Lunar New Year (IV)

It's so astonishing,

The starlights are glimmering,

The revelations were surprising,

I want to do the killing.

***

THE YEAR 1904, a century away from the present time.

"Who is her?! Answer me!" Althea shrieked as Qing Long looked down while licking his lips. He shook his head as Althea removed her hands from her knees and knelt down closely to Qing Long. He was breathing in a fast way and he did not know what to do. He swallowed as he was forced to say it. Her eyes were searching into him.

"It's you. Fang Ying Yue, the youngest daughter of the Fang Clan, and the destined queen of the Crown Prince, Li Lei Jie," Qing Long explained as she swallowed and was confused. She gripped her satin robes as she tilted her head to one side while she leisurely thinks about what she will do. She shook her head as she could not believe what she had heard.

She stood up and tried to walk out of the house but Qing Long quickly grabbed a hold of her wrists. She turned her head around and was surprised to see Qing Long's face close to her. She immediately pushed her as she was hitching her breath, fast as the wind, as she shook her head and doesn't want to believe that her name was Fang Ying Yue.

Qing Long grabbed a hold of her shoulders forcefully and raised his voice, "Listen to me!"

Althea was puzzled and devastated by the revelation at the same time while she looked up at Qing Long. He swallowed as he gritted his teeth while he looked down and mumbled, "That's why I don't want you to come down on the cave. This is what you will have to face yourself."

Althea licked her lips as she furrowed her eyebrows and removed Qing Long's hands from her shoulders in an abashed way. The light that was passing through the window was the only source of glimpse that can be seen from the outside, the rest was succumbing to darkness. The two of them were the only one inside, and Althea's tears could not be seen.

"So how can you explain the one where I am wearing my clothes and I just fell down from the Yangtze River? Hmm? How could you explain the one I was wearing?" Althea said while her eyes were shooting up daggers. Qing Long sighed as he doesn't have any choice to say it in front of her.

"Let's talk outside---"

"No. I want you to reveal everything here! Say everything here that belongs to my life!" Althea shouted as it resonated all over the corners of the abandoned house while she was waiting for Qing Long to explain everything. Qing Long stated, "You were missing for months. So that's why the Crown Prince must had been surprised to see you here and even..."

Althea furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "Missing for months? It's the first time I had been here."

"You will never know. I know what happened to you and why you're here. But first, you have to deal with the Crown Prince himself. He is your destined King. He will be the one you should marry," Qing Long explained as Althea shook her head.

"I don't want to marry someone whom I didn't know. Why should I do that?" Althea snapped as Qing Long looked at the other side and grabbed her arms. Althea tried to wriggle her arms from his grasp but Qing Long tightened his grip. Althea was surprised with that hard but gentle squeeze that she stopped from unclasping.

"You need to listen to me. You are Fang Ying Yue, although I didn't know your name for today. If you were going to be against the rules of your family, the Fang Clan will kill you," Qing Long whispered cautiously as he looked at the window, maybe checking if there was someone that was eavesdropping on them.

"The Fang Clan... will... kill me?" Althea's fear rose from her veins as she did not know what to feel. She swallowed as she licked her lips while Qing Long was searching in his eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows and regretted to say anymore. But he needs to do it. He needs to warn Althea of what is coming.

"What's your name?" Qing Long asked it after several hours of seeing her. Althea looked up at him as Qing Long was starting to get dreary by the name that he would hear.

"Althea Xi. Althea Xi is my real name," Althea didn't bother to convey it as Qing Long's jaw dropped on the floor. The love of her life, Julissa, was going to be reborn with a name of Althea Xi, as far as he could remember with the shaman that had always been by his side, predicting his fortunes and bad luck. Althea Xi's soul was now lingering around Fang Ying Yue's body, and he just realized it until now. He doesn't have the time to see what Fang Ying Yue's body and face looked like, but he was surprised to hear the soul's name.

Qing Long realized what it means. Althea Xi's soul accompanied the Destined Queen's body, in which inclined on dying once again with a fire arrow embers on her heart. Althea Xi scrutinized his pupils for a long time. He closed his eyes for a second as a bloody mess of a woman's body thrown back on his sight.

He opened it once again as Althea was standing at the door, with bloodshot eyes, scrutinizing every move. He will keep his mouth shut until the time has come. Qing Long clenched his jaw as Althea was being inquisitive, saying, "What it can do by saying my real name? I am not Fang Ying Yue or even the Julissa that you were saying earlier."

Qing Long clenched his jaw as he looked straight at her eyes and indicated, "I'll explain to you everything that I need to, but first, you have to show up yourself in the middle of the crowd, with your hair loose, and introduce yourself to them. You need to reveal yourself once again, Your Highness."

Althea was astonished by what he said, and Qing Long bowed down his head completely.