The next morning, the palace was unusually quiet.
Servants moved carefully, whispers trailing behind them like falling petals. Word had spread: Jin Xuan Yue had spoken more than a sentence to a servant girl — and not just any girl. The new one.
Li Hua kept her head down, pretending not to notice the stares. Pretending not to hear the whispers that buzzed like gnats.
But inside?
She was burning.
He's watching me too closely.
I need to be more careful.
I can't forget why I'm here.
And yet… something gnawed at the edge of her certainty.
The night before, in his voice — she had heard no cruelty. No deception. Just… longing. Pain. Confusion.
Was it really him? The one who betrayed me?
She clenched her fists.
No. She couldn't afford doubt.
Not now.
In the northern gardens, Jin Xuan Yue stood under a flowering apricot tree, his robe untouched by the falling petals.
Beside him, Rui Shen scowled as he tried to light incense — but only managed to set part of his sleeve on fire.
"Agh! Not again—"
Jin Mei snorted, plucking the incense from his hands with ease. "How are you this useless?"
"I'm gifted," Rui Shen replied proudly, patting out the smoke.
Jin Xuan Yue, however, remained unmoved. His thoughts were elsewhere.
"She reminds me of her," he said quietly.
Jin Mei raised a brow. "The Fox Queen?"
His eyes narrowed. "Don't say it out loud."
"Oh come on. You've been searching for a thousand years. What if—"
"It's not her," he said too quickly. "It can't be."
"But what if it is?"
He turned away. "Then… why would she return like this?"
Rui Shen looked between the two siblings, confused. "Wait, wait—are we talking about that fox lady with the claws and the attitude?"
Jin Mei smacked him upside the head.
"She was noble and powerful," Jin Xuan Yue said softly, eyes distant. "And she died… because of me."
That night, Li Hua slipped once more into the forbidden section of the palace archive.
Scrolls whispered secrets in the dark. She unrolled one.
A letter.
Old. Faded. Sealed with silver wax bearing the crest of the Moon Palace.
She read it, eyes widening.
"The attack must be swift. Once the Fox Queen is weakened, I will pin the blame on Jin Xuan Yue. His fall will be the beginning of ours."
Signed… Lian Yue. The Moon Goddess.
Li Hua's breath caught.
So it hadn't been him?
Her hands trembled.
Everything she believed — the hatred, the vengeance — cracked under the weight of doubt.
Then why… why did he not defend me? Why didn't he come?
Her knees buckled slightly.
Maybe… maybe he had tried.
Maybe he had loved her after all.
She sank to her knees in the moonlit archive, torn between rage, sorrow, and the dangerous seed of hope.