Qianyou’s deepest regret lay with her parents, a cold ash pressed over her heart; only then came her child, a smaller ember still glowing.

Because of one reckless whim, a brief parting became a winter door slammed forever, a farewell sealed like ice.

She had thought, if she fled with Qianya, mother and daughter might live on like drifting leaves; at least until Qianya could stand alone like a pine. But it was impossible.

She knew the other side would never let her go, a wolf that never loosens its bite; if Qianya was to live in peace, she had to end it herself, like cutting a knot clean.

With a death-bound resolve, Qianyou tore through the night like a storm of blades, wiping out the Vampire high council beneath a blood moon.

Alone she couldn’t have toppled them, but fate tipped the scales; she seized Vito’s Divine Sword, a shard of judgment bright as frost.

The sword once used to execute kin steeped in sin became the scythe that felled the high council, a harvest of crimson.

At the end, Qianyou left the blade in the Vampires’ mausoleum, a silent shard laid among cold stone.

Elves leave no corpse; born of nature’s breath, they return as motes of light, drifting like fireflies back into the green.

Their mausoleums exist to remember, a garden of echoes; no coffins, just everyday things arranged like a still-life, and flowers from their kin like fresh rain.

“So it’s not the forbidden ground you imagined, Tangxue,” Qianya said, her voice soft as dusk; “really, anyone can walk in here.”

“Then why—” Tangxue’s question rose like mist, half-formed.

“Vampires and ** excluded~” Qianya’s smile curved like a crescent.

“...” Tangxue rolled her eyes, a ripple breaking a calm lake.

“So it isn’t here either.” Her gaze swept the stone like a cold breeze.

“What isn’t?” Qianya tilted her head, a little smile bright as a new moon.

“No trace I’ve ever been here.” Tangxue shrugged, stepping out like a shadow leaving a lantern.

“Tangxue…” Qianya watched her back, feelings knotted like vines, then followed, footsteps soft as falling petals.

They neared the exit, the night billowing like ink, and Qianya couldn’t help a playful lilt. “By the way, Tangxue, about that day—you still owe me an answer~”

“Huh? Which day?” Tangxue looked blank, her eyes wide as clear pools.

Qianya’s mouth curled, sunlight through leaves; her smile grew brighter. “If you forgot, then let’s re-create the scene~”

She snapped her fingers, the sound crisp as a sparrow’s wing; the dark night shivered, and the pale moon flushed blood-red, a wound across the sky.

Tangxue jolted, a deer startled in thicket; she thought an enemy had come, the air sharp as steel.

“Don’t just throw your Authority around, hey!” Her protest crackled like dry twigs.

Qianya stuck out her tongue, sly as a fox. “This is important; how’s that ‘random’~?”

“…”

“Okay~ Tangxue, since you didn’t hear me clearly last time, I’ll say it again…” Qianya drew a deep breath, steady as a drumbeat.

“You—”

“Big Sis, I like you! Let’s be together~”

Out of nowhere, Qianyue burst from the shadows like a swift sparrow and wrapped her arms around Tangxue’s waist, clinging like ivy.

Qianya’s pupils tightened, a blade biting its sheath; her words swallowed back like rain swallowed by earth.

“Qianyue~! What are you doing! Let go.” Tangxue fumbled, hands fluttering like startled moths, but Qianyue held tight, a stubborn knot.

“Nope, nope~ Big Sis, please say yes to Qianyue, okay~?” Her voice purred like a cat against warm stone.

“No way! At least come down first, Qianyue—we’ve got Qianya watching!” Tangxue’s cheeks flushed, plum-petal pink.

“Nooo~!” Qianyue refused, arms locked like a looped ribbon.

Qianya trembled, the good mood shattered like glass; the little rascal had stirred the pot and tipped it, soup and stars everywhere.

She could’ve confessed smoothly, the setting a held breath; maybe the moon would’ve helped her win Tangxue’s fluttering heart. But—this brat barged in, a noisy drum, and the chance broke.

She could almost see that mocking little smile, a knife of sugar; her silver teeth itched to bite through stone.

No chance today…

Even if Tangxue did like her, no way she’d agree in front of someone else—especially with a shameless kid who’d just confessed clinging like a sticker.

I’ll remember this debt.

Qianya shot Qianyue a vicious glare, lightning bottled in her eyes.

Qianyue only sneered, a flick of wind over bamboo.

