The imperial garden was unusually lively the next morning.
Petals drifted lazily through the air, carried by a warm breeze, and a group of palace maids rushed to tidy up the walkway before a young woman in pale lavender robes could step on them.
"Do I look like I'll faint if I step on dirt?" she asked dryly, brushing them aside with her sleeve.
"P-Princess!" the maids stammered, bowing.
Jin Xuan Yue's younger sister, Jin Mei, rolled her eyes and marched on.
Sharp, clever, and notoriously untameable, Princess Jin Mei had returned from her spiritual training in the Eastern Mountains. And she was already bored out of her mind.
"Has my brother turned into a statue yet or is he still breathing and being cold at people?"
From behind a plum tree, Rui Shen peeked out, chewing something sticky.
"Still breathing. Still cold. Still handsome enough to cause droughts."
"Oh, it's you." Jin Mei crossed her arms. "Didn't the elders send you to reflect in isolation last month?"
"They did. I reflected. I came back. Got hungry."
"You're impossible."
"And you're still short."
She lunged to hit him, but he darted away, laughing. "You missed me. Admit it!"
"Only like I miss a thorn in my boot."
---
Meanwhile, inside the training pavilion, Jin Xuan Yue stood shirtless, training with his glaive.
The blade spun in perfect arcs, catching the sunlight like fire.
From the shadows, Li Hua watched — silent. He was stronger than she remembered. Colder too. But his eyes still carried that unspoken grief… and the burn of longing.
Her hand tightened on her sleeve.
He suddenly turned.
"You watch me a lot."
She straightened. "Perhaps I admire fine form."
He raised an eyebrow. "Flattery? Or reconnaissance?"
"You think highly of yourself, my lord."
"And you think you're still hidden," he said, stepping toward her. "But something about you doesn't want to be."
---
Back in the palace courtyard, Jin Mei and Rui Shen had started arguing over who would win in a duel: a thunder beast or a fire fox.
"I'd pick the fox," Rui grinned. "Nine tails? That's like nine lives, right?"
"You'd pick the fox because she reminds you of that maid you were staring at yesterday."
"Me? Staring?" He feigned shock. "Impossible. I was... observing."
---
That evening, Li Hua stood under the moonlight, staring up at the stars.
A thousand years, and yet my heart still pulls toward him.
But just as she turned to leave, she saw something carved onto the back of the stone pillar near his training ground.
A simple word.
"Yue."
And beneath it, almost invisible…
"Come back to me."