Beneath the silver moon, starlight fell upon the two women embracing each other, while the silent night breeze brushed through their long hair.
Cai Lin released Xiao Yi Xian and lay on the cool roof tiles, saying softly, "I don't know what I'm living for."
"Back then, I thought my people and my younger sister were my whole world. Those days seemed filled with warmth.
"But good times never lasted. When I was born, the Snake People Race was in a period of peace with the Jia Ma Imperial Capital. But when I was fifteen, war finally broke out.
"That was the first time I experienced a battlefield of blood and fire. In the end, the reigning Queen Medusa and her opponent perished together.
"At that time, I swore that I would protect the people she had protected. But when the day came to choose the next Queen, I instead welcomed the nightmare of my life.
"My sister and I were both candidates for Queen. The elders insisted that only one of us could survive.
"You have no idea how I felt then."
The silver moon and glittering stars no longer seemed reflected in Cai Lin's violet eyes. Instead, they held scene after scene from the past.
"I don't know exactly what happened then, but in the end, in a daze, I became Queen, while my sister fled the Snake People Race.
"I thought that would be the end of it, but under the elders' pressure, I still searched everywhere for traces of her.
"For a long time, I kept wondering whether my sister was safe. How was she? Was she living well?
"In the end, she fell in love with a human, even while she had lost her memories of everything.
"I was unwilling to accept it then. My