Chapter 31 : Dream in the Shadows
Dream in the Shadows
In a void world, everything was a boundless expanse of white, with no color in sight.
Yinhua opened her eyes and looked at the girl before her, who looked exactly the same as she did.
"You're awake?"
The girl asked in a gentle, relaxed tone.
"Where is this?"
Yinhua glanced around. Her memory only reached the moment when Shui Cangxuan's overwhelming storm of ice arrows turned toward her.
"This is a world that doesn't exist. You can just think of it as something I casually conjured up," the girl answered, picking up a bowl of ramen and eating it on her own.
"Are you Luna?"
Yinhua asked, her tone tinged with doubt.
"Bingo! That's right, it's me."
Luna picked up two bottles of cola, tossing one to Yinhua.
"What's this?"
Yinhua scrutinized the drink in her hand—she had never seen such a thing before.
"I got it from the hands of a human in some world. Ah, since this is an imagined world, whatever you want, you only need to picture it. See?"
As Luna spoke, a steak appeared in her hand.
Yinhua looked at the cola in her hand. She unscrewed the cap and took a sip.
"How does it taste?"
Luna asked as she cut into her steak.
"Mm... the flavor is very mild, a slight trace of sweetness, as if there's only half a spoon of sugar in water."
"Seems like it doesn't quite suit your taste."
Luna gave a meaningful smile.
"More importantly, miss Luna, are you here to reclaim your body?"
"Nope, that body is yours now. I no longer have the right to take it back—probably."
"Haaa, then what about you, miss Luna?"
Yinhua showed visible discomfort over having taken someone else's place.
"You don't need to worry about me. Just take it as giving myself a long vacation—I'm quite at ease."
Luna sent the food in her hand into the void.
"Well then, my turn to ask you: do you want revenge?"
Luna wiped her mouth with a napkin.
"What?"
Yinhua seemed to not understand what she meant.
"Revenge. To overthrow your father's rule, defeat your brothers and sisters, and finally become king yourself."
As Luna wiped her hands, she spoke.
"I don't want to,"
Yinhua answered resolutely.
"Why not?"
This answer seemed to be within Luna's expectations; she didn't seem too surprised.
"Though being looked down on in the past hurt, I'm not someone from the imperial palace anymore. I don't want to get involved in the battlefield of politics, either. Maybe you'll say I'm cowardly, lacking grand ideals and ambition, but I'm already very satisfied. I don't have Brother Yi-er's business talent, nor Sister Lingqian's magic prowess. Even though my father abandoned me, I don't hate him. Because of him, I came to value the friends around me. Now, as long as I can be with Aili—oh, and with Miss Zhixi—when we get a chance to leave the imperial capital in the future, I want to find a remote city and settle down, get a stable job. Every morning, I'll go out to work, Aili will do the chores at home and wait for me to return. As for Zhixi, it's hard for her to listen to others, so I'll send her to school, and pick her up at the gate when I'm off work. At night, the three of us will eat together. When we have our own children... Well, I haven't thought that far yet."
"............ You're really far-sighted, aren't you...?"
There was a hint of helplessness in Luna's voice. So that's what I used to be like?
"In short, you just want a peaceful life, right?"
"Mm."
It seemed Yinhua's cheeks flushed with embarrassment after sharing so many of her dreams all at once.
"Impossible. You'd better give up on such fantasies now."
Luna's previously playful expression became stern, a cold gleam in her eyes, and even her tone turned icy.
"Eh?"
"You are no longer Yinhua. Your current body is mine. Your lifespan is essentially limitless, but others are not the same. No matter how strong Aili is, she's still a human. Even dolls get damaged or malfunction. Liqin, Xiya, Shui Cangxuan, too. Then there's your father, mother, brother, sister—as long as no one has transcended their own race, all 'people' will die. It's just a matter of time."
"And another thing..."
Luna drew closer to Yinhua, covering Yinhua's left eye with her hand. In Luna's right eye, an unreadable script appeared.
"This is my ability, Eye of the Azure Court. It has the power to see into the future. So, what do you see?"
"No... this... what is it?"
Yinhua's voice began to tremble, as if she had seen something truly terrifying.
"Before long, moonstar and Wanhua will fall into all-out war. The spark will be Shui Cangxuan gravely wounding Yuexing Beichen while trying to save you. And before long, the princess of Yuexing will instigate an unavoidable catastrophe."
"Let me tell you a joke. Among the people I've known, there was someone in a situation similar to yours. He too once wished for a peaceful life, but, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. When disaster came, he stepped forward, reluctantly, to protect his family. At the time, all living things regarded him as a hero, and so the title of hero fell on his shoulders. Every day, it was kill, kill, kill, kill. The weight of that title got heavier and heavier, and the number of people he killed grew and grew. Then, he went mad."
"Well? Isn't it funny?"
"And then? What happened next?"
For some reason, Yinhua was desperate to know what became of the story.
"Then, after utterly exterminating his enemies, he turned to slaughtering humans. Of course, humans had no power to resist him. When he met his wife and child, his killing never stopped. In the end, although I should have handled the matter, he ended his own life in a most bizarre way: he killed his wife and child, ripped off his wife's hands, made her hold his sword, and killed himself."
"What do you mean? Why are you telling me this?"
"In time, you'll understand what I mean. For now, it seems it's time for you to leave."
"Master."
"Master."
From somewhere, Aili's voice called out.
"Don't look at me with such eyes. We'll meet again in the future."
"Hey...."
Before she could finish, Yinhua was driven out of this space.
Only Luna remained in this space, staring upward in contemplation. After a while, she let out a sigh.
"I wonder, just when did I start becoming twisted?"
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】