~~~七~~~

~~~过去的表面~~~

Almost two months had passed since the foreigners' first successful mission. The Winter Festival came and went as did the celebration for the new year. It was still considered late winter but the sun was already starting to shine brighter and all royals would be called back to the palace.

'It's coming up on my... No, on Xuělián's birthday again,' the Seventh Princess thought as she sat at her desk with multiple lavender colored envelopes in front of her. Each one had the names of the different exchange students on them with a small drawing of a lotus in the bottom right corner. 'No doubt the empress will be trying to find me suitors at the banquet.'

A small groan left her lips as she slumped over the wooden surface, causing her serpentine companion to perk up. Dàoyì was at his afternoon training at the moment so it was just the Soul Maiden and the Iron-Throated Devil left in the flat.

"Oh well," the nineteen, almost twenty-year-old, sighed as she cracked her back over the back of her chair. She then stood up and picked up the banquet invitations. "I doubt most of the nobles can beat me in a fight anyway, so I shouldn't be too concerned. They're all too arrogant to fight properly."

As the princess prepared to leave her flat, she allowed the serpent to drape over her shoulders before slipping on the correct shoes to match her hanfu. Purple eyes then scanned the rest of the flat before stepping onto the magic circle with feather-soft steps.

Upon reaching the first floor of the tower, the woman looked down at the invitations in her hand before turning to walk towards the training grounds. She was supposed to meet with the First Princess at the front gates so they could return to the palace together, but she wanted to give out the invitations first.

Almost no one noticed the female's presence when she first made it down and she was fine with that. There was a large smile on her face as she watched how much improvement he saw compared to their first day. Many of them had learned much better with the Spirit House's training system, but the one who got the most out of it was her sworn brother.

While the rest of his classmates advanced by two levels at most, Dàoyì advanced by four which put him at level sixty. With the assistance and commentary of Professor Quelm, he was able to figure out more efficient ways to use his Astral Spirit. His Astral Spirit also visually changed as the vines looked thicker and the leaves looked larger.

After a few more minutes of just watching off to the side, the woman in purple stepped forward and said, "It's good to see that everyone is working hard." All eyes focused on her. "It's quite satisfying to see all the progress."

"Your Highness, how can I help you this afternoon?" the professor asked as he turned from observing the work of the Lùsè twins. His posture was straight and he held his hands behind his back as he approached, stopping in front of her to give a salute.

"It's nothing much, Professor," she replied while holding up the lavender toned envelopes for everyone to see. She then fanned them out to display the seven names. "I just wanted to give these out before going back to the palace to prepare for my birthday."

Once they were handed out, Hǎiyáng was the first to speak upon reading the contents of the paper. "You're inviting us to your twentieth birthday banquet?" he questioned with a raised brow. "Isn't that a really important milestone in the Yín Empire?"

"Indeed that is, but we're friends aren't we?" the ravenette chuckled with a bright smile. Her eyes flicked over to her sworn brother as she continued, "It only makes sense for me to invite you to all to celebrate with us."

When the Seventh Princess finally reached the entrance to the academy, she was greeted by immediate questioning from the First Princess. She just answered with the truth of giving the exchange students invitations and the older woman just accepted it. She saw it as a way for someone of the Yín Empire to deepen relationships with ambassadors and keep the peace between empires.

The walk back to the palace was nothing special to either of them though the large block of guards around the pair did gain some attention. Out of all of the royal children, the Seventh Princess returned to the palace the least. In fact, she was the only one that lived outside of it at all.

Many of her siblings went on missions around the country but they all lived in the palace. Even the great general Yín Ryo slept in her own pavilion when she wasn't training with her troops or defending the borders.

The Shèngkāi Pavilion of Yín Xuělián would have collected dust ever since she took up the position as Soul Maiden if not for the emperor ordering the servants to keep it clean. That place was only used for the short visits she would make whenever it came time for a celebration that needed an overnight stay or longer if needed.

'Ugh, I definitely didn't miss being passive aggressively insulted by the Imperial Harem,' thought the Soul Maiden as she plopped down onto the plush bed. It was much larger than the one in her flat, but she still preferred the other one. 'San-gē better not choose an empress like any of them... this empire would go to shit.'

