The Last Dahlia

023

Yuehwa was not the sort to ever regret anything she did, but this time she had the slightest twinge of regret the minute she placed her lips on his. It wasn't that she was having second thoughts about her decision—she would stand by her choice no matter what—it was more the fear of the repercussions of what she had done.

The immediate thought that flew into her mind was that he was going to push her away yet again, like he always did. What would happen then? It would become incredibly awkward between them, perhaps so much so that he would choose to vanish into thin air within the blink of the eye, like he always did. She wouldn't blame him, because she had known what he was like right from the very beginning—he was exactly like her, a moonbeam that you couldn't hold in your hand.

Her first instinct was to pull away to save herself from further embarrassment, but a strong arm around her waist and a hand around the back of her head stopped her from moving a single inch. Yuehwa thought her heart was about to stop beating as time seemed to freeze in an instant.

"You might regret this one day," Shoya said softly, pulling away from her ever so slightly such that the tips of their noses were still touching, "and when you do, promise me you'll just walk away."

"I never regret anything," she replied.

"There's always a first time for everything."

The sound of footsteps and voices echoing along the corridors interrupted the silence between them, and seconds later the owners of those voices appeared in front of the cell. Standing at the front was a shadow with a heavy cloak the shade of midnight and a large hood that covered half their face. She slid the hood back, revealing the pale countenance of a middle-aged lady with rouge that painted her lips crimson. Even though she was getting on in years, there was still an understated beauty about her that hadn't diminished with time. She regarded them both of them with quiet condescension.

"Which one?" she asked the guard standing behind her.

"The one on the left, Your Majesty."

Your Majesty? Yuehwa was surprised. The lady had to be the queen of Feng herself. But why was she here?

The queen turned back to Shoya, frowning a little as she considered him once more. "So you are the White Scorpion, the one who murdered all the royal librarians," she said in a mellow yet melodic voice.

"I am the White Scorpion, but I think you know better than I do that I'm not the one who's responsible for that crime," Shoya replied calmly. Unlike Yuehwa, he didn't seem the least bit surprised that the queen of the kingdom had suddenly showed up in the prison, so shortly after they had been thrown in. In fact, she even spotted that half-smile toying across his lips as he looked up at the queen, the one that always appeared on his face whenever he already had everything figured out.

It was annoying.

The queen's frown deepened slightly and she waved her hand to dismiss most of her guards, leaving behind only the one that she had spoken to earlier.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice hardening.

"I might ask you the same question... Aunt."

The queen didn't appear the least bit perturbed by his peculiar address. Her red lips curled upwards in a sardonic smile. "I'd suggest you don't go around claiming to be someone that you're not," she said. "I don't know who sent you here and what exactly you hope to achieve, but the game ends here I'm afraid."

"If you don't believe that I am who I claim to be, then why are you so eager to be rid of me?" Shoya asked, standing up and walking over towards her. Although the door to the cell was still firmly locked and there remained a row of solid wooden bars that separated him from the queen, the sight of him approaching made her take two steps back. Her guard instinctively drew his sword. Shoya laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't die twenty-five years ago like I should have."