The youth stepped back again, half his body shrouded in darkness. Only his face glowed faintly, allowing her to see every subtle expression and the glimmer of tears in his eyes.
"Yaoyao, this is where our bond ends."
"My dear Shao, what are you saying? Why can't I understand?" Grief surged from the depths of her heart, making the girl's voice tremble.
The youth's figure seemed to stretch slowly. In an instant, he became a version of himself several years older, all youthful innocence gone from his features. The sight of that face made her heart clench with pain.
"You must have remembered by now, haven't you? I'm already dead. Life and death divide us. How can we still be together?"
"But I'll die too! Once I die, we can stay together!" In her anxiety, Zhou Yao blurted the words out.
The youth gave a bitter smile, gazing deeply at her and watching her expression. "Noble and lowly must part. Yaoyao, not only can we never stay together, we can never meet again."
What did he mean?
Zhou Yao was stunned. She had never expected to hear those words.
"My dear Shao, what nonsense are you saying? Our families are clearly of much the same standing. Otherwise, our elders would never have arranged our marriage."
But the youth shook his head again. "That was then, this is now. Yaoyao, your family is rising like the morning sun. It will flourish greatly in the future... its nobility will be beyond words... I came to see you today to say farewell. Goodbye..."
His words were somewhat disjointed, and his figure fragmented like a reflection in water that had been stirred.
Shattering along with it was Zhou Yao's dream.
"Ah!" Zhou Yao sat bolt upright and looked around. Afternoon sunlight spilled into the