Ronava sat leaning against the stone table for a while, and strength slowly returned to her legs.
She raised a hand to sweep the silver hair scattered beside her face behind her ear, her gaze passing over the crowds coming and going in the street.
Liyue Harbor was bustling during the Moonchase Festival. Great red lanterns stretched overhead, and the air carried the fragrance of osmanthus and the oily aroma of fried food.
In the past, there had been only death wherever she went. She had never experienced the warmth of ordinary life before.
She suddenly felt something tugging at the hem of her clothes.
She looked down to see a little girl, perhaps five or six, with her hair in two round buns. She wore a bright red long gown and held a skewer of candied fruit as she looked up at her.
"Big sister, your hair is so pretty."
The little girl showed no fear of strangers and reached for the ends of Ronava's hair hanging at her side.
"It's like the moon."
Ronava instinctively tried to draw back, but the stone table was right behind her, leaving her nowhere to go. The little girl's fingers had already curled around the ends of her hair.
"...Don't touch."
"Why?"
The little girl tilted her head, not at all afraid of her icy tone.
"Big sister, are you an adeptus? My granny said lots of adepti came to Liyue Harbor before, and their hair glowed. Your hair is glowing."
Ronava looked down at her hair. Morning light fell on it from the side, giving it a very faint silver sheen. She did not answer the little girl's question.
"My name is Yue Ning."
The little girl introduced herself unprompted and tugged at the hem of her clothes again.
"Big sister, are you alone? My granny's selling candied fruit over there. I snuck away to come here. Will you play with me?"
"No."
"Why?"
Ronava was a little irritated. She was the former Ruler of Death, yet the person before her showed no fear at all and even looked at her with eager expectation. But she couldn't do anything to a child.
When Yue Ning saw that she wasn't speaking, she stood on tiptoe and held the candied fruit out toward her.
"Big sister, would you like some? It's really sweet."
Yue Ning leaned close against her knee and looked up at her with a smile.
"Big sister, you're really pretty,"
Yue Ning said.
"Prettier than anyone I've ever seen."
Looking at that unguarded smiling face, Ronava suddenly felt a little dazed.
She remembered that long ago, when she was still the Ruler of Death, there had been a little girl like this one. She too had faced her, but instead of smiling, she had wept and begged her...
"You..."
She parted her lips, wanting to say something.
"Big sister, your hand is so cold."
Yue Ning suddenly took the fingers resting on her knee and cupped them in her little hands.
"I'll warm them for you."
Ronava did not pull her hand away.
Warmth passed through their skin to her hand, and she remained silent for a long time.
Apart from Lin En, this was the second time she had experienced such warmth: the warmth of being alive, a vibrant warmth that did not fear death.
"Big sister, are you unhappy?"
Yue Ning asked, puzzled.
Looking at the little girl before her, who wasn't even half her height, Ronava reached out and patted Yue Ning's head, though she didn't know why. It was a feeling she had never experienced before.
"No."
"But you look like you're really sad."
Yue Ning spoke earnestly.
"My granny says eating something sweet makes people happy when they're sad. You can have my candied fruit, so don't be sad anymore."
Ronava looked at the skewer of bright red candied fruit held out to her. Its glistening sugar coating made it look like a string of tiny red lanterns in the sunlight.
She took a small bite, and sweetness filled her mouth.
Ronava looked up just as Lin En squeezed through the crowd, a cloth bundle in his hand and a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead.
Seeing that Ronava was still sitting on the stone stool, he relaxed. Then he noticed the little girl beside her and paused.
"And who is this?"
"My name is Yue Ning!"
The little girl answered before anyone else could, then turned to look at Lin En, her eyes growing even brighter.
"Big brother, you're good-looking too!"
Lin En paused, then smiled and crouched down to meet her at eye level.
"Thank you. You're very cute too."
"Big sister, is this big brother your husband?"
The air froze for a moment.
"No."
"No."
The two answered almost in unison.
Yue Ning tilted her head, clearly unconvinced.
"But I saw big brother carrying you on his back from over by the bridge. My granny says you'd only be willing to carry someone you're closest to."
"That's because she..."
"I hurt my leg."
Ronava cut Lin En off and explained without a trace of expression, her tone as icy as ever.
"Oh..."
Yue Ning drew the word out, but it seemed she still didn't quite believe them.
"But big sister, you're so beautiful, and big brother is very handsome. Standing together, you really look like the adepti in the heavens. In the stories my granny tells, that's what adepti are like."
