Chapter 0202 Hannah


    The sudden downpour of rain caught everyone, myself and Noah included, off guard. Gasping, I stumbled backwards beneath the onught of cold water, my mouth hanging open. Even Noah''s eyes went wide as he took in the scene around us, his hair already stered to his head. Within seconds, the festival grounds had gone from a peaceful celebration to a chaotic mess of people rushing to save decorations, food, and-mostly-themselves from the unexpected downpour. Noah and I needed to move quickly if we were going to save the festival from certain disaster.


    "We need to move everythin


    c!" Noah shouted over the deafening cacophony of rain and panicked


    voices. "Hannah, help me direct the vendors!"


    I nodded, already soaked to the bone-having utterly forgotten what we were just talking about moments prior. "On it!"


    Noah and I split up, each taking a side of the festival grounds. I ran from booth to booth, urging vendors to pack up their wares and head for the dance hall inside the mansion.


    "Leave anything that can''t be saved!" I cried out, my voice nearly lost in the rain. "Just grab what you can and go!"


    The rain wasing down in sheets now, making it hard to see more than a few feet ahead. I slipped and slid through the mud, my ceremonial robes clinging to my skin, but I didn''t pull my focus away from the task at hand.


    However, as I rounded a corner, a group of people rushing past knocked into me. I lost my footing and fell hard,nding face-first in a puddle with a grunt.


    "Luna Hannah!" someone gasped. "Are you alright?"Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org.


    I pushed myself up, spitting out muddy water and wiping it from my eyes. Thankfully, I hadn''t hurt myself. " I''m fine," I assured them, waving them on. "Go, get inside!"


    As I started to stand, something in the mud caught my eye. I reached down and pulled it out, recognizing the soaked cloth bundle immediately. It was Noah''s offering from the ceremony.


    For a moment, I hesitated. It wasn''t my ce to take it, and it wasn''t my responsibility, but I couldn''t just leave it here in the mud. Making a split-second decision, I tucked the bundle into my pocket and hurried toward the throng of people sprinting toward the mansion. Inside, the atmosphere was chaotic but a bit less frantic. People were shaking out umbres, wringing water from their clothes, and vendors were setting up impromptu stalls wherever they could find space in therge dance hall.


    I spotted Noah across the room, directing servants and barking orders. "Put the food tables over there!" he was saying, his voice echoing loudly through the vaulted ceilings. "And make sure we have enough towels for everyone!"


    As I made my way toward him, thumbing his offering in my pocket, a delicate hand suddenly whipped out from the crowd and grabbed my arm. I turned to find Zoe, her usually perfect blonde hair stered to her


    1/2


    forehead and her mascara smudged around her eyes.


    "Some festival, huh?" she said, wiping water from her face with a small towel.


    I forced a smile. "We couldn''t have predicted this. At least everyone''s safe inside now, and the festival


    can go on."


    Zoe paused, wiping her face onest time. When she moved the towel away, I saw that her eyes were a bit narrowed, glinting with something I couldn''t quite read. "Maybe we should have seen iting. A freak storm on the day of the Lunar Festival? Seems like more than just bad luck to me, don''t you agree?"


    "I''m not sure if I follow," I replied slowly, despite the fact that there was a small knot beginning to form in the pit of my stomach for reasons I couldn''t quite ce my finger on.


    "I''m saying..." Zoe leaned in c That maybe the Moon Goddess is trying to tell us something. Maybe she''s angry."


    and lowered her voice as though she didn''t want to be overheard. "...