"Idiot! Idiot! You absolute idiot!"
"You just left? You just gave up? You gave up on yourself, and you gave up on me!"
"Did you... not even want to know my name?"
Blair Lockehart knelt beneath the tree, tears covering her face and her eyes unfocused. She never imagined that after waking up and receiving his letter, this would be the result.
While Blair was lost in those memories, a man dressed like a servant approached the field with a torch in hand. Only after he had lit the flowers at the edge did he notice Blair still kneeling beneath the tree.
"Miss Blair? Miss Blair, what are you doing? Move back quickly. The young master told me to burn these flowers!"
"Ode?" A trace of clarity returned to Blair's eyes. She knew this servant, because he had always helped Alban deliver letters. The moment she saw him, she hurriedly asked, "Ode! Where is your young master?"
"Young master? Last night, he told me to come burn the flowers this morning, but I do not know where he went. I have not seen him all morning."
After hearing Ode's words, Blair's last trace of hope was burned away with the flames around her.
"He left. He really left. He left me behind just like that."
"Careful, Miss! The fire is about to reach you!"
Blair ignored the flames around her, but a small flower drifting past caught her eye.
She reached out and pinched its stem. Looking at its six petals, her eyes grew wet again.
"This is a six-petaled Angelfall Dance. I saw a dancing angel fall..."
"Please move, Miss!" the servant outside the flower field kept shouting.
Blair still ignored him. She gently placed the Angelfall Dance against her chest.
"Then why... why do I not feel happiness? Why does it feel like happiness is leaving me?"
The flames had already surrounded her. Scorching heat burned her delicate skin, but even then, Blair did not move. Nothing mattered to her anymore.
The fate of those born into the Netherworld Spirit Cat line was to become the fiancées of the White Tiger line, fuse Martial Souls with them, and live and die together with them. From the moment she became Alban's fiancée, their fates had been tied together.
Now Alban had run away selfishly. That meant their shared fate had been cut apart from one side, and she, his fiancée, would be the one forced to bear the consequences.
She was not heartbroken because of the punishment she was about to face.
She was heartbroken because Alban had run away without calling her with him.
"So I am someone you can abandon whenever you want."
"So I am the same as these flowers, something you can burn whenever you want."
"So my happiness was always fated to be destroyed."
"Mm. It would be a pity for such a pretty girl to die like this."
A voice as warm as a spring breeze entered Blair's ears while she had her eyes closed, waiting for death. She snapped her eyes open and saw a handsome young man standing before her, more than a head taller than she was.
When she focused carefully, she realized that although the flames were close enough to touch, she could not feel the slightest heat. The burns that had started spreading across her skin were also recovering under a cool sensation.
Blair wanted to say something, but before she could speak, the boy placed a hand on her shoulder without explanation.
The scenery flashed.
When Blair came back to herself, she was already outside the flower field.
Only then did the Spirit Masters of the Star Stripe Empire finally arrive, far too late.
They first seized the servant who had started the fire. Then the leader of the Spirit Masters noticed Wu Ling and walked toward him.
Blair originally thought that Spirit Master had come for her, because she recognized him. He was one of House Lockehart's Spirit King elders. But just as she prepared herself to be scolded, she realized he had ignored her completely and walked quickly to Wu Ling instead.
"Your Highness, Holy Son, our subordinates were poorly disciplined. We frightened you."
Seeing the Spirit Master's attitude, Blair looked at Wu Ling in surprise. She knew very well that this Spirit King was one of the strongest elders in House Lockehart after the Spirit Emperor clan head. Inside the clan, he and the others were always unbearably proud. Yet now he stood respectfully before a young man and apologized.
"Wait. He just called that boy Holy Son. Could he be Spirit Hall's Holy Son, the one Alban mentioned in his letter, the one who easily defeated his brother?"
Blair's small mouth parted in shock. She had only heard of him in a letter that morning, yet before noon she had met him in person.
Wu Ling waved casually.
"A little fire like that could not hurt me. I only happened to help this little girl."
Only after Wu Ling mentioned her did the Spirit King turn his attention to Blair. Even so, Wu Ling keenly caught the flash of disdain and contempt in the man's eyes.
"Oh. With that attitude, news of Alban running away must already have spread."
In the next second, the Spirit King's expression became extremely excited.
"Oh my, is this not our Blair from House Lockehart? Hurry and thank His Highness."
The Spirit King pulled Blair in front of Wu Ling and had her thank him.
"Heh. He emphasized House Lockehart. This is why I hate playing with noble families. Every one of them is stuffed full of schemes."
Thinking that, Wu Ling smiled and calmly accepted Blair's thanks.
"Although Your Highness was not hurt, letting you witness such an ugly scene was still a failure of manners. And since Your Highness just saved Blair... how about this? House Lockehart will hold a banquet at noon to thank you. Please do not refuse."
The House Lockehart Spirit King pretended to consider the matter before offering the invitation.
It was already past ten in the morning, less than two hours from noon. Anyone who had ever planned a banquet knew that so little time was not enough to prepare a feast of proper rank. Yet this man had decided after only a few seconds of thought.
There were only two possibilities. Either he was foolish enough not to understand even that much, or the banquet had already been prepared and all they lacked was an excuse to invite Wu Ling.
Since he had become a Spirit King, the first possibility was unlikely. That left only the second.
In Wu Ling's view, the second was almost certainly true. If he had not found this place dull and decided to leave, and if Alban's escape had not pushed the Star Stripe emperor into agreeing, Wu Ling would have had to remain here for at least another day or two. At that point, House Lockehart, which had intermarried with House Regis for generations, would definitely have sent an invitation.
Wu Ling glanced at Blair as if by accident, then agreed.
"So the girl I saved was actually a young lady of House Lockehart. That is indeed fate. Very well. I will stay through noon."
The Spirit King naturally saw Wu Ling's glance. Or rather, Wu Ling had never intended to hide it. When the man heard Wu Ling emphasize the word saved, he understood Wu Ling's meaning as well.
"Your Highness, House Lockehart's banquet needs a little time to prepare for your arrival. During that time, why not have Miss Blair show Your Highness around the Star Stripe Capital?"