Lin Yue smiled.
But her eyes were crying.
That was the first thing that broke Shen Rui's brain.
Her lips curved like a princess greeting her court—
soft, perfect, trained.
But tears kept spilling down her cheeks like her body was begging for mercy.
"I am Lian Yu," she repeated calmly.
Shen Rui's hand tightened on her shoulders.
"No."
His voice came out like a growl.
"No. You're Lin Yue."
Lin Yue's mouth kept smiling.
Her voice stayed gentle.
"You are mistaken, Your Highness."
Shen Rui's blood turned cold.
That wasn't Lin Yue's phrasing.
Lin Yue never called him that.
She called him "Shen Rui" like it was a curse and a comfort at the same time.
Shen Rui forced himself to breathe.
His mind screamed one thought:
*The overwrite has started.*
The mirrors around them pulsed like living eyes.
A hundred crowned Lin Yues watched.
A hundred versions of her, perfected.
Polished.
Owned.
The robed man's voice drifted through the chamber like silk over a blade.
"Don't fight it," he said.
"She's returning to the shape the kingdom needs."
Shen Rui turned his head slowly.
His eyes locked into the darkness between mirrors.
"You're not a priest," Shen Rui said quietly.
The robed man chuckled.
"I am what remains when a kingdom outlives its gods."
Lin Yue's body took one step forward.
Not because she chose to.
Because the palace pulled.
Shen Rui moved with her instantly, blocking her path.
His palm pressed against her chest.
"Stop."
Lin Yue tilted her head.
Her smile widened.
"So bold," she murmured.
"Still trying to protect a stranger."
Shen Rui's voice dropped into something lethal.
"She's not a stranger."
Lin Yue's eyes flickered for half a second—
and Shen Rui saw it.
A crack.
A glimpse of Lin Yue's real fear.
Then it vanished.
Like a candle snuffed out.
The calendar in Shen Rui's bleeding hand throbbed again.
The ink stain crawled like a living bruise across the paper.
Shen Rui stared at it.
The date on the page…
was midnight.
Not a time.
A sentence.
A deadline.
The chamber hummed.
The mirrors brightened.
Lin Yue's breathing turned steady, controlled—royal.
The robed man spoke again.
"Midnight seals the binding."
"After that, there will be no Lin Yue."
Shen Rui's throat tightened.
He glanced down at Lin Yue's face.
Tears still fell.
But her expression stayed perfect.
Like her body was a prison with pretty wallpaper.
Lin Yue's lips parted.
She spoke softly, almost lovingly.
"Why do you look at me like that?"
Shen Rui's voice shook.
"Because I'm watching you get stolen."
Lin Yue smiled.
"I'm not being stolen."
Her eyes gleamed like polished stone.
"I'm being restored."
Shen Rui swallowed hard.
His mind raced.
Fast.
Brutal.
He needed a move.
Now.
He remembered the mirror breaking.
How the palace trembled when he used himself like a blade.
That meant one thing:
The palace was not invincible.
It was just arrogant.
He looked down at his palm.
Blood.
Glass cuts.
And something else—
a faint black mark blooming under his skin, like ink trying to write his name away.
His breath hitched.
*The palace is taking me too.*
Because he was touching the key.
The calendar.
The cage.
The robed man laughed softly, sensing it.
"Yes," he whispered.
"Feel it, Prince That Shouldn't Exist."
Shen Rui's jaw clenched.
He lifted the calendar up.
The ink pulsed.
The date glowed faintly.
Lin Yue's eyes followed it, hungry.
The robed man's voice sharpened.
"Give it to her."
Shen Rui stared at Lin Yue.
Her tears didn't stop.
But her mouth smiled like she wanted to bite the world.
Shen Rui's heart cracked.
"Lin Yue," he whispered.
Lin Yue's head tilted.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
Shen Rui flinched at the title.
He stepped closer anyway.
He leaned in, voice shaking, raw.
"If you can still hear me…"
Lin Yue blinked once.
A tiny tremor.
A crack in the porcelain.
Shen Rui grabbed that crack with both hands.
"Fight," he hissed.
"Fight me. Fight her. Fight the palace."
Lin Yue's lips parted.
Her voice softened.
"I don't want to fight."
Shen Rui's eyes burned.
"I know."
His throat tightened.
"That's why you need me."
The robed man's voice turned mocking.
"Romantic."
"Pathetic."
"Do you really think love overrides a kingdom's will?"
Shen Rui didn't look away from Lin Yue.
His voice was quiet.
"Yes."
The robed man laughed.
Then the mirrors flared.
Lin Yue's body stiffened.
Her pupils dilated.
