Chapter 17 - The Roof and the Tears
"Some secrets don't break pride...
They break the identity. "
That night, later, after the Emperor confessed everything...
Liyan was alone.
Sitting on the icy roof of his house, his legs hanging in the void, he stared at the moon, mute, extinct.
His eyes were red.
His empty look.
His soul - broken.
The wind blew gently, as if it did not dare to disturb its silent collapse.
He had stopped crying.
Not because he was better.
But because her tears had dried out.
He didn't know what to believe anymore.
Even his own name, his past, his memories...
Everything seemed false, poisoned by the lie of a man he called "brother".
And then...
A voice.
- "What are you doing up there? "
It was Yuèyao.
She walked on the tiles like a quiet shadow.
Right. Calm. Unshakeable.
- "You're whining because your big brother didn't do what you wanted? "Is voice had that spicy tone that he knew well. But that night, it was not contempt.
It was her way of not letting it collapse.
Liyan turned his head, slowly.
His eyes were wet.
- "Tell me something..." he whispered.
- "So you love me... for my beauty? For my title? For what I represent? "
He inhaled with difficulty.
- "If I lose everything... would you be ready to go with me?
Abandon this palace, this city, these looks... just for me? "
A silence. Long. Thick.
Yuèyao sat next to him, his eyes lost on the horizon.
- "Idol..." she finally says, softly.
"You forgot who I am? "
She smiles, very lightly.
- "I've already lost everything. My name, my laboratory, my research.
Do you think I'm going to give up now... because of a boy crying on a roof? "
She turned her gaze to him.
And in his eyes, Liyan saw neither pity nor duty.
He saw something stronger: a presence. A certainty.
- "I'm ready to go with you.
But not to escape.
To build something true. "
He wanted to talk, but she stopped him.
— "You're saying you've lost everything?
So, listen to me carefully: you still have me. "
She grabbed him by the collar and gently pulled him against her. Liyan burst into tears.
And this time, he didn't hide.
He let himself fall into his arms. Weak. True.
And she whispered in his ear:
"I will always be with you.
Do you think I'm going to leave you alone now?
My whiner... without me, you would be completely lost. "
She smiles, but deep down, she sincerely thought so.
This boy... she couldn't abandon him anymore.
And up there, on the dark tiles,
Under a pale moon,
A boy destroyed
Was slowly reborn,
In the arms of the only person
Who loved him for what he was,
And not for what it was supposed to be.
End of Chapter 17