The world tilted.
Jiao Shui blinked.Once.Twice.
The throne hall was too bright. Too quiet. Too full of eyes pretending not to stare.
But she saw him.
The one whose face carried guilt.
Song Lingfang.
Her Song Lingfang.
The man who would risk storms and swords for her.The quiet anchor in this chaotic palace.The one whose presence felt like a harbor.
He had stopped breathing.His fingers twitched at his side.His gaze avoided hers as if afraid she would see something crack inside him.
Prince Yang's hand dropped to the hilt of his blade.
"You." His voice sliced like cold steel.
Lingfang's jaw clenched.
"Yang," he said softly. Warningly. Brokenly.
The mysterious woman on the Emperor's arm sighed.
"There it is. The truth echoing in his eyes."She smiled. "Delicious."
Jiao's heart hammered against her ribs like it wanted to escape.
"Lingfang?" Her voice trembled. "Why… why are you looking at me like that?"
He Didn't Speak
For the first time since she met him, Song Lingfang looked… fragile.
Like a man haunted by ghosts only he could see.
His lips parted.Closed.Opened again.
"I—"He swallowed hard."Jiao… it's complicated."
Prince Yang lunged.
He didn't attack—but he grabbed Lingfang's collar and slammed him against a pillar so fast the courtiers gasped and scattered.
"Complicated?" Yang hissed. "Did you kill her? In her past life?"
Lingfang didn't struggle.Didn't push back.Didn't defend himself.
He just stared at Jiao with a sorrowful ache that made her stomach twist.
"I didn't want to," he whispered.
Jiao felt the ground pull away beneath her feet.
Her spirits shrieked in her head.
"WHAT?!""HE DID WHAT?!"
Prince Yang tightened his grip."If you hurt her again—""I won't," Lingfang whispered. "Not this life. Never again."
That word stabbed deeper than any blade:
again.
Jiao stepped back, shaking her head.
"No." She couldn't breathe. "No, you're not saying what I think you're saying…"
Lingfang finally spoke clearly.And gently.And devastatingly.
"Yes."He looked at her like she was a wound he had carved and a salvation he didn't deserve."I killed you in your past life."
Her chest tightened until it hurt.
"Why?" she whispered.
Lingfang's eyes darkened.With regret.With memories sealed behind silence.
"It wasn't betrayal," he said softly."It wasn't hatred. It wasn't jealousy."He paused."It was a promise I made to you."
Jiao felt like the air had turned to ice.
Prince Yang released him, stepping back slowly, suspicious fury simmering in his eyes.
"A promise?" Yang growled. "What kind of promise ends with murder?"
"A sacred one," Lingfang answered quietly."One she begged me to fulfill."
The Emperor finally stood, thunder rolling through his voice.
"Enough. Lady Jiao Shui is to leave. Now."
Jiao's mind spun.Her heart burned.
She backed away from Lingfang, unable to look at him.
Yang touched her shoulder.
"Come," he said, voice uncharacteristically soft.
But as she turned to leave—
Lingfang's voice broke through the hall, trembling and pained.
"Jiao…"
She froze.
His next words shattered her.
"I loved you."
The hall went still.
He continued.
"And you asked me to kill you. You begged me. Because the fate chasing you was worse than death."
Jiao's breath vanished.
Her spirits choked on their own panic.
Prince Yang stiffened beside her.
Lingfang's eyes glistened with the past.
"And that fate…"He exhaled shakily."…is returning for you."
The light in the hall dimmed, as if the heavens themselves listened.
Jiao trembled.
"What fate?" she whispered.
Lingfang closed his eyes.
"Your true killer," he said."The one even I couldn't protect you from."His voice cracked."He has found you again."
Jiao stumbled backward, nearly dropping the Blossom of Dawn.
The Emperor shouted, "REMOVE HER FROM THE HALL!"
Guards rushed in.
Song Lingfang didn't move.
Prince Yang grabbed Jiao's hand and pulled her close.
But as the doors slammed shut behind them—
A voice whispered on the wind, one she didn't recognize but that made her soul shiver.
"Found you… little moon."