The setting sun slowly descended, the sky over the small town where Liora was temporarily staying changing to a golden orange on the veranda of the simple guesthouse. Liora sat gazing at the heavens; these final days with Yanzhi felt peaceful, comfortable even... too comfortable, sometimes making her forget she was an outcast from the palace.
But that afternoon, the tranquility was shaken by a letter.
"This is... from the capital," the innkeeper said, handing over the letter tied with a red string. Its wax seal was broken; this letter must have passed through many hands.
Liora slowly opened the letter, her heart pounding wildly.
"To Liora Avenshire, what happened to you was no coincidence. There are things you need to know about the betrayal that caused your banishment..."
The letter was unsigned, but its contents were enough to silence Liora. The name of her own friend, Serena, was slipped into it. A truth that had only been a suspicion was now clearly written.
"Why her?" Liora whispered, her eyes glistening. "Why Serena?"
On the other side of town, Yanzhi, who had been disguised as a commoner, met someone from his past : General Gao, a palace guard of the imperial court.
"You have been here too long, Your Highness. Many eyes are starting to recognize your face," General Gao stated in a low but firm voice.
"I am not finished here," Yanzhi replied coldly. "It is not time for me to return. That girl... she makes me want to stay."
"Are you certain you wish to involve your heart, Your Highness?"
Yanzhi looked toward the park where he had first met Liora.
"I just want to know who she truly is... and why I feel my past and hers are intertwined."
Meanwhile, Liora sat lost in thought by the edge of the park's lake, a place that now witnessed the growth of their feelings.
"I must know... the truth," Liora muttered. "About my past, about him, about us."