The throne room echoed with repressed uproar.
Below the obsidian ceiling, Lei Yǔlín stood in chains of iron, mute and impassive. At his side, Su Shu's sharp eyes gleamed behind bruise-worn skin as she encountered the eyes of every aristocrat who dared a glance.
The suspect
The traitors
King Lei Moyao looked at them with inscrutable eyes, his fingers drumming on the armrest of his throne.
"Speak," he ordered. "Allow truth to be disclosed."
Commander Xiéyàn moved forward, his tone icy and curt.
"His Highness hid a woman in his rooms," the captain announced, voice cold and unwavering. "She was provided with food, silk, and healing herbs—no official reason recorded. No name, no status."
Murmurs rose in the crowd.
"When the guards broke in, she reached for a dagger. Not just any dagger—the same curved blade used by the first assassin. Same markings on the hilt. Same blackened steel soaked in poison."
Gasps rippled through the gathered court.
He stepped aside as a servant held up a cloth-wrapped bundle. Carefully unwrapping it, they revealed the weapon, glinting malevolently under the torchlight.
"Found beneath her sleeping mat," Xiéyàn continued. "The poison matched the sample extracted from the guards she fought with injured hand—same compound. Same source."
He turned to face the prince.
"Your Highness," he said, loud enough for all to hear, "your robes were found with dried blood. Small, but there. Matching the woman's wound."
The prince's jaw tightened. The court stilled.
"You say she meant no harm. But you hid her. You fed her. And you bled for her."
The captain looked to the crowd. "So I ask—was she a lover? Or a weapon?"
At first," Xiéyàn said, stepping forward, "we assumed the assassin was a boy—slim build, agile, fast. The kind of figure that disappears in shadows. But the truth unraveled when we examined the clothing left behind at the scene."
He held up a torn scrap of black fabric, worn but stitched with precision.
"The inner lining was tailored differently—tighter at the waist, looser at the chest. A custom fit for a woman's form. Not uncommon for female spies, but rare among assassins."
The crowd shifted, uncertain.
"We also found strands of hair caught in the collar—long, dark, not cut short as a male would wear for stealth. And a faint trace of jasmine oil. A scent used by few, but it matched the perfume found on the pillow in His Highness's private chamber."
There was a pause. He let that sink in.
"But the most damning piece," he continued, "was the blood."
He turned to the court healer.
"Speak."
The healer bowed, then said, "The wound on her arm had been stitched—clumsily. When we examined it, we found the same toxin residue used in the attempt on the Crown. A deeper cut would've killed her. But this... this matched the blood trail found escaping the scene weeks ago. Same blood type. Same pattern. Same gait."
Another murmur. The circle of suspicion was closing.
"She wasn't just hiding," Xiéyàn finished. "She was healing. And His Highness was the one helping her do it."
He faced the onlooking crowd.
"This isn't about emotion—it's fact. No other person but Prince Yǔlín would be able to conceal an assassin in the palace's center. If he's innocent… why all the secrecy?"
A tense beat
Queen Lei Feng moved elegantly forward, her loveliness as sharp as glass.
"But if he were guilty at all, would he not have defended himself? Would he not have fled? All of us know his physical strength. My king…" she glanced at Moyao, her tone mollified "…only you understand what he's actually capable of."
Moyao's jaw hardened, but he remained silent.
Then Xiéyàn knelt down abruptly, his knuckles on the chilly ground.
"On behalf of the kingdom. the prince and the killer must be put to death."
One at a time, generals, governors and nobles knelt behind him. Except commander wuji, commander Han and supreme commander Kǒngyun
"Your Majesty we implore you. Let justice be administered."
The king's words broke through the tension.
"Commander Han. I
Commander Han had his arms crossed behind his back.
"I deal in truth, not hearsay. The facts are dire, but not definitive. I advise interrogation, not death."
King Moyao nodded.
"Supreme Commander K
Kǒngyún bowed low and his voice was
"Suspicion is a sword without a handle. Question them. Pay attention. If they're guilty—let them be punished.", wuji couldn't do anything has he is the least respected of the commanders
The king's tone grew iron.
"Then it's decided. Put them away in solitary cells. Sky Prison. Keep them guarded day and night."
He faced Yǔlín. For the very first time his voice broke.
"If you are innocent. forgive this kingdom."
Later in the evening, Xiéyàn's boots echoed down a solitary corridor, finally finding Kǒngyún standing by the outer wall, his arms crossed.
"You fed me that information," said Xiéyàn.
Kǒngyún smiled.
You're welcome.
How did you learn about the silks? The blood? The timing?
Kǒngyún advanced a little closer
"You question me so much considering the favors you've received."
Xiéyàn narrowed his eyes.
"You always act as if you were the king's sword. but I wonder in whose scabbard you lie."
Kǒngyún's smile disappeared and was replaced by a
"Careful, Xiéyàn. Swords break."
The air crackled with something unspoken. Power. Threat. A history neither dared reveal.
Then Kǒngyún turned and vanished into the darkness as a ghost would.
"And don't forget. dead men tell no truths."
Lightning cracked the skies.
The Sky Prison was as frigid as death. Two cells. Separated by a partition thinner than a breath. (After being tutored by Xiéyàn men)
Su Shu winced as chains closed over her ankles, her breath misting in the cold.
Languidly he leaned against the stone in the next cell, the drying blood on his lip.
I'm
".Still alive?" He sounded raspy and low. Almost taunting.
Su Shu closed her eyes and whispered through the wall.
"Was concern in your tone or disappointment I'm still alive?"
He chuckled low and darkly.
"Depends. Do you intend stabbng me in my sleep once more?"
Her fingers touched the wall between them.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Bleeding for me."
A beat of silence. Yǔlín's tone then softened and became lower.
"You're the first person who ever entered my room. and left it in chains."-yulin
"You're the first man who ever bound me and left me desiring even more answers."- sushu
Both of them halted. The stress between the stone appeared to throb.
Then Yǔlín said softly
You shouldn't have come here thinking you would be able to kill a level 8 demon lord . You should've fled. I came for justice "No," he whispered. "You did it for revenge." Her voice broke. "And you. why did you not let them take me?" Another silence. Yǔlín moved in close toward the wall, lips at a whisper-level. "Because when everyone in the world wanted to see you burn. I didn't." Resting her head on the wall, she said, "And now we burn together." Two shadows and two hearts. Separated by stone and linked by destiny. And above them, somewhere in the palace corridors—they were already being forgotten.