“Miss.”

“Miss!”

“My lady!”

“Lady.”

Their voices floated through the hallways, but their bodies lay still and breathless under the pouring rain. There were memories etched in every inch of the manor, but they were just that- no more than mere memories. Su Qing, once proud, beautiful and unparalleled in power, shivered as she gazed one last time in the clouded mirror. The rouge on her lips were in her favorite shade of red, and yet it only brought forward terror and the scent of blood. The air was damp with the cold breaths of spirits seeking justice. She was no longer the daughter of a marquis now that the emperor had been overthrown; her family had been branded traitors for their loyalty to the former regime and even life was no longer her luxury to have. She stood and as she walked towards the courtyard, she shed her first and last tear. By her feet lay the bodies of her family, her servants, her friends; the rain washed their blood into red rivers that trickled into the cracks on the ground.

He stood with his clothing torn, revealing the scars given to him by the battlefield, his hands dripping not with rainwater but with the blood of her dearest people. In his hand, was the blade she had gifted him so many years ago and when he spoke, his voice shook and the rain hid his tears.

"A’Qing, you're here."

"Yechen."

She gave him one last weary smile before the heavens did what they did best: tear two lovers apart.

Once we made two promises. The first, to love each other for eternity, and the second, to forever forget each other. Now we make a third, may we never meet in our next lives.