just a little.

Suddenly, she understood why Wrathful Moon and she had such low compatibility.

It thought she wasn’t decisive enough. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

That her revenge was too slow, too soft. It didn’t like that.

But how could she explain to a moon what her emotions really meant?

All Wrathful Moon could see was hatred—as if revenge was as simple as opening an umbrella in the rain.

Hesitating meant you were a fool.

Letting rain soak you made you weak.

Having enemies and not killing them? That made you an idiot.

But to her, it wasn’t so simple.

She had once been happy.

She’d grown up in what she thought was love—even if it was fake.

She didn’t know how to express the knot of hate, grief, and guilt twisting in her chest.

She didn’t know how to explain that hatred was rarely just hate.

It came wrapped in regret, memory, loss, and so many tangled threads.

How could she explain forgiveness?

Samuel had only ever loved the role of "brother." He’d projected himself onto Rick, trying desperately to climb back into Avery’s world, to win. He didn’t care how many times Rick "married in" or who he pretended to be.

Scarlett? She had only ever loved herself. She followed power—whoever held it.

It didn’t matter who played the part. It never had.

One word. That was all it would take to make Eclipse Vanguard wipe them away.

She wouldn’t even have to get her hands dirty. But the word wouldn’t come.

The chains of blood can be broken with gemstones.

But the chains inside the heart? Those are harder.

She found herself wondering: what kind of pain had Mistblade gone through to create a skill like Spring Not Late?

Let it be.

In this life, she would no longer recognize them.

From now on, she would have no father, no mother, no brother, no family.

Just then, Wrathful Moon floated to her again.

A quarter of the Shatterstars had already been consumed. The moon within was pushing up through the shards, barely visible, like a sliver trying to emerge.

Its light blinked rapidly—in a rhythm that seemed almost musical.

Rita tried to interpret it. She guessed over and over, but none of her answers were right.

Then, Cat’s Ideal drifted close, one of its spokes brushing her ear.

A soft meow echoed in her mind, and suddenly, the message became clear:

"Wrathful Moon says: If you kill them, its compatibility with you will rise sharply during the evolution."

Rita blinked.

She hadn’t known Divine Relics could communicate with her—and with each other.

But she didn’t hesitate.

She shook her head.

"I listened to your preferences this time," she said. "But what about next time? Am I supposed to live by your standards? Last I checked, compatibility can change at any time, right?"

Otherwise, how could there be Relics that abandon their users when they fall out of sync?

She looked straight at Wrathful Moon and spoke slowly, deliberately.

"I won’t alter my choices based on what you like. My thoughts, my feelings—they matter most.

Yes, I need you. But I’m not your puppet.

Don’t try to control me."

She could compromise with plans.

But she would never bow to manipulation.

And with that, she turned and walked away.

Cat’s Ideal followed, little cats clinging to the wheel’s spokes as it trailed her like a loyal pet.

Only the lantern remained behind—floating, glowing, silent.

Rita walked away with her head high.

Her mood, too, was light.

This wasn’t pettiness.

She wasn’t trying to provoke Wrathful Moon.

Yes, their compatibility wasn’t ideal. But there was still a thread between them—one that couldn’t be denied.

After all, one of Wrathful Moon’s core skills bore the same name as the relic itself.

There was compatibility. Some shared frequency between them. Otherwise, they never would’ve met.

She didn’t know how long Wrathful Moon had waited beneath the sea of Lania Kaia.

But it had waited for her.

She might not be what it wanted—but she was who it found.

And even if it hated that part of her, it wouldn’t leave her so easily.

Wrathful Moon’s description had always read:

"Someone stole a piece of the moon and locked it away. The moon belongs to no one."

Rita agreed with that.

The moon belongs to no one.

And she... belongs to no moon.

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