The days bled into weeks, a blur of disciplined training and a grief so profound it had become a permanent part of Lan Yue's soul. She existed in a state of suspended hope, clinging to the desperate belief that Xue Lian's cruel banishment had been a performance a terrible, necessary gambit to save her life. Every sunrise, she would look towards the distant border of the Netherworld, waiting for a sign, a message, a flicker of hope that the woman she loved was waiting for her.
She had felt the encroaching presence of the Azure Cloud scouts for days, a familiar spiritual hum that set her nerves on edge. Their arrival meant time was running out. A confrontation was coming, and her fragile hope was beginning to fray.
Then, one evening, the sign she had been praying for arrived.
Returning to her cave after a tense patrol of the surrounding woods, she saw it immediately. Placed on the flat, moss covered rock that served as her doorstep was a small, intricately carved wooden fox.
Her heart stopped. It was the prize from the pumpkin thump. The symbol of their shared, unguarded joy at the festival. A wave of overwhelming relief and love washed over her, so potent it made her knees weak. She snatched it up, clutching it to her chest as tears of gratitude welled in her eyes. It was real. Xue Lian hadn't forgotten. This was the message, the summons.
But as she wiped the tears from her eyes, she saw there was something else tucked beneath where the fox had been. It was not a flower. It was a formal, elegant scroll of dark, velvety demon paper, sealed with the faint, silver emblem of the White Fox.
Her hands trembled as she broke the seal and unrolled the paper. This was it. The coded instruction, the plea to come home. She read the elegant, familiar script, her heart pounding with anticipation.
To My Little Saint Enigma, Lan Yue,
I write this letter to bring a final, necessary clarity to the events that have transpired between us. The time for ambiguity has passed.
I wish to express my gratitude. The Soul Marrow ritual, supplemented by your unique biological nature as an Enigma, was a success beyond my most optimistic projections. The singular objective for which you were brought to my realm has now been achieved.
Thank you. You have successfully fulfilled my wish to impregnate me.
I do not doubt that in our time together, you came to harbor genuine feelings for me. I confess, your devotion was a pleasant, and indeed necessary, component for the success of our endeavor. Your trust was the catalyst, and for that, you have my sincere thanks. But you must understand that my priority has always been, and must always be, the continuation of my bloodline and the security of my dynasty.
My public banishment of you was a calculated, twofold strategy. Firstly, it was necessary to quell the dissent in my court, which was rightly furious over the loss of life your people caused. Your emotional distress was an unfortunate but acceptable consequence. Secondly, it ensured you would be returned to the righteous sects, thus ending their immediate threat of war against my now vulnerable borders.
The child I now carry is the sole heir to the Luminous Dynasty and the last hope of the White Fox clan. It is mine. It will be raised with no connection to the self righteous hypocrisy of your world. Its future is here, in the Netherworld, with its mother and its people.
As the final part of our transaction is now complete, your presence, and indeed your continued existence, are no longer required for my plans. You do not need to find me, nor look for me, for I am content with this result. The great barriers around my dynasty are permanent. There is no way back. Do not attempt it. Our story has reached its conclusion. Live your life as you see fit.
Consider our debt settled.
Signed,
Empress Xue Lian of the Luminous Dynasty
The world went silent. The scroll slipped from her nerveless fingers.
Transaction. Acceptable consequence. Debt settled.
The words were poison. They seeped into every beautiful memory she possessed and turned it to ash. The debates, the laughter, the confessions, the shared vulnerabilities, the nights of passion all of it, a meticulously executed performance. A lie.
*I am sorry, Master,\ Nightfall Crescent's voice whispered in her mind, devoid of its usual fury, filled only with a cold, profound sorrow. *I am so, so sorry.*
Lan Yue stumbled backward, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle a sound that was half sob, half scream. Her mind flashed back to the night in the bath, the steam, the heat, the feeling of Xue Lian's head resting on her shoulder. She remembered looking at the Empress's exposed nape, the primal, overwhelming urge to bite down, to mark her, to claim her with the permanent, soul binding power of an Enigma.
She remembered Xue Lian's warning. "You would be bound to me, and I to you. For eternity."
She had respected her wish. She had waited.
A low, guttural noise of pure agony was torn from her throat. She sank to her knees in the dirt, the carved wooden fox, that cruel, final receipt, still clutched in her hand.
"I should have marked her," she whispered to the empty, uncaring forest, the words ragged and broken. Her mind raced with the terrible, agonizing logic. "If I had marked her… she couldn't lie to me. Not like this. I would feel it. I would know if this was the truth…"
Her nobility, her choice to wait for a love that felt equal and sure, had been her undoing. It had left the door open for this final, absolute betrayal.
She did not cry. The pain was too vast, a physical presence that had hollowed out her soul, leaving nothing behind. The scouts, the war, her own future it was all meaningless dust.
She had been a means to an end. A successful transaction. And she had been paid in full with a broken heart and a world turned to ash.