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Chapter 8: “If Only He Were You”

Yume and Auren

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Spring returned to the palace.

With it came festivals, dances, painted fans, and whispering nobles. The court was alive again.

But inside Yume, nothing bloomed.

She wore the colors. She learned the steps. She smiled at the right moments. And still—her eyes searched every hallway.

> As if one day, Rikuya might return.

Bloodied. Broken. But breathing.

But he didn’t.

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So when Auren asked if she would accompany him to the Moonfire Ball, Yume said yes.

Not because she wanted to go.

But because she didn’t want to be the girl the palace pitied anymore.

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That night, she walked beside the Crown Prince in a gown the color of dusk—silver-gray with violet threading, like shadows woven with stars.

Everyone stared.

The ghost prince’s girl… on the arm of the future king.

> “Do they think you’ve won me?” she whispered beneath her breath.

Auren smiled softly. “I don’t think you’re something to be won.”

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As they danced, the room spun around them—lights and laughter and wine-slick lies.

And for a moment, Yume forgot to ache.

> But only for a moment.

Because the crown prince’s hands were warm… but they didn’t tremble like Rikuya’s did.

And his eyes were gentle… but not filled with battlefield storms.

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After the final dance, Auren walked her back to her quarters beneath the lanterns.

When they reached her door, he turned to her and said:

> “If it were him standing here… would you still be this quiet?”

She froze.

Then, slowly—brokenly—she whispered:

> “If it were him… I wouldn’t be able to speak at all.”

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Auren looked away, jaw tight. But when he met her eyes again, there was no anger. Just a quiet sadness.

> “Then let me be your silence.”

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss—not to her lips, but to her forehead.

Tender. Reverent. Unspoken.

> “Until he returns… or until you stop waiting.”

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Yume didn’t cry that night.

But something inside her began to slip.

Not because she was falling for Auren.

But because, for the first time… she wondered if Rikuya was ever coming back at all.

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