The Second Parting

The rain was falling softly.

The blonde girl stood blankly in the rain, the raindrops sliding across her fair skin, meandering down along her delicate collarbone, sliding over her undulating curves, and finally dripping from her pair of snow-white toes and melting into the wet ground.

She tilted her head back just so, letting the relentless rain drench her long hair.

A hazy mist clouded her eyes, her long lashes heavy with moisture, resting like the delicate wings of a butterfly.

She surrendered to the rain’s embrace, allowing it to saturate her hair, as though only this chilling baptism could clear the throbbing haze from her mind.

This solitary drop of water, guided by the moon’s ethereal glow, would eventually merge with the vast ocean.

Yet, where was the girl named Chris to find her own destination?

Her home, her true haven, had vanished forevermore.

Throughout her life, Chris had endured two profound partings.

The first, however, had left little impression upon her.

It had been years prior, when she was separated from her birth family.

Despite her status as a princess, she had been the youngest of them all.

She held no recollection of her father, and even her mother remained a dim, indistinct memory.

Even so, she still clung to the very last words her mother had ever spoken to her.

“Live.”

There had been no explanation, merely that stark command to live. But what purpose did mere survival hold?

Following that day, she never saw her mother again.

She had attempted to grieve, yet the relentless weight of life had ultimately forced those sorrows into oblivion.

Later still, an all-encompassing happiness had embraced her, capable of dissolving every past sorrow. No matter where she was, she felt cocooned in a gentle, comforting warmth.

There, her sister was by her side, and he was there too.

That man, though a bit slow-witted, often oblivious to others’ feelings, and utterly clueless when it comes to charming women—how could she possibly have fallen for someone like him?

How could she… how could she not love him!

He was an idiot… a complete fool.

Fool.

And yet…

He was Chris’s singular sun, the true haven of her heart, her entire world.

She yearned to offer him her everything, yet he never once allowed Chris the opportunity to give her all.

He stubbornly shouldered every burden himself, as if his own life held no value.

How could she possibly not adore such a man!

The second parting she endured was a rupture so profound it threatened to tear apart her very being.

As she watched his figure grow increasingly gaunt, Chris was plagued by countless selfish impulses.

To whisk him away, to control him, to prevent him from ever leaving her side.

She understood her master’s gentle nature, and thus, she intended to control everything for him. Unappealing girls could simply be discarded. Peculiar women should be kept far away.

She had even been plied with drink by Noyu, emboldening her to reach out to her master.

Yet, her sister had intervened that time, and she ultimately failed to realize her deepest desire.

Even at the very end, her master still believed her to be a pure and good child.

But she wasn’t. She was anything but!

As for farewells, they had already been spoken.

On that day, her master’s body could no longer bear his weight. He gently summoned Chris to his bedside.

“Chris, I have nothing left to give you.”

“However, I can still grant you one final wish now.”

Tears blurring her vision, Chris clutched desperately at his frail body.

“Then stay with me forever! Didn’t we promise to die together? Don’t be so selfish, please! Promise me!”

“Didn’t we agree?”

She collapsed onto Mingqian’s chest, her sobs finally uncontrollable.

Chris was utterly unable to accept Mingqian’s death, yet she had desperately wanted to avoid shedding tears before him, to conceal her vulnerability.

If she had done so… wouldn’t she have seemed just like a child?

But only now, in this moment, did she feel it was acceptable to be a child.

All she desired was to remain there, feeling his warmth, his fading breath, clinging tightly to his body.

If she were merely a child, would she then be spared the agony of parting?

If that were the case, she would only wish for time to freeze eternally at the precise moment they had first met.

The girl named Chris, having been saved by a certain man in years past, had decided then and there to dedicate her very heart to him.

That unwavering resolve had not faltered, even to this day.

What she had received was far more profound than what anyone else possessed, and what she pondered was a sentiment universally shared.

She was both a witch who obeyed her master’s every command and the sovereign of her own will.

She had arrived at this juncture by the strength of her own will, and on this one point, she was convinced she would yield to no one.

Her love was higher than the mountains, deeper than the seas! More steadfast than anyone else’s, it was a brilliant, magnificent treasure!