She had just returned from paying her respects to the empress with her sister and many of the noble consorts had been there as well. They all took the chance to comment on how simple she looked compared to many of the other noblewomen her age. It was obvious that they aimed to humiliate her, but it never worked as she just didn't care enough about their opinions of her.

The woman already had issues with her own image back when she was living as the only daughter of a single mother in the military, so this was nothing. The words of women she didn't care about weighed nothing compared to the ones she used to tell herself, but those thoughts lessened as she grew up. While she did think her current body was prettier than her previous one, she had no current complaints about her past image.

Just as she closed her eyes to drift off, the female's eyes twitched as she lifted her nose to the air. 'Peach candy and white tea,' she thought while unceremoniously rolling over to face the entrance of her room. There was a familiar silhouette standing on the other side of the screen that was in front of the open doors and she let out a chuckle.

"San-gē, what are you doing standing just outside of my door with those treats?" the ravenette called as she rose to sit at the edge of her seat. She caught the shadow shift. "One might think you're one of my servants if you keep doing that every time I return to the palace."

"Who would dare?" the male replied with a small smirk as he walked in with a tray in his hands. There was a small pot of tea, two cups, and a small dish of a certain peach jelly candy the princess was fond of. There was nothing like it back in the Jin Empire, so it was a real treat when she first tried it.

As the Crown Prince placed the tray down the low table that would be used for her meals, the ravenette stepped forward and sat at the cushion across from him. "So why exactly are you here?" she asked, just watching as steady hands poured the tea. In normal circumstances, it should have been her to do so but he was the one who came to her space. "If I got hungry, I could have just gone to the kitchen myself."

"Do I need a reason to come visit my Qī-mei who rarely comes back home?" the male retorted as he placed one of the cups of tea in front of her. His eyes flicked up to see the way she bit her lip and he let out a sigh. "I know the harem is constantly putting pressure on you, but I can guarantee that will change when I take the throne."

"San-gē, you shouldn't talk like that, even if it is technically true," the woman warned as her eyes narrowed. Her grip on her cup tightened as her eyes flicked to the entrance of her hall where servants were standing by. "If someone else were to hear, then they might use those words to make it seem like you're plotting something against the Holy Father."

She then shook her head before he could reply and continued, "But I am hoping that your actions follow your words, San-gē." Purple eyes then looked back to meet a pure blue. "Your harem, especially your empress, must have their heads screwed on straight. They can't be constantly scheming to rise in power for themselves, but they must always be thinking for the sake of the country and its imperial family."

"There's no need to be concerned, Qī-mei, I already have a good choice in mind to be my empress," Ōritsu spoke with almost no hesitation. He immediately recognized the way the female's eyes lit up as curiosity and couldn't help the way his smile fell. "Unfortunately, her background is complicated so it will take some time for marriage to be accepted by the court."

"Of course it's the court that gets in the way," she scoffed before bringing one of the candies up to her mouth. As she chewed, another question popped into her head. "Who is this lady you're interested in? I might not be favored by most of the court, but my status might be able to help her gain some support."

"You don't need to trouble yourself, Qī-mei," the noiret chuckled. He then took a sip out of his own cup. "I have a plan set in motion. It will just take some time before the desired results are reached."

'Of course, he does. That's one thing he picked up from his mother,' Xuělián thought as she continued to munch on the fruity treats between the both of them. 'How to scheme properly. It's how she was able to stay in power for so long.'

Out of the twelve legitimate children of the emperor, only the First Princess and Third Prince were birthed by the empress. The others were all children of the concubines, or in the Seventh Princess' case, adopted into the family. There were luckily no stray children of the emperor running around as he was quite loyal to his harem and always stayed focused on important affairs.

After the Crown Prince left her room, the ravenette was finally able to take a nap as she curled up around one of her pillows. She didn't feel it, but Nana grew back to her full size and coiled around her chosen mistress.

The rest of the day was spent in her room, just getting used to life in the palace again before she would join the empress and some of her older sisters in the banquet planning. The Holy Mother would usually be picking the young woman apart, but she knew that the event would be a large one to represent the imperial family. She could not afford for any part of it to be lack luster lest she be ridiculed by other noble ladies.