Her look said, I can hug Big Sis in daylight; you can’t. How’s that? Mad yet~?

Qianya clenched her fists, knuckles pale as frost.

“Qianya, what’s wrong?” Tangxue glanced over, worry flickering like a candle.

“Ah~ nothing, nothing… Tangxue, I just remembered something. I’ll go first…” Her voice fell like fog.

“Eh? Weren’t you about to tell me something—” Tangxue reached, a willow branch swaying.

“Not anymore.” Qianya shook her head, slight as a falling leaf, then turned to leave, her coat a swept shadow.

Better to wait than be refused by the one you like, like guarding a winter bud for spring.

“By the way, Big Sis, I want to talk to Qianya alone~” Qianyue piped up, her smile a painted lantern.

“Qianyue?” Tangxue blinked, disbelief rippling like water.

These two enemies—alone—wouldn’t they start a fight like thunder?

“It’s very important! So please, Big Sis, step aside for a bit~” Qianyue’s tone rang bright as glass.

Qianya scratched her cheek, awkward as a sparrow pecking grain.

“Alright… but Qianyue, shouldn’t you get off me first?” Tangxue huffed, a breeze under eaves.

“Oh right, eh-heh~” Qianyue stuck out her tongue, then hopped down, light as a dandelion seed.

She faced Qianya with a sunny grin. “Then, Qianya, shall we go~?” Her hand waved like a beckoning fan.

Qianya’s eyes cooled, a lake under moon, and she followed in silence, steps measured as beads.

“Talk. What do you want?” They reached a quiet corner, shadows folded like paper, and Qianya’s voice stayed flat as slate.

“How to say it~ quite a few things, Qianya~” Qianyue’s words chimed like bells.

“Heh.” Qianya’s laugh was cold, a knife reflecting starlight. “That pathetic act fools girls under fifteen; it won’t work on me.”

Qianyue blinked, surprised, a kite tugged by wind. “Hey… I wasn’t planning to trick you.”

“Actually, I want to discuss something with you~” Her tone smoothed like silk.

“We have nothing to discuss.” Qianya’s reply dropped like a stone in a well.

“Eh? Really… I thought you’d care about your mother’s affairs,” Qianyue said, a shadow of disappointment, and drew out a letter, sealed like bone-white bark.

Its casing was made from a special material, ageless as snow; you couldn’t tell its year, like a winter without footprints.

“!” Qianya reached instinctively, a hawk stooping; but Qianyue was faster, a fish slipping water.

“Don’t grab; I haven’t told you the conditions yet!” Qianyue tucked it back, puffed-up as a sparrow guarding a seed.

Qianya stayed silent, her gaze growing colder, a river freezing from the banks.

“Hey, hey… I’m the one with the commission here! Couldn’t you be a bit more polite, Qianya?” Qianyue pouted, lips a berry.

“What’s your deal? Say it.” Impatience curtained Qianya’s tone, a drumbeat sharpened.

She’d considered using her Authority to take the letter like a gust, but that would draw Tangxue’s attention, a bell ringing in the quiet.

“Qianya, can you promise to treat every citizen of the Duskmoon Empire kindly in the future?” Qianyue’s voice was calm as still water; her pure red eyes held Qianya’s figure like crystal.

“That’s all you want to say?” Qianya asked, words crisp as frost.

“Not only that~” Qianyue smiled, soft as dawn. “That’s just to decide if you qualify to receive this letter; someone asked me to ask it. Now comes my request~”

“…”

“I want… to ask you to stop entangling Big Sis.” Her words floated like drifting snow.

“You think without you I can’t get my mother’s letter?” Qianya tilted her head, a raven’s curious angle.

“Of course not~” Qianyue’s smile brightened, a lantern fed with oil. “If you wanted, you could take it anytime; this is just my advice, from where I stand.”

“You are a queen, and only a queen. That’s the path you chose, a ridge line you won’t leave.”

“We both know her identity now. I can stay by her side, even if this body fails; I can return to where I came from, a spirit into its vessel. But you can’t.”

“For you, if you have to choose between Big Sis and the Duskmoon Empire, you’ll choose your throne, even if you waver like reeds.”

“Rather than drown in that hesitation, let go early.” Her tone rang clear, like wind chimes under eaves.

Qianya didn’t argue; she simply watched her, a mountain under long clouds.

“I think you’ve guessed my real identity, Your Majesty of the Duskmoon Empire~ You haven’t targeted me in days, after all~” Qianyue’s smile was a painted fan.

