Outside the Academy, Masks and Mirrors

Heaven Dou Royal Academy, evening.

Chen Jieqi stepped out of the cultivation room and headed toward the main gate.

His pace was unhurried, his gaze fixed on the entrance where a familiar figure stood.

Ning Rongrong stood at the gate, clutching a small flower she had plucked from somewhere, its petals already mostly torn away.

She kept her head down, muttering to herself as if counting something.

"Go... don't go... go... don't go..."

As Chen Jieqi approached, she plucked the very last petal.

"Go."

She stared at the bare stem, stunned for a moment, then bit her lip.

"Then I'll go."

She looked up, saw Chen Jieqi standing right in front of her, and froze as if rooted to the spot.

"You... when did you get here?"

"Just now."

Chen Jieqi watched her, his gaze lingering on her face for a heartbeat; she was nervous, her eyelashes trembling.

"Alone? I clearly saw..."

"Xiao Wu was called away by Third Brother."

Rongrong interrupted him, hiding the flower stem behind her back, only then realizing her hand was empty.

Her hand stiffened in mid-air before she pulled it back.

"I was just... walking around."

Chen Jieqi didn't call her bluff. "Want to go inside and sit for a while?"

"No, no need."

She bit her lip, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes, winding it round and round, before suddenly looking up at him.

"I just... wanted to ask you a question."

"What is it?"

"Last time you said, it was because I am Ning Rongrong, not because my surname is Ning..."

Before she could finish, a voice came from behind her.

"Rongrong?"

Both of them turned around at the same time.

Xue Qinghe stood not far away, dressed in a plain white brocade robe, the setting sun casting a pale golden glow upon her.

She looked at Rongrong, her gaze calm, though there was a hint of surprise in the depths of her eyes.

When had she arrived? How long had she been standing there? No one knew.

"Brother Xue!"

Rongrong's eyes lit up, and she ran over to grab her sleeve.

"What are you doing here?"

Xue Qinghe looked down at the hand clutching her sleeve, slightly startled.

It had been a long time since anyone had held onto her like this.

She should have pulled her hand away, but she didn't.

She simply watched that hand, watched Rongrong's sparkling eyes, as if she were learning the meaning of "intimacy" for the first time.

"I came to take care of some business."

She looked up, her gaze passing over Rongrong to land on Chen Jieqi.

"You two..."

"We met once in Suotuo City," Chen Jieqi said.

"Just once?"

Rongrong grew anxious, running back to stand before Chen Jieqi and looking up at him.

"I remember every word you said back then!"

As she ran over, she brushed past Xue Qinghe.

The breeze caught her hair, sweeping it across the back of Xue Qinghe's hand, very lightly.

But Xue Qinghe's fingers trembled slightly.

Chen Jieqi glanced at her, not taking the bait.

Rongrong realized she had said too much, her face flushing even redder, but she still held her head high.

"I just wanted to ask you, were the things you said... sincere?"

Her voice trembled as she asked the question.

It wasn't because she feared rejection, but because she had never asked such a question before.

"Yes."

Rongrong froze; she hadn't expected him to answer so bluntly.

She had even prepared several ways to respond in case he said no.

But he said "yes," a single word.

"Oh."

She lowered her head, her voice softening.

"That... that's good."

She turned to leave, then paused and looked back at him.

This time, she looked for longer, as if confirming something.

Confirming that what he said was true, confirming that she hadn't misheard, Confirming... that all of this wasn't a dream.

"You'll be participating in the Heaven Dou Spirit Master Exchange Tournament, right?"

"I will."

"Then I'll go cheer for you."

After saying that, she hurried away as if afraid he might refuse.

The setting sun stretched her shadow long, her steps as light as a young deer.

But after running a few paces, she stopped again and glanced back.

Just one glance, and then she truly ran off.

Xue Qinghe stood where she was, watching Rongrong's departing figure, motionless for a long time.

The Rongrong she knew was spoiled, willful, and arrogant; she was always the one being pampered, never the one to pamper others.

Yet the Rongrong from just a moment ago, who had sought out a boy, blushed when exposed, froze at his answer, And finally said "I'll go cheer for you," was someone she had never seen before.

She suddenly felt as if she had never truly known "this kind" of person.

She had lived for so many years surrounded only by interests, schemes, and disguises.

She had assumed that was how all human relationships were.

But Rongrong was different; if Rongrong wanted to find him, she just did.

If she wanted to ask something, she just asked; if she wanted to cheer for him, she just said it.

Just moments ago, Rongrong had tugged at her sleeve, her eyes sparkling like a kitten begging for a treat.

Then she turned and ran toward Chen Jieqi, tilting her head to ask him if he was "sincere," making no effort to hide how much she cared.

And what about her?

She could only sit in the residence, waiting for him to come. She could only say "see you at the tournament."

She couldn't even pull on his sleeve as openly as Rongrong had.

