The sociopathic prince stared at the dancing boy, completely hypnotized, entirely broken by the raw, bleeding vulnerability she was displaying for the world to see.
'Who broke you?' Yichen thought, his nails digging into the wood of the table. 'What sorrow are you carrying that I cannot see?'
Ji'an spun, the silver blade slicing through the air with a sudden, rising intensity. The tempo increased.
The grief was transitioning into the desperate, agonizing struggle to survive. To keep fighting when all hope was lost.
And then, a sound joined the blade.
It was a single, piercing, impossibly pure note of music.
A flute.
Ji'an didn't stop dancing, but her eyes flicked toward the dais.
Standing beside the primary table, having descended from his seat without anyone noticing, was Vanguard Commander Lin Feng.
He held a pure white jade flute to his lips. His dark eyes were locked entirely on Ji'an.
Lin Feng didn't ask for permission to join.
