Storytime

"He was old when he passed. Even if someone hadn't killed him, he wouldn't have had many years to live anyway." Kesi's voice was eerie, a mere whisper. "But his son wanted him dead."

Although it had been countless years ago, or perhaps it should have been considered many years later into the future, she could still feel the coldness from the metal axe handle seep through her fingertips.

"And so he died."

Her final words on the matter sealed the conversation, marking it done.

She didn't want to dwell on this mission. It was by far one of the bloodiest, and frankly, one of the tasks that she had hated the most in her previous life.

For a moment, Mu Luming and A'Hong silently stared at her.

A little light squeeze on her hands sent her spiraling back to reality, and she looked up to see Mu Luming's concerned glance.

"That's how all the stories go, isn't it?" Sensing that she had accidentally spoken too much, Kesi tried to hide her true emotions with a bitter smile.

"Yeah! And I'm guessing that it was a mere prank done by one of his friends!" Mu Luming suddenly interjected himself into the conversation. "His friend probably dumped pork blood all over him and then waved a kitchen knife above his head to scare him."

Beaming, he pranced around the room, picking up a piece of rusted copper and hovering it above Kesi's head. "Like that!"

She swiped at it, a chastising look on her face. Snatching it from his tiny hands, she instead half-heartedly lunged for him with it.

He cocked his head to the side, slightly rocking his upper body from side to side in feigned excitement. After a slight pause, he added, "How did the two of you like my version of the story?"

He pursed his lips, wriggling an eyebrow at Kesi as he signaled for her to pick up the act as well. "What do you think, oh wise Nanny Rong?"

"Oh, Your Highness's version is much more superior to Your Humble Servant's."

In mock appeasement of Mu Luming, Kesi purposefully raised her voice up an octave, stretching her vocal cords so that the words came out as a little squeal. She rolled her eyes, double-checking that A'Hong wasn't looking up to see the sight of utter disrespect to a member of the royal family.

"Your Humble Servant wishes that she could be as creative as you."

Ever single one of her words were seeped with sarcasm. Despite the sarcasm in her words, she had to admit that she wanted to believe Mu Luming's obviously fake excuse.

Whether it was for the sake of playing along Mu Luming's act to pacify A'Hong or for the purpose of dulling the memory from her own mind, more than anything, she desperately wanted to believe that the gory images that flashed before her mind were only pieces from stories.

"A'Hong, I think that your story is a bit boring now in comparison. Would you like to add any details to it to make it more exciting?" Mu Luming snaked a little arm around A'Hong's shoulders. "How about some fire? A dragon?"

Sensing no response, he added, "Or a fire breathing dragon! Yes, a fire breathing demon dragon that has a princess locked up in a far away tower! Now, that's what I call a good story! Your little tale about the person and the axe as a prank was no fun at all!"

There was absolutely no relation between the nonsense sputtering out from Mu Luming's mouth and what A'Hong had originally said about the murder victim. There was absolutely nothing at all.

Kesi silently judged. If she was the one telling the story, she would have made it about ice skating penguins instead. Perhaps they wouldn't know what penguins were here in this world though.

At least Mu Luming's strategy seemed to have worked.

A'Hong nodded slowly at first, but the pace picked up. "Yes. Yes, Your Highness, that's what it must have been."

Narrowing his eyes, he added, "It must have been a story. Oh what a fool I was. What else might it have been?"

He itched his nose, casually brushing away a bit of mucous as his face broke into a twisted smile. "It's just that the person looked so much like my father!"

"Perhaps it's just that you miss him so much that you're seeing him in your visions even when he's not here." Kesi suggested, hoping to bait a bit more information out of A'Hong while balancing out his emotions.

A'Hong didn't answer.

"I think the hallucinations might be from hunger. I don't know about the two of you, but I'm so hungry that I could eat an entire banquet right now!" Mu Luming broke the ice, rubbing his hands over his flattened stomach. "Let's not worry too much about the story right now! Food comes first!"

Taking Kesi's hand in one of his hands and the A'Hong's in another, he walked towards the exit. Half dragged along and half actually hungry, Kesi let herself be herded by the little boy.

Even without A'Hong answering the question, from her years of experience, she already had a grasp on the issues.

The puzzle pieces easily fit together, and now, all she had to do was to test them out. And if she wasn't mistaken, a few years of her life would be restored soon. Or to be exact, she thought back to the little pamphlet that Death had given her: Mi Rongliang - 6 years.

If all things went well, she would soon be 6 years younger than she was now.

She smiled. For the first time in a seemingly eternity, or rather, since she arrived in this unfamiliar place, she had a plan.

Her belly grumbled, protesting against the lack of food.

Now, all she needed was the meal. Well, a meal and a few cups of wine.