Her lips parted—
and Shen Rui saw her tongue tremble like she was choking on someone else's name.
"Li—"
Shen Rui snapped.
"LIN YUE!"
Lin Yue flinched.
Her eyes widened.
For one heartbeat—
she was there.
She gasped, voice breaking.
"Shen Rui—!"
He grabbed her face with both hands.
"Say it," he ordered.
"Say your name."
Lin Yue's lips trembled.
Her eyes were wild.
"Lin… Yue…"
The chamber screamed without sound.
The mirrors flashed violently.
The robed man's voice turned sharp.
"Stop her."
Lin Yue's body jerked.
Her mouth smiled again, hijacked.
But her eyes were still wet with her real fear.
Two beings in one skin.
Lin Yue's lips parted.
Her voice turned calm again.
"I am Lian Yu."
Shen Rui's breath shattered.
He looked down at the calendar.
The ink stain on Lin Yue's palm.
The mark blooming under his own skin.
The palace was using the calendar as an anchor.
As long as the calendar existed…
the palace could rewrite.
As long as midnight arrived…
the rewrite would lock.
The solution was obvious.
Disgustingly obvious.
Burn the calendar.
Destroy the key.
But the second Shen Rui thought it—
his chest tightened.
Because he understood what that meant.
If the calendar was the key…
then Lin Yue was the door.
And he was the hinge.
He looked at Lin Yue.
Her tears didn't stop.
She whispered softly, almost like a lullaby.
"You look tired, Your Highness."
Shen Rui's voice came out hoarse.
"I am."
Lin Yue smiled.
"Then let go."
Shen Rui shook his head.
"Never."
The robed man sighed like he was bored.
"Burn the calendar," he said.
"It won't matter."
"The princess will return either way."
Shen Rui's eyes snapped to the darkness.
"Shut up."
The robed man chuckled.
"You can't win."
Shen Rui looked back at Lin Yue.
His voice dropped into something final.
"Maybe not."
He lifted the calendar.
Lin Yue's gaze locked on it instantly.
Like hunger.
Like addiction.
Like destiny.
Shen Rui's fingers trembled.
He had no lighter.
No torch.
Only mirrors.
Only glass.
Only blood.
Then he remembered something—
the chamber was cold.
But his palm was burning.
Because the calendar wasn't paper.
It was a living contract.
And contracts burn easily when you bleed on them.
Shen Rui pressed his bleeding palm against the calendar page.
The ink pulsed.
The page hissed.
A thin curl of smoke rose.
Lin Yue's eyes widened.
The robed man's voice sharpened.
"What are you doing?"
Shen Rui's voice was calm.
"Breaking the deal."
He pressed harder.
The smoke thickened.
The calendar page blackened at the edges.
Lin Yue's body jerked violently.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream.
Not Lin Yue.
Not Lian Yu.
The palace itself.
The mirrors flickered like dying lights.
The chamber shook again, furious.
Lin Yue stumbled.
Her smile faltered.
Her lips trembled.
"Shen Rui…"
Her voice cracked.
Not royal.
Human.
Terrified.
Shen Rui's heart slammed.
He grabbed her instantly, pulling her into his chest.
"I've got you."
Lin Yue's fingers clutched his shirt.
Her body shook.
"I can't—"
"I can't breathe—"
Shen Rui's eyes burned.
"You can."
"You're Lin Yue."
Lin Yue sobbed.
But then—
her body went stiff again.
Her eyes rolled slightly, like something yanked her back.
Her mouth smiled again.
And she whispered softly into his collarbone:
"You're burning the wrong thing."
Shen Rui froze.
He pulled back slightly.
Lin Yue's eyes were empty again.
Her voice was calm.
"The calendar is not the key."
Shen Rui's blood ran cold.
"What?"
Lin Yue tilted her head.
"The calendar is the cage."
The robed man's voice returned, pleased.
"Yes."
Lin Yue's smile widened.
"The key…"
She lifted her trembling hand, pressing her palm against Shen Rui's chest.
"…is you."
Shen Rui's breath stopped.
The mark under his skin pulsed.
He suddenly understood.
The palace didn't need Lin Yue to return.
It needed Shen Rui to disappear.
Because he was the glitch.
The only thing preventing the kingdom from restoring its princess perfectly.
Shen Rui's hands trembled.
He stared at Lin Yue.
Her eyes were wet again.
For a second.
Just a second.
Lin Yue's real voice slipped through, broken:
"Don't… leave me…"
Shen Rui's chest cracked open.
He looked down at the calendar.
The page was burning.
But the chamber wasn't weakening.
It was… laughing.
Because burning the calendar didn't free Lin Yue.
It freed the palace from its limits.
The cage was melting.