Compared to that woman—no, compared to anyone—her devotion was in no way inferior.

Just as her master had once declared, if he were to die tomorrow, she would end her own life today.

Taking her own life might prove somewhat complicated, but she merely needed to convince her sister.

She lifted her tear-blurred eyes, gazing at Mingqian.

Mingqian offered a faint smile.

“I forbid you to die, above all others.”

“I wouldn’t even say this to Aile. Chris, you must live.”

“When the sun rises, simply forget about me.”

“Why! How can this be! Is she truly that special? So special that you…”

“Chris.”

“I will not let her go! I will kill her, even if she…”

“Chris.”

“Don’t call my name! I forbid it, I absolutely forbid you, you great deceiver, from uttering my name! The name Chris was bestowed upon me by the one I deeply love. Are you now demanding that I abandon him?!”

“You cannot!”

“Chris, listen to me.”

She bit down hard on her lip.

“Chris, this is my final command.”

Chris kept her head bowed, refusing to meet Mingqian’s gaze.

It would likely be some command to aid Aile, wouldn’t it? He was, after all, such a cruel and ruthless man, yet one whose tenderness knew no bounds.

How could she possibly bear to refuse him?

“You must live freely.”

These words caused Chris to freeze, utterly stunned.

Her mouth fell open, yet no sound escaped her lips.

“You are the one I worry about most. You must live well, and then forget about me.”

“Let me touch your heads one last time. Eliza, Chris is still young; you must not listen to her pleas.”

“If you do not die, she cannot die. This is my final command to you.”

Eliza offered no further words; she had always been a steadfast child.

“Yes.”

“This contract is the one by which I first acquired you both. Now, I wish to burn it, yet my body can no longer move.”

“Chris, I give it to you. This is the only thing I have left to offer.”

Chris did not burn it.

“Fool.”

“I… I so desperately wanted to be with you forever.”

****

In a daze, the rain parted around her body. Chris lifted her head, and Eliza’s figure materialized beside her.

“Chris? Are you tormenting yourself again?”

Her inability to save her master had become Chris’s self-imposed penance.

In the days that followed, everything about her had grown ambiguous and indistinct; only physical pain could still assure her that she truly lived.

“Sister, I…”

Chris opened her mouth, intending to speak.

But she ultimately remained silent. After Master’s passing, Eliza had not shed a single tear.

She had wept alone for three days and three nights, until her tears had completely run dry. She knew, with chilling certainty, that joy would forever be beyond her grasp in this lifetime.

She couldn’t comprehend how her sister could remain so composed.

Chris’s gaze evoked a wave of helplessness in Eliza.

After a lengthy pause for deliberation, Eliza finally spoke, her voice measured.

“Actually, there’s something that has always troubled me.”

“Something?”

“Indeed. It’s something Master kept mentioning. Chris, your mind should be calmer; you ought to realize it yourself.”

“…!”

Chris’s eyes suddenly brightened, and she spoke with a hint of caution:

“He wanted us to forget him?”

Eliza offered a soft smile:

“Precisely. While such a statement isn’t inherently strange, if it truly were death, he could simply have told us not to mourn him.”

“Could it be?!”

“Heh, exactly. Though this is merely a deduction, if you consider it closely, Master exhibited many peculiar traits, didn’t he?”

Chris pondered for a moment before speaking:

“For instance, despite being a Duke, he knew little of etiquette. Despite his immense wealth, he warned us not to be swindled by ‘little yellow hairs’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term referring to young, inexperienced, or often mischievous individuals who might try to cheat or take advantage of others). And despite…”

There were countless other such inconsistencies.

Eliza’s gaze drifted towards the moon.

“Most importantly, I once glimpsed that diary of his, and the language written within was unlike anything I had ever encountered. It was as if… as if he did not belong to this world at all.”

Chris nodded, a spark igniting within her. No matter how remote the hope, she was willing to grasp it and test its veracity.

“Let’s go, Sister! If this is true, then Master must undoubtedly be waiting for us somewhere.”

In that instant, Chris’s purpose was rekindled, her path illuminated anew.

“This time… this time, I will never again entrust you to any strange woman.”