The same cycle of waking up, getting dressed by her servants, eating breakfast, going to the empress's pavilion to plan some more, breaking for lunch, planning, having dinner, and going to sleep continued for the next four days. On the fifth day of Xuělián's stay in the palace, she turned twenty and the banquet would take place.

As the sun crossed through the sky, the woman changed from her everyday hanfu into a more expensive set of robes. They were still a light purple color but were made of heavier fabrics and had more layers. It was tighter than her usual wear but still more comfortable than the clothes she had as a child. The outer robe had lotus flowers embroidered all over it with silver threads and was lined with white silk.

Her hair was done half up with heavy ornaments and pins to match her status as Seventh Princess and Soul Maiden. The rest of the black hair that cascaded down her back served to show that she was still unmarried. It now fell past the middle of her thighs, but rarely became tangled with how careful she was with it.

The woman had to sit through about two additional hours of skincare and makeup done by her servants, but she didn't mind it that much. Her skin was already smooth so only a thin layer of powder was used with a light pink rouge. Then, a red pigment was placed at the outer corners of her eyes and blended out before her eyes were lined with liquid kohl. Her lips were painted a deep red which stood out against her porcelain skin and the same was used to paint a red lotus just above the middle of her eyebrows.

There was a black jade bangle on her left wrist as a drop of lavender jade fell from each of her ear lobes, hanging by a piece of silver chain and hook. There was also a silver ring with a piece of moonstone decorating her left index finger, the first gift bestowed to her by the emperor.

The female's final two accessories didn't outwardly show, because she would definitely be called out by the empress, but she had them. The flower pentacle she had been given as a child rested over her heart, hiding underneath the layers she wore. The blue bell with silver stars and crescent moons was tucked into the right sleeve of her robe, close but not seen.

When the time for the banquet came around, Xuělián left her room followed by her maids. Her back was straight and her steps were light as she made her way to the main courtyard where the tables were set. Her face remained mostly neutral with a soft smile to decorate her features as she approached the festive sounds and smells.

"Announcing the arrival of the Seventh Princess of the Yín Empire, Yín Xuělián!" came the announcement from the eunuch that stood by the entrance of the courtyard.

Immediately, all conversation ceased and everyone stood up to pay respects to the royal who walked down the wide center aisle. They all saluted to her as she passed, being the last to arrive as the celebration was for her. She then stopped before the seats of the Emperor and Empress, greeting them with a salute while the servants behind her followed suit.

"Raise your head, My Child," the emperor chuckled as he came down from his seat and took the ravenette by the elbows. He then ushered her up before gesturing out at the celebration. "This is all in celebration of your twentieth year so there is no need to be as formal."

"I thank you for your words, Holy Father," she replied with a smile and respectful bow of her head before being ushered over to her seat. Purple eyes scanned the multiple tables as she went to where the rest of her siblings sat.

Many in the crowd were either those of the court or young nobles who fell into her age range. Most of them she barely recognized if not at all, but sitting right in front of her were the seven she personally invited. The ravenette's smile grew larger once she met Dàoyì's eyes while taking her seat. A small wave was exchanged between them before some guests began introducing themselves before the imperial family.

Just as she thought, the Seventh Princess noticed that there were many noblemen present. She was known to be a wallflower and she did not recognize many of them from any meetings she's attended, so she had to guess that they were invited by the empress. All of them were around her age and she caught all of their eyes drifting towards her at least once.

The Holy Mother's intentions became even more obvious when she began commenting on the males' strong points in front of the emperor. She didn't even try to be subtle when she pointed out how some traits would best suit the ravenette as a partner. In response the younger female just let out a small laugh and did not comment, knowing she would end up marrying none of them.

'I already have someone in my heart, bitch,' she internally cackled although her expression never changed. She had the same soft, practiced, smile she wore whenever she was in any official functions as her hands were resting in her lap. 'And I won't settle for anyone other than him this time around.'

After all the introductions were said and done, the banquet could officially start. Some dancers came down and began their performance in the center of the aisle with the musicians prepped off to the side. They were all wearing matching costumes with veils over the lower half of their faces, leaving only their eyes uncovered.

