When she woke the next day, Yun Shi couldn’t find Sham; the room felt like a pond after the fish slip away, ripples fading into silence.

Sham had slept on the couch, which Yun Shi had ignored like a shuttered window at night, yet finding it empty at dawn left her mind a step behind, like fog that won’t lift.

Came fast, gone faster—like a breeze that taps the door and vanishes down the lane.

She stared at the bare couch, a cold shoreline after the tide retreats, and a small hollow opened in her chest.

Just one night, and the stranger had already staked a tent in her heart—impossible, like spring grass through stone.

She would never admit she felt a thread of warmth for a girl she barely knew, a silk strand catching on thorn.

Someone like that is best left alone. The thought landed sharp as a pebble dropped in a still well.

Yun Shi sighed, a reed-bend in wind, helpless at her own softness.

She went back to her room and changed, movements neat as folding paper cranes, and of course she made the look more masculine, a practiced shadow to blur the lines.

She checked the mirror—still water holding a quiet moon. Mm. Perfect.

The men’s clothes hugged her lines like a glove around willow, soft beauty tucked under straight angles; not right for a boy, maybe, but a taste of cool spice that caught the eye.

She patted her chest; softness bloomed like warm bread under her palm, and she drew in a sharp breath.

Age had nudged her body forward; the second signs were opening like buds. She would have to bind soon, she thought, or a single glance outside would give the game away like a lantern in dusk.

Later problem. Now, the drum in her belly beat for attention.

She hadn’t eaten, and without fuel the day’s gears wouldn’t turn; empty, even light felt heavy, like a sleeve soaked in rain.

Since that’s decided, go out and eat; let the day loose like a kite on a long string.

She opened the door. Fresh air slid in like cool spring water, and a rare smile thawed her winter face.

She stepped out, eyes skimming signs like swallows over eaves, hunting a place to eat.

The street was neither crowded nor bare, a slim stream between stones; perhaps morning kept the noise asleep. Yun Shi savored the hush—the best balm for the heart, like jasmine steeped slow.

She found a small shop and ordered breakfast; warmth filled her like a little sun in the stomach.

She planned to finish, then wander—freer than anyone, a leaf unhooked from a branch. No school, no job, just air. Compared to the training she’d faced daily at the Clan Head’s compound, this was a sky with no ceiling.

Back then, she fought to plant her feet in the Underworld; now, she fought to live—food, rent, a tiny flame sheltered from wind.

She remembered long ago, before she was born into this world, she had wondered about living too—a memory like a shadow behind a paper screen—then stopped, and now it returned like an old debt at the door.

No work. No income. Her funds were a shallow dish, almost dry. How to earn—that was the knot that needed cutting.

Little miss, we don’t take British pounds…

Why not? It’s not fake money.

Little miss, we’re in a bind…

But this is all I have.

A familiar voice pricked her ear like a twig snapping. Yun Shi turned her head, and the sight made her curse under breath.

The girl haggling with the owner—wasn’t that Sham?

She hadn’t even changed out of her mage’s robe, a black flag on a bright street, screaming for eyes.

How about this—I have a credit card. Can you swipe it?

We can’t take cards here…

Then what do you want me to do? You won’t take cash, you won’t take a card—what do you want?

Please calm down…

Why is there a foreign girl here? The bystanders stared like carp in a clear stream, curious and wary.

Yun Shi pinched her brow, the headache a tight knot; how had she ended up knowing the woman who waved foreign cash on a morning street?

I’ll cover her bill.

Unable to watch the farce grow, Yun Shi stepped in and paid.

Oh, we meet again~

Yeah. What a coincidence.

Sham’s sunny warmth washed over like a sudden spring, but Yun Shi just pulled out money with a stormy face.

You two know each other? the owner asked as he took the bills.

Kind of…

Could she say she wished she didn’t?

She paid, then grabbed Sham and hustled away, quick as tugging a child from the fire, not willing to stay a second longer.

I’m touched. We met once, and you still picked up my tab~

Shut it. Who told you to come out here?

Yun Shi’s anger flared like dry grass catching spark.

And why didn’t you change those clothes? You stand out in the street like a lighthouse!

Oh no, I forgot~

You did it on purpose. You know people from the Underworld can’t just show themselves in the Outer World.