She looked down at her own hand.

The spot where Rongrong had pulled her sleeve seemed to still hold a trace of warmth.

She clenched her fist, then relaxed it; there was nothing there.

She suddenly recalled the words he had said, "Some disguises don't need to be worn so exhaustingly in front of someone who can see through you."

But now she realized that even in front of him, she was still wearing that mask called "Xue Qinghe."

Because what he saw through was the "Crown Prince," not "Qian Renxue."

She turned to look at Chen Jieqi.

He was watching the direction in which Rongrong had left, his expression calm, revealing no particular emotion.

How long had he been watching? She didn't know.

She only knew that he had watched Rongrong's back for longer than he had ever watched her.

Or perhaps, he simply never watched her after she turned away.

She suddenly felt a sense of loss, though she couldn't say why.

This thought was like a needle, very thin, barely felt when it pricked.

But it was there.

She simply felt that there was something she thought only she possessed, but now she realized that wasn't the case.

Or perhaps, from the very beginning, she had never truly possessed it at all.

"She cares about you a great deal," she said, her voice flat.

"We've only met once."

"Once?" she repeated the word.

Suddenly, she asked herself, how many times had she and he met?

Yet, they already shared such a tacit understanding.

He understood what she was saying, and she understood what he left unsaid.

She had thought this was unique.

But now she realized that he looked at Ning Rongrong with the same gaze, the same tone, and the same "because you are Ning Rongrong."

So, what was the difference between her and Ning Rongrong?

This question made her feel very uncomfortable inside.

She couldn't clearly define the feeling; it was like a dull blade, slicing precisely through the hard shell she had worn as a disguise for years.

Did it hurt? No. But it was more unbearable than pain.

"I'm leaving."

After saying this, she turned and walked away.

After a few steps, she suddenly stopped and looked back.

Chen Jieqi was still standing where he was, the setting sun stretching his shadow long.

She suddenly wanted to ask him a question, a question she would never ask anyone else:

"If I were not the Crown Prince of Tiantou, how would you see me?"

But she didn't ask. She didn't know how to ask, nor did she know why she wanted to ask.

She just stood there, watching him for a moment.

The wind blew, lifting the hem of her robes—the robes of the Crown Prince of Tiantou, plain white, dignified, and meticulous.

She suddenly felt that these clothes were very heavy.

There was a voice in her heart, very soft, so soft that even she couldn't hear it clearly:

"I also want to go watch your match, not because I am the Crown Prince, but simply because... I want to."

She turned and left, not looking back again.

Chen Jieqi stood in place, watching her back disappear around the street corner.

The sun had set, leaving only a thin line of dark red on the horizon.

He lowered his head and looked at the ground.

There was a flower stem there; he bent down to pick it up.

There was also a shallow mark—a footprint left by Xue Qinghe after standing there for a long time.

The edges had been slightly blurred by the dust stirred up by the evening breeze, yet one could still tell that she had lingered there for a long time.

He stared at the footprint for a moment, as if he could see that brief glance she gave before turning away.

It was as if she were confirming something, or perhaps holding something back.

He watched for a moment, then turned and tossed the flower stem into the nearby bushes.

He walked toward the academy, his pace unhurried.

Crown Prince's Residence, late at night.

She sat by the window, motionless for a long time.

There were no lamps lit in the room; only moonlight spilled in through the lattice, covering the floor in silver-white.

She looked down at the ground, at the shadow cast by the moonlight—it was her own.

The Crown Prince's robes, the Crown Prince's crown, and the Crown Prince's posture.

She watched for a long time.

She suddenly remembered her childhood, when there were mirrors in her boudoir at Martial Soul Hall. Back then, she was still called Qian Renxue, and the person in the mirror still had a name.

Later, she came to Tiantou City and became Xue Qinghe; that mirror vanished, and she never looked into a mirror again.

Tonight, she saw one.

At the moment Ning Rongrong pulled on her sleeve, at the moment Ning Rongrong ran toward Chen Jieqi, and the tips of her hair brushed against the back of her hand, The moment Chen Jieqi watched Rongrong's retreating figure, she could only stand rooted to the spot.

She saw the person in the mirror, wearing the prince's robes and the prince's mask, standing there for over ten years, so long that she had begun to forget what she originally looked like.

She suddenly wanted to ask him a question, "If I were not the Heaven Dou prince, how would you look at me?"

But she did not ask, she did not know how to ask, and she did not even know, if she were not the Heaven Dou prince, who she was.

She simply sat there, the moonlight shining upon her, very quiet.

There was a voice in her heart, very soft, so soft that even she herself did not hear it clearly, "On the day of the tournament, I wanted to go watch you compete, not because I am the prince, but simply because... I wanted to go."

She placed these words in her heart, like a seed falling into soil she had never tilled.

She did not know it would sprout, she did not even know it was a seed.

She only felt that the moon tonight was very bright.