The woman in purple let out a small hum as she focused on the performance, thoroughly impressed by how much they could express using just their eyes. 'Damn,' she thought while taking slow sips of the water in front of her even though there was a jug of her favorite fruit wine. 'I wish I had them on my color guard team. Would've gotten gold every single time.’

Once the first dance was finished, everyone's attention was brought to Lady Miu, one of the emperor's Noble Consorts. She stood up and cleared her throat before saying, "Ever since Seventh Princess came into our family, she has been nothing but successful and so I offer up this toast!" This statement earned a raised brow from the princess as she hesitantly raised her cup of wine. "May she be blessed with longevity!"

'What the fuck are you doing?' Xuělián thought as she downed the cup of sweet liquor along with everyone else. She then offered a short thanks before another one of the consorts stood up and did the same. 'Y'all don't even like me. What the fuck?'

This started a chain with all of the remaining nine consorts paying compliments to the young woman and prompting her to drink more and more until it came up to the empress. She wore a smile on her face, but amusement was shining in her eyes as she looked to the Seventh Princess' flushed face. Delicate hands with perfectly manicured nails then raised up her own cup as the owner said, "The Seventh Princess Xuělián has made many advancements and has even earned the honor of becoming one of the five Soul Maidens of Yín Elite Academy."

The ravenette was barely listening anymore as she began channeling some of her spiritual energy to dilute the alcohol in her system. The peach wine she had was a lighter drink but she already had a lot of it. She knew that some worried eyes were already focused on her as her alcohol tolerance was not up to par with the rest of the imperial family, but she didn't let it get to her.

"May this daughter of mine be blessed with everlasting success!" the blonde cheered before throwing back her drink. No one noticed the small smirk on her lips as she watched the ravenette struggle to do the same.

As the cheers died down the dancers were about to continue when one of the noblemen stood up from his seat. He then bowed respectfully before saying something that almost made the female snort, but she still had enough self control to hold back.

"Seventh Princess Xuělián, I know this is ambitious of me to say in this setting, but I have admired you for a long time now and would like to ask for your hand in marriage," declared the male, earning multiple reactions from those in the banquet.

Whispers began floating around the guests as they waited for a response. The empress lifted a sleeve to cover the lower half of her face, but those in the family knew she was smiling. The younger royal children were laughing to themselves as were some of the older ones.

The man who had spoken up seemed to ignore the two sets of eyes that bore holes straight through his form as he focused on the princess. Much to his surprise, it wasn't her that replied but the emperor. He then began to reiterate his decree regarding the matter of her suitors, but she wasn't paying attention anymore.

Purple eyes were aimed down at her table as the female thought, 'So that's what they were planning.' She just slowly blinked down in front of her, not looking up to meet the worried blue eyes she could feel. 'They wanted to get me drunk so when he challenged me I would be at a disadvantage.'

'How fun,' she continued before turning back to the words of the local ruler. Her head turned to the ruling pair with an unchanged expression. 'The one thing the imperial harem can agree on is the want of my downfall.'

"It's quite inappropriate to have this kind of match during my daughter's birthday banquet. Is it not?" Yín Akuma spoke with a strained chuckle. The veins on his hands became visible as his grip on his water cup tightened.

"Your Majesty, it is part of both of their rights," the empress retorted with a fluttering giggle. Her eyes met her husband's with an innocent smile. "And it would be an insult to Young Master Wen if we didn't give him his chance. Would it not?"

Just before the male could reply, the Seventh Princess stood up and said, "Holy Mother is correct." The statement shocked many of those who were on good terms with the princess as they knew of the ongoing disputes between the two women. Yín Yūrei's eyes narrowed by a fraction as the younger royal slowly stood up from her seat and continued, "It would be unfair if you weren't given a chance so let us have our bout. I believe it would also provide some decent entertainment for our guests."

As the ravenette began walking down to the aisle, she was stopped by a larger hand holding onto her wrist. Looking back she was met with the concerned gaze of the Crown Prince. His eyes scanned her smaller form before saying, "Qī-mei, you've had too much to drink tonight. This isn't a good idea." The only response he was given was a reassuring smile before she gently removed his hand and made her way to face her opponent.