“…” The former sixth princess of the Vampire royal line was dead; before them stood a Spirit of a Divine Artifact reborn in her shell, a candle burning in a borrowed lantern.

Qianya had suspected back when this “Vampire” failed to use royal coercion, a storm that never came; her rage then had muddied the water, but the signs were many.

“Not talking…?” Qianyue’s face fell, a cloud over a hill. “At least give me a response, Qianya.”

“I won’t give up Tangxue.” Qianya’s voice was firm, a blade set. “Even if I can’t confess now, someday I will—”

“The future’s headed for ruin.” Qianyue cut in, eyes sharp as a shard. “You still don’t get it?”

“The Flower of the Other Shore aims to birth this world anew, like burning a field for spring.”

“First they’ll push this plane to the brink; and the place closest to their Sacred Gate sits inside the Duskmoon Empire.” Her words fell like iron beads.

“When that happens, millions of Blood Clan civilians will be in danger, lives like lamps in a storm. Will you still chase Big Sis?”

Qianya blanched for a heartbeat, a candle gutted by wind; then her color steadied, resolve settling like stone, though her face grew grave.

Yes. She had almost forgotten that, a thread buried in smoke.

Looks like the days ahead will be busy, a loom clacking at dawn…

“But my answer stands. I won’t give up on Tangxue, and I won’t ignore the Empire.” Her gaze held, twin stars in frost.

“Alright. Give me the letter.” She reached out, palm open like a waiting bowl.

“Such a willful answer…” Qianyue sighed, a reed bending. “Like mother, like daughter.”

She handed over the heavy letter, weight like a river stone, then turned to leave, steps light as thistledown.

“Bye-bye~ Take your time reading; Qianyue’s going to find Big Sis~!” Her laughter trailed like bells.

Qianya ignored the teasing, a stone in a stream; she needed a quiet place and the first line like a light.

She read the opening words, and her eyes brimmed, dew gathering on leaves.

“Mother… you’re alive… You’re alive. Thank goodness.” Her voice trembled, a bird freed from a cage.

“Big Sis~!” Qianyue suddenly hugged Tangxue from behind, an embrace as warm as sunlit cotton; she felt the slight tremor of surprise, a ripple in a pond, and happiness bloomed strange and sweet.

If only… this could last, like spring clinging to the hillside.

“Why… so sudden again.” Tangxue’s tone carried a hint of complaint, a soft drizzle, tired of being startled.

“Eh-heh~ Big Sis, let’s go. I’ve finished talking with Qianya.” Qianyue’s words skipped like stones. “Qianya’s got more important things now. We can leave as planned!”

“Mm. If that’s the case, let’s prepare to leave.” Tangxue didn’t hesitate, her decision a clean cut; she’d long planned to depart the Duskmoon Empire, like folding a map.

She’d wanted a few more days of wandering, lanterns and bridges; but time wouldn’t wait, a river running. The next few days were already charted, a path inked and set.

Maybe I should just go back and sink into one real sleep, like a stone dropping through dark water.

So many days have dragged past, and my nights have been nets that never catch rest.

"Ehehe~ then let's go, Big Sis!" she chimed, like tiny bells in a windy street.

"Mm... no—you can't, Qianyue; you stay here," her voice shutting like a door.

"Why, Big Sis?!" Qianyue cried, wilting like a frost-bitten vine.

"I'm going back to the sea, that mother of salt, so why would you tag along..."

Truth is, I don’t want a third pair of hands in my little pocket space, that walled garden of secrets.

If anyone saw how Dreamsound treats me, I’d lose face for life and hide like the moon behind clouds.

"I’m fine—I can go anywhere," Qianyue said, her words running like wind through bamboo.

"Absolutely—not," the words dropping like stones.

No matter what she said, Tangxue wouldn’t take Qianyue back; her resolve sat like an anchor in deep water.

Ignoring that despairing look, Tangxue took her packed things and tore space toward the sky above the coast like an arrow.

The sky again, familiar as a washed-blue quilt that smells of sun.

Looking at it, Tangxue felt a slow ache, like a tide tugging at her ankles.

...Time to go home; I haven’t written her in so long, and that dummy Dreamsound never worries, like smoke that won’t rise.

The more I thought about it, the hotter it burned, and my cheeks puffed like a little pufferfish.

Wait—why haven’t I started falling yet; how high is this, with clouds like cotton under my feet?!