The overwrite would happen faster.
Shen Rui's mind snapped into brutal clarity.
He had one option.
One.
If he was the key…
then the only way to lock the palace out…
was to destroy the key.
Destroy himself.
Shen Rui lifted the calendar.
He stopped burning it.
The smoke died.
Lin Yue's smile returned instantly.
The palace relaxed.
Satisfied.
Shen Rui's heart pounded.
The robed man's voice purred.
"Good."
"Be obedient."
"Let her return."
Shen Rui stared at Lin Yue.
He reached up, wiping her tears with his thumb.
His touch was gentle.
Like he was memorizing her.
Lin Yue blinked.
Her lips trembled.
For half a second, Lin Yue was there again.
She whispered, voice shaking.
"Shen Rui…?"
He smiled softly.
A real smile.
Not royal.
Not cruel.
Just… him.
"Listen to me," he whispered.
"When it hurts… say your name."
Lin Yue's eyes widened.
"No—what are you doing?"
Shen Rui's voice was quiet.
"Fixing the script."
Lin Yue shook her head violently.
"Don't—don't do that—!"
Shen Rui leaned closer.
Forehead to forehead.
His voice shook, but he didn't stop.
"I wasn't meant to exist," he whispered.
"But you are."
Lin Yue's eyes filled with terror.
"Shen Rui—!"
The robed man's voice sharpened.
"What are you—"
Shen Rui stepped back.
He raised the calendar again.
Then he did something insane.
He pressed the burning page to his own chest.
Right over the mark.
Right over his heart.
The paper hissed.
Smoke exploded.
The smell of burning ink filled the chamber like a curse.
Shen Rui's body jerked violently.
His knees almost buckled.
But he didn't fall.
He stood there, shaking, while the palace screamed.
Lin Yue screamed too.
"NO!"
Her voice cracked.
Real.
Human.
Lin Yue ran to him.
She grabbed his arms.
"Stop! Stop! STOP!"
Shen Rui's eyes watered.
Pain tore through him like a blade.
Not physical pain.
Existential.
Like the universe was deleting his file one line at a time.
The robed man's voice roared.
"YOU FOOL!"
"You'll erase yourself!"
Shen Rui coughed.
A laugh escaped him, broken.
"Good."
Lin Yue sobbed, shaking him.
"Shen Rui—don't do this—please—!"
Shen Rui's hand lifted, trembling.
He touched her cheek.
His fingers felt… lighter.
Like he was becoming air.
He whispered, voice barely there:
"Lin Yue…"
Lin Yue clutched him harder.
"I'm here! I'm here!"
Shen Rui smiled faintly.
"Say your name."
Lin Yue's lips trembled.
Her eyes were wild with tears.
"Lin Yue…"
Shen Rui nodded weakly.
"Again."
Lin Yue sobbed.
"Lin Yue!"
The mirrors flickered violently.
The crowned reflections shattered one by one like glass illusions.
The palace screamed without sound.
The chamber shook.
Lin Yue screamed again, desperate.
"LIN YUE!"
Shen Rui's eyes softened.
His body trembled.
He whispered, almost like a confession:
"Good girl."
Then his knees buckled.
Lin Yue caught him.
Her hands were shaking.
His chest burned where the calendar pressed.
The paper disintegrated into ash against his skin.
The mark under his skin flared once—
then dimmed.
The robed man's voice turned into a hiss of pure hatred.
"You… chose her… over the kingdom…"
Shen Rui's lips parted.
His voice was a whisper.
"I chose… her… over… nothing."
Lin Yue sobbed, cradling him.
"Shen Rui… please… don't…"
His eyes fluttered.
His fingers slid from her cheek.
And then—
Lin Yue felt it.
The chamber went cold.
Not winter cold.
Grave cold.
A voice rose from the mirrors, not the robed man.
Not the palace.
Something older.
Something that sounded like a crown hitting the floor.
*Midnight is here.*
Lin Yue's breath hitched.
She looked down at Shen Rui.
His eyes were half-open.
But his gaze was… fading.
Like he was already halfway erased.
Lin Yue shook him.
"Shen Rui! Shen Rui!"
His lips moved.
Barely.
"…run…"
Lin Yue sobbed.
"I won't leave you!"
The mirrors flickered one last time.
And in every mirror…
Lin Yue saw herself.
Not crowned.
Not smiling.
Just Lin Yue.
Crying.
Holding him.
Then the mirrors went black.
And the chamber whispered its final promise:
*The key has been burned.*
*The princess will be free.*
*But the prince will be forgotten.*
END CHAPTER 27
Cliffhanger: Shen Rui begins to be erased from reality right as midnight strikes.