I don’t know what you’re talking about~

Enough. Go change. Now.

Backed into a corner by Sham’s mischief, Yun Shi surrendered to the practical. That robe was a drum in a quiet hall—wrong from every angle.

But I’m broke. Pounds don’t work here. How about this—buy me something new~

…

Could she say no? If she refused, that robe would keep shouting, and every eye would keep cutting like sleet.

They left the shop, and Yun Shi’s wallet sagged like a punctured wineskin. Her heart gave a twist.

Heavens. Keep this up and what happens to this month’s living money?

All because of you. My wallet’s getting emptier and emptier!

She vented at Sham, who was admiring her new outfit with the patience of a cat in sun, all smiles and no shame.

Short on cash?~

Of course I am!

Then sign a contract with me~ Become a Witch, and you’ll have steady income~

You mean the Witch bounty system?

As someone from the Underworld, Yun Shi knew the systems of her one-time enemies well. Witches under the Magic Institution weren’t leashed straight; they kept a slice of freedom, a bird with a bell and open sky.

The famous one is the Witch bounty system—that’s where Witches draw their gold, and the quick road to a name.

So? Tempted? Sign with me~

So you planned this from the start?

Of course—no, no, I mean, I value you. I want you as my partner.

Cut the crap. Sham Einafel—you schemer, you planned me out!

She’d learned Sham’s full name earlier; now she used it like a spear.

It’s not like that…

Sham’s gaze slid away, a fish dodging the net, avoiding Yun Shi’s eyes.

Yun Shi’s anger had nowhere to land, a trapped swallow beating at glass. No wonder—getting played by a black-bellied fox would sour anyone.

Besides, Yun Shi was still just a girl, a willow switch easy to bend, not to break.

Um…

What now?

Seeing Sham chew on words, Yun Shi snapped, her patience thin as rice paper.

I’m hungry… I want food.

Didn’t you just eat?

But I’m hungry again~

You glutton!

Okay, okay. Take me to eat~

Hey, stop clinging… Fine, fine, I’ll feed you. Now let go!

At a street stall, Sham sat and devoured the plates like a small storm, chopsticks a blur; across from her, Yun Shi’s face gathered black lines like storm clouds.

She’d heard of big eaters before, but this was the first time she’d seen one—Sham ate like a bottomless well and never gained a grain, the kind of miracle that made a thousand girls jealous.

As for Yun Shi… forget it. Her stomach was a sparrow next to this hawk; no way to compete.

How can you eat this much…

Her wallet bled in her mind’s eye, coins dripping like rain off eaves; feeding this girl would chew through her month.

We live to enjoy food~

Sham didn’t care, head down and happy, expression sweet as ripe fruit.

Witches from your Magic Institution are really hard to figure out.

Technically, I’m a Witch agent. Though I haven’t had a partner—yet~

I don’t get why you’re dead set on me becoming a Witch. You know I come from the Clan Head. I’m your enemy.

Yun Shi never understood Sham’s stubborn aim. Why her?

I know. You defected from the Clan Head—happens a lot these days, leaves falling from that old tree.

You only know the surface. I… I’m… blood of the Quadra Eye Family, someone thrown away. Does that make me worth your insistence?

I don’t think birth matters. What matters is whether we can be comrades.

Sham’s chopsticks paused in the air, a stream freezing mid-flow—a rare thing to make her stop eating.

I chose you because I want to believe you.

An Artifact Spirit doesn’t choose wrong; the one it chooses can tilt the map of the Underworld.

I want you because I want to see the Underworld change.

Bianqi… no—Yun Shi of the Quadra Eye Family, please believe me.

For the first time, Sham spoke with a sincerity that felt like kneeling by a grave under pine. This prodigy, who’d entered the Magic Institution early and matched highest with an Artifact Spirit, was asking a girl from the enemy’s side—unthinkable as snow in summer.

I don’t really understand.

Yun Shi stood, left money on the table like stones on a grave, and walked away, cold as a shutter closing on dusk.

Being asked for anything hurt like salt in an old cut; it made her too easy to sway, and that wouldn’t do. She’d made a vow—

She would never grow close to anyone. Yun Shi never forgot that rule, a blade sheathed in ice against her heart.