Lin En's ears grew a little hot. He turned to look at Ronava and found that she was looking at him too.
The instant their eyes met, both looked away at the same time.
Yue Ning looked from one to the other and suddenly giggled softly.
"Yue Ning!"
An old woman's voice called from a distance.
"Where have you run off to again?"
Yue Ning looked back, reluctantly released Ronava's fingers, and stood up.
"My granny's calling me. Big sister, big brother, take care of yourselves."
She ran a couple of steps, then turned back and called out again.
"Big sister, remember to eat something sweet! You won't be sad after you do!"
Ronava sat on the stone stool, thinking back on the little incident that had just occurred.
"Let's go. I found an inn."
She stood up on her own. Lin En reached out to help her, but a look from her stopped him. This time, she did not fall, though her steps were unsteady.
"I'll walk on my own."
Lin En did not insist. He simply carried the bundle and followed half a step to her side, ready to support her at any moment.
When they reached the inn, the innkeeper gave Ronava an extra look. She glared at him, and he obediently handed over the key.
The room was on the third floor, facing the harbor. Opening the window revealed a view of the sea. Lin En gave her the bed and made himself a place to sleep on the floor in the corner.
Ronava lay in bed, unable to sleep.
She stared at the ceiling, Yue Ning's words echoing over and over in her mind: "You look like you're really sad."
Sad? What do I have to be sad about?
Her authority had been taken, her serious injuries had yet to heal, and she had been reduced to relying on a strange young man's protection to survive.
Though all of that was true, she did not feel sad. She was just... not used to it yet.
That afternoon, Lin En went to the pharmacy and returned with medicine, along with some food and a change of clothes.
Ronava drank the medicine, forced down half a bowl of porridge, and lay down again.
Lin En sat at the table for a while. Seeing that she seemed to have fallen asleep, he quietly headed out.
"I'm going to buy a few things on the street. I'll be back soon."
After the door closed, the room fell quiet.
Ronava opened her eyes and stared at the tightly shut door, suddenly feeling that the world had grown quiet again.
Muffled sounds of revelry came from outside the window. The Moonchase Festival night market had opened, and people's laughter and the muffled booms of fireworks rising into the sky drifted in. It was as though the world outside and the room were two separate worlds.
She had never known the Moonchase Festival in Liyue Harbor could be so noisy.
Ronava slowly sat up. Her fever had mostly subsided now, and though she was still a little weak, she could at least stand steadily.
She walked slowly to the window, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pushed it open.
The lights of the entire city greeted her.
Fireworks lit up the night sky over the harbor in flashes, bursting in brilliant colors against the darkness before falling like shooting stars. Strings of lanterns hung from one end of every street and alley to the other, lighting the whole city as brightly as day. Crowds passed beneath the lights, a smile on every face.
Ronava leaned against the window frame and watched quietly.
The wind carried the salty dampness of the sea, along with the murmured wishes of people releasing sky lanterns nearby.
She saw an elderly couple standing at the end of a bridge, supporting each other as they looked up at a Xiao Lantern slowly rising into the sky. The old man pointed at the lantern and said something, and the old woman laughed and gave him a pat.
Her gaze lingered on the elderly couple for a long time.
Watching those ordinary people laughing and living beneath the lights, she felt, to her surprise, how happy this moment was.
"Why do I feel this way?"
She gripped the window frame tightly, her nails sinking into the wood.
"Ronava?"
The door opened behind her. The voice was Lin En's, carrying a hint of urgency. He had probably been startled to see she wasn't in bed.
She did not turn around, merely speaking in a calm voice.
"It's too noisy outside. I can't sleep."
Lin En walked over and stopped beside her.
He carried a small paper lantern, its warm yellow light shining through and illuminating Ronava's silver hair and profile.
"Um... I bought it on the street. They said you're supposed to light a lantern for the Moonchase Festival, make a wish, and release it. Then your wish will come true."
Lin En held the lantern out to her.
"Do you want to try?"
Ronava looked down at the lantern. A sprig of osmanthus was painted on the paper in rough strokes; it was clearly not anything valuable.
"What did you wish for?"
she asked.
"Me?"
Lin En scratched his head.
"I haven't made a wish yet. I thought I'd come back and release it with you."
Ronava turned to look at him. The light of the flame shone bright and warm in her eyes, just like the countless lights outside the window.
She suddenly remembered Yue Ning's words-when big brother carried you here on his back, you really looked like adepti.
"Fool."
She spoke softly and reached out to take the lantern.