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Chapter 13: “The Name in the Wind”

Yume

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The palace gardens were in bloom.

Cherry blossoms fell like whispers across stone courtyards. The sky above was blue as ink faded by time.

Yume stood beneath the flowering trees, dressed in soft gold, fingers cold against her fan.

The world looked perfect.

But her heart was not.

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> “My lady.”

Auren’s voice reached her gently. He approached with that usual mix of confidence and warmth, holding a folded letter in one hand.

“There’s news from the North,” he said.

Yume’s hands froze.

> North.

That word always tasted like snow and sorrow.

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She took the letter with trembling fingers.

Reports of a brutal ambush. High casualties. Victory snatched at the edge of death.

Her eyes scanned each line in a panic—not for strategy or loss…

But for a name.

She found it.

> “The Wolf of the North—gravely injured, location unknown.”

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Her breath caught.

She read the line over and over. Then again.

> Injured.

Location unknown.

She closed her eyes.

For the first time in over a year, she felt the weight of everything she had buried alive.

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Auren noticed. His voice lowered.

> “You still care for him.”

She said nothing.

Just clutched the letter tighter, the paper crumpling.

> “He was never mine to stop caring about.”

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That night, she returned to her chambers and locked the doors.

She sat by the window as petals drifted on the breeze. The stars were too far. The walls too quiet.

And Rikuya… too gone.

> She whispered his name once.

Just once.

Then buried her face in her hands and wept.

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The next morning, the court buzzed with a new rumor:

> The Wolf survived. But not alone.

A lady warrior stands beside him—noble-born, undefeated, and close.

Yume heard it from a handmaid. A passing servant. A wandering noble.

She said nothing.

But the words stayed with her like thorns.

> “Not alone.”

> “Not anymore.”

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