How Can a Man's Tears Be Seen by Others?

Situ Xuan did not look back, but the corners of his mouth were rising too.

He walked out of the bedchamber and into the corridor. Outside the tall floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides, starlight spilled over the land, illuminating the entire territory of the Star Demon Clan as brightly as day. He walked through the starlight, his steps steady and powerful, each one landing on the black floor with a dull thud.

Vassago stood before the window, watching his back vanish at the end of the corridor. A smile still hung at the corners of his mouth, but something was turning in his eyes.

He lifted his head and looked at the Star Gems on the dome, at those warm orange-yellow and silver-white lights, and murmured to himself.

"Thanks."

His voice was very soft, so soft that only he could hear it.

Starlight spilled down from the dome and fell on him, dyeing his orange-red long hair with a faint layer of silver radiance. He closed his eyes and let the starlight wrap around him, let that warm energy seep into his skin, muscles, bones, and blood.

He knew Situ Xuan was going to leave. Not today, not tomorrow, but soon. The timeline's rejection would grow stronger and stronger, until Situ Xuan could no longer resist and was bounced back to the place he was supposed to go.

When that time came, everything would return to its original state. The demon gods he had killed would revive, the armies he had crippled would regroup, and the people he had beaten into submission would forget him.

Like a dream, with nothing left after waking.

But he would not forget. That seed would remember. It would sleep inside Situ Xuan's body, waiting for the day it sprouted and grew into a tree