The fortress courtyard had grown colder after the audience ended and the tea room was deserted.
Not just in temperature—but in the space she left behind.
Mingyu stood on the upper steps of the southern gallery, watching the last traces of her white fur cloak vanish behind the inner gates. She didn't look back as Shadow padded behind her, followed closely by Shi Yaozu. Mingyu wasn't blind to the glares his shadow guard had sent toward the Crown Prince of Baiguang during the exchange.
That look had turned lethal when Li Xuejian had called Xinying a monster.
When Xinying was finally out of sight, Mingyu turned around and faced the rival nation's Crown Prince.
Li Xuejian had remained by the stone table, his fingertips still brushing the rim of the teacup he'd left behind. He didn't seem concerned by the visible guards above or the invisible ones he had to have known were still in the room.
