Villain Path

Chapter 78. Long night

After the sun went down, Shen heard the baby crying again. This time, he wasn't going to ignore it. Following the sounds of crying with resolve, after a while he got to the side pavilion, overgrown with heather. It still had traces of its former beauty, but was shaded by loneliness and desolation: dry leaves lay on the terrace, the columns were covered with spiderwebs, and the paint on the walls had faded several years ago.

Shen wouldn't have seen it all in the dark if it hadn't been for the lantern of the man standing on the steps. Lord of the Cursed Peak took a step forward, and the man turned to face him. Оn the porch of the Heather Pavilion was Shuer. Shen saw two streaks of tears lining his cheeks. Seeing his brother, the great general only huffed softly.

"Do you realize that you can't be so persistent?" he asked.

"I didn't mean to... I honestly wish I hadn't noticed all this. But, having noticed, I can no longer ignore it."

Shuer's cheek twitched. He put the lantern on the step and came down to Shen.

"I never thought... that you would become the cure for this family."

Shen stared at him blankly.

"I... don't have the courage to reveal everything. But you... As you are now..." He raised his hand and gently touched his cheek. "You can unravel this story without thinking about the consequences."

Shen stood in front of him, not moving away from this touch.

"Don't you hate me for that?"

"It is painful," Shuer agreed. "But hiding ghosts behind closed doors is even more so."

Shen paused.

"Will you give me a key to the room with the white door?" he then asked.

"I don't have a key to it."

"Who does then?"

"Nobody. That room has never been locked with a key."

Shen felt his head start to spin.

"Overworking yourself won't do you any good," Shuer said, studying his face. "Come, I'll walk you."

***

This time, going to bed, Shen was afraid of ghosts, afraid of what he might see. To be honest, he'd love to ask Shuer to stay and sit with him, if it didn't sound too childish. So Shen said goodbye to him at the Winter Pavilion, glad that his brother did not hate him and gave Shen tacit permission to continue digging into their past. Although Shen himself wasn't that eager to do it, the ghosts of the past insistently called him, and he could not do anything about it.

And here he was again, sitting in front of the old mirror.

In the reflection, an unfamiliar handsome-looking young man embraces a black-haired maid with a peach-colored face. He gently caresses her cheek, looks with loving eyes. The girl smiles, and then gently touches his hand and puts a red bean bracelet on his wrist.

"I made it for you," she says. "It will keep you safe. And when you return, we will be waiting for you."

"We?" the young man asks.

"We're having a baby, Sheit."

The man looks at her with astonishment and disbelief, and then picks her up and spins around, holding her tight.

"I love you, Yuej!"

"I love you, Sheit."

Then Shen sees the two lovers sitting on the floor, cuddling. The girl gently buries her fingers in her lover's hair.