From where he sat with his classmates, Dàoyì's hands clenched around his knees as he watched how slowly she was moving. There was less grace than how she normally walked and she seemed to struggle to keep her straight posture. 'How does she expect herself to fight like this?' he thought as the opponents bowed and acknowledged each other. 'Her level may be high, but if her physical state is buffered...'

Meanwhile, the woman in purple was internally plotting how she would play this out. As she walked to one end of the aisle she thought, 'My clothes are restricting and I'm slightly intoxicated so that's bad for me.' Her eyes showed no emotion as she turned around to scan the noble. 'And he's at level seventy-eight so that gives him a chance to overpower me with my current disadvantages if the battle is drawn out... I should find a way to end this quickly.'

As the ravenette let her hands fall back to her sides, the sleeves fell down to cover them. When they were completely hidden, she used her thumbnail to slice small cuts across her middle fingers to draw some blood. Letting the liquid bead at her fingertips, she then looked up and said, "Young Master Wen, the first move is yours."

"As Your Highness wishes," the male chuckled before summoning his Astral Spirit. A golden aura was emitted from his form before condensing in his hands as an extravagant spear.

He then lunged forward with a battle cry, signaling the start of the battle. In his adrenaline-fueled haze, he, along with most of the audience, didn't notice the red needles that pierced his wrists when the princess flicked her hands out.

'Drawing from the elements of Water and Fire: Boil!'

Everyone watched with bated breath as the male stopped at about an arm's length from the woman before collapsing to his knees and crying out in pain. His weapon dissipated back into energy before it even had a chance to hit the ground as he cradled his hands to his chest.

"Apologies, Young Master Wen," she stated while stepping forward. She then knelt down before the male and gently took his wrists. "It appears that the energy I used two needles was more than I anticipated. Please forgive my misjudgment, but I guess it is hard to precisely control spiritual energy when you're intoxicated."

'Drawing from the element of Water: Frost.'

There was a small purple glow in her hands as the female held them over where the needles entered and the range of effect of her spell. The area immediately began to cool down and eventually numbed as she explained that the pain would disappear in a few hours.

The blue haired foreigner let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the almost immediate results of the match. He definitely caught onto what the adopted royal pulled as he had watched her cast the same spell multiple times as children. It was one of her hidden weapons and extremely reliable when the opponent made the mistake of underestimating her abilities.

Many people would have been horrified to find the truth behind this spell of hers, but the female honestly didn't care. Everything was a weapon when used in the correct manner and she would take advantage of it. She especially didn't like to carry unnecessary items along with her, so using her own blood as a weapon just made sense in her mind.

After the energy of the battle died down a bit, Xuělián, found herself sitting back at her seat again as she slowly sipped on some water. The banquet returned back to normal and she soon found herself becoming bored. The gifts that were presented to her were nice but she wanted nothing more than to be rid of the heavier clothing and just have some quiet, but life rarely ever was.

Towards the end of the banquet, the woman was about to turn to the emperor for permission to dismiss herself when one of the eunuchs announced the arrival of one last guest. Purple eyes lazily turned to the entrance of the courtyard only for their owner's breath to catch in her throat. At that moment, the Seventh Princess was no longer Dōng or Yín Xuělián, but Mina Von Astra.

The man that had just walked down the aisle to salute the imperial family had the exact same face and build as the one who had killed her. It was dark in that alley when she was walking back to the party, but she remembered the cold steel eyes of the one who had caused her painful demise.

All noise around her turned to static as only one thought circulated through her head. 'Run. Leave. You need to leave! Now!'

Sharp blue eyes took immediate notice of the woman's state. How she immediately froze the moment her eyes caught the newcomer's form. How her hands began to shake around her cup as her eyes dilated. He was about to try and get her attention when the ravenette shook her head.

It seemed that she had snapped out of it somewhat as she tucked her hands back into her sleeves and stood up to face the Holy Father. There was a still practiced smile on her face but even from his seat, her sworn brother could see that she was shaken up.

As soon as she got the permission of the emperor, the woman swiftly took her leave from the grand event with her servants in tow. When they were far enough away from the venue, she dismissed all of them; although, it took a few tries as they were insistent on staying by her side. She then kept walking through the darkened pathways of the palace, doing her best to blink back tears as her chest began to burn.

