The terrace was a sea of flowers, passionate roses, and snow that drifted like willow catkins. The warm yellow lamplight illuminated the delicate petals dusted with snowflakes, the extreme red and white creating a phantom image within the castle.
The girl stood on her tiptoes, her form petite, held firmly in the man's embrace.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, she tilted her head up and kissed him.
The man did not dodge. He stood still, as if frozen.
An ambiguous tension filled the air.
It was like any ordinary couple, after creating a surprise and romance, engaging in sweet whispers before kissing.
On this day, Shen Yue witnessed her young man kissing a girl other than herself.
No one else was present. In a corner not far away, a woman stood, dressed in a white sweater, her face pale.
Her long, dark hair was loosely draped over her shoulders. Strands of hair fell around the pale, sickly cheeks. Her lips were a vivid red, a decadent hue, as if bitten repeatedly.
She was like a dewdrop on a leaf, quietly watching the two people not far away. Her dark, moist eyes were misty, and a fragile, about-to-shatter feeling emanated from her features.
The gift in her hand seemed to grow heavy.
She clenched her hand tightly by her side, as if inflicting self-harm, her nails digging into her flesh, causing a dense, needle-like pain.
This pain amplified infinitely, yet she seemed oblivious now, though she had once been so afraid of pain.
She left in a daze, unsure of where she was going, her body sliding down the cold wall to the ground.
The scene of them kissing replayed in her mind.
Ultimately, she was merely a passerby in Qi Rui's world, her name left behind in a hasty scrawl. Perhaps in a few years, Qi Rui wouldn't even remember her.
No one would ever know that within the ancient bricks and tiles, beneath the eaves, there had been a tree, and beneath the tree, a maiden.
Shen Yue's heart was pierced sharply, a trace of sweetness welling up to her throat. She lowered her head to cover her mouth, coughing as if her heart were breaking.
When she opened her hand, it was stained with blood.
The objects before her twisted, black spots appearing. She pressed her temples tightly, closed her eyes to gather herself for a moment. When she opened them again, everything was a blur.
She blinked, but her vision remained hazy, as if enveloped in mist.
Just as she felt helpless and lost, a deep, magnetic voice reached her ears.
"Shen Yue?"
She paused for a moment, looking over with a bewildered expression, but could only vaguely discern a silhouette. She couldn't see anything else clearly; she couldn't even make out the man's face.
The man's voice was filled with confusion.
"Why are you sitting on the ground?"
He instinctively wanted to crouch down and help her up, but then remembered her previous resistance and his outstretched hand halted.
The man, with his sculpted features and sharp, defined contours, stood looking down, his voice gentle and polite: "Can you get up by yourself?"
Shen Yue hid her hands behind her back and stood up, leaning against the wall. She tried hard to maintain a neutral expression, but the faint redness at the corners of her eyes was still visible.
It was like a dusting of rouge, beautiful, blossoming like a flower under the moon.
She lowered her gaze flusteredly. "It's... nothing."
Qi Rui remained silent for a moment, his dark eyes fixed on her. After a minute, he spoke again, his tone still soft, but with an underlying coolness.
"Since you're alright, you should go back to your room and rest. It's getting late."
Having said that, he turned to leave.
It was as if they had simply met by chance.
Shen Yue lightly pursed her lips. Her vision slowly cleared. Her features were delicate and elegant. A few strands of hair fell onto her forehead, so she raised a slender white finger and gently tucked them behind her ear.
Her voice was very gentle, pleasant to hear.
She extended the gift box in her hand and offered a faint smile, her eyes faintly red.
"This is a gift. It's not very valuable, I hope you won't dislike it."
Qi Rui looked at her, his brow furrowing involuntarily. Seeing her like this, he felt an impulse to pull her into his arms.
If he hadn't held himself back so tightly, he couldn't be sure he wouldn't lose control.
The man was tall, and there was a certain coldness about him.
He lowered his eyes slightly and reached out to take the small, exquisite gift box.
Their fingertips brushed, incredibly soft.
Qi Rui's nerves were taut, stretched to the breaking point.
His voice was hoarse. "Thank you."
He wanted to say more, but the woman had only come to deliver a gift. Once it was given, she turned and left without hesitation.
She didn't even leave a single word behind.
Qi Rui lowered his gaze to the gift, his expression stern.
—
She hurried back to her room, closed the door, and let out a heart-wrenching cough. She covered her mouth tightly with her hand, but blood still seeped through her fingers.
It slid down her fingers, dripping onto her clean, white sweater like droplets of blood.
The light in her eyes slowly dimmed.
Some people, just by living, have already exhausted all their strength.
Can things ever get better?
—
Qi Rui's room was unexpectedly simple, every detail exuding a unique, cool aura. The only colors present were black, white, and gray, lending an air of inexplicable oppression.
He had just finished showering, his hair still damp and slightly messy. He lit a cigarette, smoke filling the air, unable to tell how many he had smoked, the mist thick and lingering.
His usually calm and composed features were marred by rare traces of agitation and confusion.
He looked at the sapphire blue gift box on the table. It was no larger than his palm. He had kept it there since bringing it back, unopened.
His eyes were deep, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
His fingertip subtly rubbed against it. He couldn't resist and opened the gift box.
It was a tie.
Black with white stripes.
Dull and old-fashioned, very dated.
It truly felt like something that woman would have chosen herself.
The corners of his mouth, usually tightly drawn, curved slightly, a change he didn't even notice himself.
He ran his fingers over it several times, seemingly unable to put it down.
After examining it for an hour, he closed the gift box, still not quite satisfied.
His gaze shifted and stopped, falling onto his own palm. His pupils contracted slightly.
On his once clean palm was a small patch of bright red blood, perhaps a recent mark, its color still faint.
Qi Rui wondered if the woman had accidentally bumped herself somewhere. Her skin was so thin, so fragile, that any bleeding would be hard to stop.
Later, he carefully examined the woman's exposed skin for any wounds but found none. Only on her occasionally visible wrists were there small bruises, likely from accidental bumps.
However, a strange thought flickered in his mind, a sense of inexplicable unease.
When work became busy, he pushed the matter aside.
—
Qi Rui and Tong Xue had argued.
Or rather, Tong Xue had argued unilaterally.
Shen Yue didn't know the specific reason.
She had just finished a medical check-up, and the results were due the next day.
It wasn't snowing outside, but it was still very cold.
She came in, wrapped in the biting wind, her fingers frozen stiff.