The moonlight lingered in Lady Shen's chamber long after the festival ended. Yun stood at the threshold, torn between the warmth of what they had shared and the cold weight of what awaited them. The lanterns had carried their unspoken vow into the sky—but here, behind closed doors, truth still had to be faced.
Lady Shen untied her silver hairpins one by one, her fingers trembling ever so slightly. Her back was to him, but Yun didn't miss the slight hitch in her breath.
"We crossed a line tonight," she said softly.
He stepped closer. "And do you regret it?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she turned to him, her eyes shadowed. "I regret that we live in a world where what we feel is seen as a sin."
Yun reached for her hand, holding it gently. "Then let them be wrong."
But even as he said it, he knew it wasn't that simple. He had spent years building a man out of fire and vengeance. Yet here he was, unraveling before a woman who wasn't meant to be his.
"You have the ledger," she whispered. "You could expose Li Chen tonight."
"I could," Yun said, releasing her hand. "But it wouldn't be enough. Not yet."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
"The right memory."
Her brows furrowed.
He pulled a thin slip of parchment from within his sleeve.
"I found it in one of the old scroll rooms," he said. "My mother's personal journal. Or what's left of it."
Lady Shen stepped forward, carefully taking the aged paper. Her eyes scanned the faded ink:
'The boy grows strong. He carries more fire than his father ever dared. I fear the clan will see his light too soon. Shen has agreed to hide the sigil… but how long can we keep it from them?'
Lady Shen's breath caught.
"She wrote this..."
"She trusted you," Yun said. "Even then."
Lady Shen folded the paper slowly, holding it close. "I only ever wanted to protect you."
"And now I have to protect you."
Yun's voice cracked with the force of the words. His hand reached out, brushing her cheek—not with desire, but with desperate tenderness.
She closed her eyes. "They'll come for you, Yun. You're stepping into the same fire your mother tried to shield you from."
"I've already burned."
By morning, he was gone.
Lady Shen awoke to find his robe missing from the screen, his scent fading from the silk cushion beside her balcony seat. He had left no note, no goodbye.
Only a single lotus petal on her writing desk.
She crushed it in her palm, heart pounding.
Yun strode through the outer courtyard dressed as a merchant's apprentice, the sigil beneath his tunic glowing faintly. The sky was gray, and the ground was slick with morning dew.
He met Jian, an old retainer of his mother, outside the stables.
"You're certain about this?" Jian asked.
"I have to find out what happened the night before she died. The full truth."
"The Estate records were sealed."
"Then we unseal them."
Jian passed him a key. "The vault under the Jade Chamber. You'll need to hurry. Li Chen's men have been watching it for weeks."
Yun nodded and disappeared into the fog.
Back in the main estate, Lady Shen faced her own interrogation.
Li Chen appeared in her corridor with a smile too thin to be trusted.
"Good morning, sister-in-law."
She turned from her garden scrolls calmly. "You're up early."
He gestured to the courtyard. "The moon festival stirred many things. Rumors, for one."
"Rumors are wind. They pass."
"Do they?" His eyes narrowed. "Some winds burn."
Lady Shen didn't flinch. "Then perhaps it's time someone opened a window."
Li Chen stepped closer. "He's becoming reckless. If you don't rein him in, he'll destroy everything."
"I'm not his keeper," she said. "Nor am I yours."
For a beat, Li Chen said nothing.
Then he leaned close. "Be careful, Shen. There are things worse than exile."
She held his gaze. "Yes. Like betrayal dressed in loyalty."
He left without another word.
In the Jade Chamber's cellar, Yun moved silently between shelves of scrolls and ledgers, each one thick with dust and time.
He found what he was looking for in a hidden drawer, sealed in wax.
Breaking it open, he pulled free a scroll marked in his mother's handwriting.
Attendance Records — House Meeting, Year of the Serpent.
It listed everyone who had been present the night before she died.
All the names he expected—Li Chen, the patriarch, senior elders.
But one name stood out.
Lady Shen.
His hands trembled.
She had been there?
Why had she never told him?
Before he could read further, footsteps echoed down the stone stairs.
He stuffed the scroll into his satchel and vanished into the shadows.
By evening, Yun returned to the garden.
Lady Shen stood at the koi pond, feeding the fish. Her hands were still.
"You left without telling me," she said without turning.
"I found something."
She turned now, slowly, her expression unreadable.
"You were there the night she died," Yun said.
Lady Shen closed her eyes.
"Yes."
"You never said."
"Because I was afraid you'd never forgive me."
"Tell me what happened."
She stepped forward. "I was summoned to convince her to sign away your inheritance. They said it would protect you. That the Flame Sigil was too dangerous."
"And did she sign it?"
Lady Shen's voice broke. "No. She refused. And the next morning... she was gone."
Yun stared at her. "You let them threaten her."
"I tried to stop them. But I was too late."
Silence fell like a blade between them.
Finally, he whispered, "I don't know what hurts more. That you were there. Or that you kept it from me."
Lady Shen reached for him.
He pulled back.
But he didn't leave.