House Boreas.
Morning, on a new day.
When Cui Ciyou opened his bedroom door, the morning sunlight flooded the room and lit the long, silent hallway outside.
Then Cui Ciyou saw her.
Roxy stood alone, quietly, beside the window at the end of the hallway.
With her back to him, Roxy wore her signature mage's robe. Her broad hat and blue braids looked a little forlorn in the morning light.
Roxy simply stood there in silence, gazing at the dew-covered branches and leaves swaying in the breeze in the courtyard outside.
She seemed lost in thought, or perhaps she was thinking of nothing at all, merely staring into space.
A white suitcase rested quietly at her feet.
Hearing the bedroom door open behind her, Roxy turned around with a startled look.
When she saw Cui Ciyou, a flicker of complicated, unreadable emotion passed through her aqua-blue eyes.
Cui Ciyou walked toward her, stopping a few steps away. Looking at the suitcase at her feet, he ventured:
"Roxy? You... what are you..."
Roxy wore a serious expression Cui Ciyou had never seen before, a mixture of resolve and dejection.
A veil of tangled emotions clouded her clear blue eyes.
She walked over to Cui Ciyou, closing the distance, but her gaze fell to the floor beside him, as though she dared not meet his eyes.
Then Roxy drew a deep breath and spoke solemnly:
"Ciyou... could I trouble you for a moment?"
An overwhelming sense of unease swept over Cui Ciyou like an icy tide.
Once again, Cui Ciyou instinctively glanced at the white suitcase at Roxy's feet, which seemed to be pronouncing some kind of verdict.
"Roxy... why so suddenly... what's wrong? That suitcase... that suitcase is..."
When Cui Ciyou mentioned the suitcase, Roxy's gaze darted toward it before she