Moiya

Moiya, the elderly former nurse and longtime servant of Hohsalle’s family, appears in a reunion that makes care flow in both directions: she once tended him as a child, and now he watches over her health. Though her part in the scene is brief, she also carries local rumor into the family’s conversation, telling Hohsalle that people are calling the calamity the Curse of Aquafa.

Identity and Background

Moiya had served for many years as the maid of Hohsalle’s stepmother and had also acted as Hohsalle’s nurse when he was young. By the time he visits her at the Academy of Deeper Learning, she is in her mid-seventies. His recollection of her childhood stature is tempered by an adult’s recognition: she had seemed much taller when he was small, but she is also visibly shrinking as she ages.

The reunion takes place in a mountain academy whose outward appearance has scarcely changed in a thousand years, even as research and technology advance within its halls. Snow taps against the corridor windows as Hohsalle approaches Moiya’s door. He cherishes the person waiting inside, yet hesitates before opening it, then sighs, pulls the bell rope, and enters when she answers.

A Bond Reversed by Time

Moiya greets Hohsalle with delighted recognition, calling him “Young Master!” He replies, “I’m back, Moiya.” The familiar form of address preserves the household history between them, but the scene also shows how their roles have shifted. Hohsalle asks whether she is taking the medicine he gave her, then specifically checks that she takes it every night before bed.

Moiya insists that she does, despite its bitterness. She calls herself an “old hag” and promises that she drinks it faithfully; her amused answer turns a medical reminder into warm, teasing exchange. She then puts a plump hand on Hohsalle’s back and gently pushes him farther into the room. The gesture recalls her former place as his caretaker while presenting her now as an aging woman who still welcomes and guides the grown man she once nursed.

Care Within the Household

Moiya’s fatigue becomes visible when Luliya tells her that she hardly slept the previous night and urges her to rest instead of preparing tea. Moiya initially offers to accept the kindness and lie down for a little while. Luliya’s concern is practical and affectionate: she says she does not know what they would do if Moiya collapsed. The exchange places Moiya within a household that depends on her, even as its members recognize that her age and exhaustion require them to care for her.

The scene’s care is reciprocal rather than ceremonial. Hohsalle supplies medicine and checks that she follows the regimen; Moiya takes it despite finding it hard to swallow; and Luliya takes over the tea and encourages her to sleep. Moiya’s long service is not reduced to a recollection of the past: her presence remains part of the household’s daily life, while age changes what she can comfortably do.

The Curse of Aquafa

Before resting, Moiya asks Luliya to tell her later about the Curse of Aquafa. Hohsalle reacts with surprise that people there are using the same name. Luliya explains that people say those who defiled Aquafa have been cursed, and identifies Moiya as one source of the talk; she adds that her husband, Tomasolle, has said it as well. Moiya therefore appears not only as an object of familial concern but as a participant in the circulation of an interpretation of events.

Her part in the exchange is small but consequential: the phrase is already familiar in local conversation before Hohsalle asks about it, and Moiya’s mention of it helps establish that the story has spread through more than one personal channel. The scene sets her intimate, everyday presence—medicine, sleeplessness, tea, and rest—against a larger public rumor, linking household life to the wider fear that Aquafa’s suffering may be understood as a curse.