'No. Stop it,' she thought as flashes of that night ran through her head. She could remember what song she was listening to when she stormed out of the house. 'That's enough.' She could feel the chill of the late winter breeze of San Diego. 'Stop it!' She could feel the hand around her throat as she was slammed against the alley wall. 'I don't want to remember this!' She could hear her bones crack as her assailant stomped down in her wrist.

A cry left the woman's quivering lips as her knees gave out and she crumpled down in front of the koi pond in the courtyard of the abandoned pavilion. Her fingers dug into the dirt as her vision blurred from tears that had just begun to escape.

"Stop it," the female pleaded to herself. Her shoulders began to shake as she lowered her head to the ground and curled in on herself. "I thought I was done with this already... You died, get over it..."

She didn't know how long she stayed like that. Just crying as the memory played on repeat in her head, but she did remember being gently pulled out of her shell and into a source of warmth. The female's arms immediately wrapped back around them as she buried her face into the figure's chest.

The ravenette's keen hearing caught onto a familiar voice cooing comforting words as a warm hand pet the back of her head. The warm scent of lavender and sandalwood entered her nose as she melted into the male's warm embrace. As she craned her head up, purple eyes took in the boyish features of her sworn brother.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked as they both shifted into a more comfortable position. Sat with his back against a nearby rock so she could lay against his chest with his arms wrapped around her and the rest of her body sitting between his legs.

"I don't know if you'd believe me even if I did start talking about it," the female replied with a sardonic chuckle. Low purrs escaped her form as her human pillow began removing her hair ornaments one by one before running his fingers through her silky locks.

“You know I’d believe almost anything you told me, especially if it got this kind of reaction from you,” he stated before letting out a sigh. His free hand then came up to wipe away any stray tears. “But there’s only one way to find out if it’s really a concern to you.”

Xuělián was silent for a few moments, just staring up and searching his eyes for anything that she could take as a sign to back off only to find none. She then let out a sigh before resting her head back on his chest and asked, “Do you believe in the existence of other universes, Dào-gē?”

“I... guess I do, but what does that have to do with this?” the blue haired male responded after a few moments of careful thought. He held the female close and gentle as if she were a porcelain doll that might shatter at any second.

“Would you believe me if I said that I was from one of them?” she continued in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Her eyes were half-lidded and not looking up at him but at the ground. “A world completely different, completely separate from this one?”

Upon being met with silence, the ravenette let out another empty laugh before continuing, “I mean, I know it sounds insane, but it’s true. I actually lived in a world full of electronics and technology instead of magic.” Her heart felt heavy as she reminisced on her previous life. “I was born with the name Mina Von Astra and I lived like an absolute asshole.”

The next hour was spent describing various aspects of the world she had known. From her experiences as a child before she moved to the violent divorce of her parents. The friends she lost and the ones that stuck with her through everything. She described the shitty school system that she was forced to endure up until the day she died.

As the female went on to describe how she died she didn’t hold back. Every single thing she could remember was brought to light with a straight face. It still hurt to recall, but she was too tired at this point for any more crying. She couldn’t dwell on it when she wasn’t even the same person anymore.

“So I freaked out because that man had the exact same face as the one who killed me,” she explained, finally looking up at her companion. His expression had turned sour at the vivid narration of her murder and she let out a sigh. “I admit that it was kind of childish but unfortunately, trauma doesn’t just wash away. It just hides and lingers until it doesn’t hurt as bad anymore.”

The silence of the male concerned the woman until he hugged her tighter, brought her closer to him, and whispered apologies into her ear. He apologized for all of the struggles she’s been through, for not realizing something this big sooner. The last thing he apologized for was not being there for her when she was suffering from something so impactful, but she was quick to tell him otherwise.

From the very moment they met, Dàoyì had always been saving Xuělián. He made sure that the girl was never by herself and that she had a helping hand even when no one else would look at her. He endured her strange mannerisms and schemes and even helped her with them. He was a support beam for her even before they separated. This just reminded her of that; and now that they were together again, she was determined to be the same for him.

~~~Fin. Chapter 7~~~