“Yes, brother.” The Queen smiled at me. “Meteor, what do you think?” She looked at Ghost Prince.

The Great Ghost King smiled gently too. Both royals turned to their son in unison. They had always been extremely cautious and gentle towards the Ghost Prince. As if he was a thin bubble and even a gentle touch could make him disappear before them.

Meteor didn’t say much but he nodded in silence.

I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry at everyone’s assumptions. 

Everyone had thought too much.

This breakfast became more and more awkward.

When the Queen stood to bring me to pick more dresses, the Great Ghost King and the Ghost Prince took their leave to give us space and time.

I stood in the Queen’s room. Her room was like the sleeping quarters of an empress. In this dark castle, there was actually such a warm room. The Queen’s room was like a goddess’ garden.

All around me was floral wallpaper, flower-engraved furniture and roses. The Queen really liked roses. The round table near the window had a white rose on it. I couldn’t help but think of the white rose in my room in Silver Moon City, the white rose that wouldn’t wither.

The south wall of the room was glass. Beyond it, I could see the garden downstairs. From this angle, the garden looked like a rose, a green rose that was blooming under the sun.

The Queen opened a door at the side, which led to another room. In that spacious, and exquisite room were rows of clothes racks, all bursting with gowns and dresses.

The Queen picked up my hand and urged, “Come.”

She pulled me into the room, before the rows of delicate gowns. Picking one up after another, she held them up against me, utterly at ease as if she was just enjoying the fun of dressing people up. 

“Lil Bing, how about this?”

“Mm.”

“This?”

“

Mm?

”

“And this one?”

“

Mm

.”

She stopped and looked at me with pity. “Lil Bing, I feel sorry for you.”

I was stunned. Did she think I was brushing her off? But… I really thought that she had great taste. Although I wouldn’t take the dress from her and hold it up against myself - that would ruin my image!

The Queen took my hands, then softly tucked the hair hanging by the side of my face behind my ear. “You are a beautiful girl but your hands are covered in blood…”

My hands trembled in hers. I pulled my hands back. That was the reality that I least wanted to talk about.

She gazed at me with sympathy. “You shouldn’t have to bear all of this. It’d be great if you didn’t have such a strong superpower.”

“If I wasn’t strong, how could I survive until now?” I turned to look sharply at this kind mother. “Queen, this is the reason why I keep fighting. I hope that the children in the future, the other girls, won’t have to go through what I went through…” For some reason, I choked with sobs. I couldn’t hide the weakness at the bottom of my heart, not in front of this kind Queen. My eyes welled up with tears. “To survive through massacre…” I took a deep breath, faltering at the end as tears rolled down my cheeks.

“My child…” The Queen hugged me. “Let’s work together to put an end to all this…”

“

Mm

.

” I wiped my tears and regained my calm. The sudden breakdown had made me lose control. After I calmed down, I left her embrace. “I’m sorry. I lost control.”

She watched me with an aching heart. “We are women. We will break down from time to time. No one would think it’s embarrassing. My child, you’ve stayed tough for too long. You are exhausted…”

I swallowed back my tears and took a deep breath. Now I felt at ease and my head was clear too.

“I once felt such weariness…” The Queen let go of me and looked outside the window at the huge rose below. “I was once a weak person because I had been sheltered by my beloved. That was why I didn’t have to be strong. He would take care of everything for me. But one day, he left me. I panicked and was terrified. But I knew that I had to be strong. In the end, I found him again. In his love, I can continue to be weak…” The Queen smiled sweetly.

Her smile slowly faded under the warm sunlight. “I found my lover but I abandoned our child… We have failed as parents. That’s why… we can’t enter his heart now…”

I watched her quietly. I didn’t know what I should say.

“Lil Bing, can you ask Meteor what happened to him?” The Queen turned to look at me with anticipating eyes.

I was stunned. “Me? But the Prince is mute.”

Her gaze behind the mask clouded over with sorrow again. “It’s not that he can’t but he doesn’t want to. When we found him, he was dying. The only thing he said then was ‘let me die’…”

I was shocked. What had Meteor gone through?

“We only knew that he lost the girl he loved. We want to know who that girl is. Maybe we can find her for him. But… ever since he woke up, he has been behaving like this. He never spoke another word…” The Queen let out a long sigh. “Until you came along, and we realized that he doesn't push you away. He treats you…” The Queen looked at me with a warm smile, “differently…”

“Does he know me?” I asked.

Her gaze behind her mask flickered. She looked away, avoiding my eyes. “How is that possible… He shouldn’t know you.”

I dropped my gaze. 

The Queen was lying. Meteor definitely knew me!

*Knock, knock.*

 A faint knock sounded from the door.

The Queen calmed herself down and glanced to the door. Someone pushed the door open gently. It was Meteor. Just like how Feng You had described him, he was like a servant.

“Is your father looking for Luo Bing?” The Queen asked.

Meteor nodded in silence.

The Queen was quiet for a while before she glanced at me and said, “I know that I do not have the right to request anything from you, but I hope that you can bring everyone back alive.”

I was stunned. The gentleness at the bottom of my heart was once again awakened by the Queen. Her concern for everyone moved me deeply, but I couldn’t promise her anything. I could only look down wordlessly before I turned to leave.

It was unusually silent behind me. The kind Queen definitely understood that I couldn’t guarantee anything.

Meteor bowed towards the Queen before he closed the door behind him and led the way before me.

I walked slightly behind him. His body figure and height looked really familiar to me. Every time I got closer to him, the sense of familiarity intensified. As though the person across from me was getting closer but there was still thick fog swirling between us. As if I didn’t want to find the answer or didn’t want to recognize him.