Chapter 128
What if Miki Died? Part 2
Wakako didn’t think much about what had happened that day, though she still felt somewhat guilty.
Setting aside their engagement, even just as fellow mercenaries, it wasn’t right to refuse Miki’s offerings without even tasting them. It seemed discourteous, as if rejecting her goodwill.
Miki came from nobility and valued such courtesies—Wakako didn’t want to embarrass her.
The next day, Wakako specifically asked Lin Lin to save her a piece. After tasting it, she wrote a note to Miki, expressing gratitude for the gift and praising its taste, but explaining she had nothing suitable to give in return and asking her not to trouble herself further.
While she was writing, Lin Lin was bored nearby and peered over, sighing: “It’s so hard to write nicely.”
Both of them had started their education late, never even holding a brush in their childhood. They had missed the optimal period for practicing calligraphy, making it difficult to improve.
Looking at her own clumsy handwriting, Wakako felt a pang of embarrassment.
She recalled seeing Lin Lin’s writing practice the previous day and casually said, “I’ve noticed your writing has improved a lot lately; don’t be discouraged.”
“Me?” Lin Lin looked skeptical upon hearing this.
She dug out her practice papers from the wooden cabinet, examining them carefully while muttering, “Don’t tease me, senior sister. We’re both equally bad.”
“You wrote some words quite well yesterday.”
“Where?”
Wakako looked up to point them out, frowning as she searched, but couldn’t find those two striking words from yesterday. The bottom right corner was covered in Lin Lin’s childish writing, but the words “not allowed” were nowhere to be found.
Strange…
Wakako had a strong impression of it, and she didn’t think her memory was faulty. But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find any evidence.
Seeing her prolonged silence, Lin Lin assumed her senior sister had just been trying to encourage her and deflated immediately: “Waaah, I really am hopeless…”
Wakako comforted her junior sister while once again puzzled, scanning those sheets of paper but still finding nothing.
Could she really have remembered it wrong?
Well, it wasn’t important anyway. Once Lin Lin stopped feeling dejected, Wakako handed her the note, “When Miki comes again, please give this to her for me.”
“Got it!”
…
Lin Lin was reliable with tasks, and when Miki came again with snacks, she delivered the note as promised.
Miki glanced at it, unable to hide her disappointment. She knew Wakako had no feelings for her yet, and she’d been careful not to be too pushy these days, watching only from a distance, but still…
Could it be that they were ultimately not meant to be?
“Junior Sister Lin Lin,” Miki couldn’t help asking, “does Senior Wakako really… dislike me that much?”
It was a personal matter, and Lin Lin wasn’t sure if she should comment. But seeing Miki’s sadness, and having consumed so many of her snacks, she couldn’t remain completely silent.
Perhaps a few words of comfort?
Just as Lin Lin decided to speak, her eyes suddenly lost their focus, becoming vacant as she stared blankly at the floor.
Miki didn’t notice this momentary change, just waiting for her answer.
After a while, Lin Lin raised her head again. In that instant, Miki felt an inexplicable chill.
As if touched by a nonexistent cold breeze, every inch of her skin grew cold.
Lin Lin’s complexion had been rosy earlier, but now, without reason, it appeared somewhat pale. She tugged at the corners of her mouth, as if it took great effort to reveal a smile that didn’t look quite right. “Yes.”
She spoke slowly, her voice sounding unlike usual, pausing between words.
“Wakako… has someone… else in her heart…. You’d… better give… up.”
Miki didn’t mind that Lin Lin didn’t use “Senior Sister” to refer to Wakako, immersed in her own growing sense of frustration. She murmured: “Yes, I know, but that person has passed away… Is Wakako really going to stay single for her whole life because of her?”
For some reason, Lin Lin’s voice became halting: “Why… not?”
She tugged at the corners of her mouth again, still somewhat stiff, but inexplicably exuding a charm not typical of her age.
“Wakako… will only love her.”
Staring at Lin Lin’s face, a strange thought pierced through Miki’s confused emotions.
Had Lin Lin always been this beautiful?
***
That night, an unexpected change swept over the capital. The dry, hot season was abruptly interrupted by a torrential downpour, accompanied by thunder and lightning that sent children trembling in their homes.
Rivers overflowed, the earth shifted, and roads were buried under mudslides from the mountains.
The continuous thunder jolted Ruijun awake. She got up for a drink of water, only to be met by a servant’s urgent report. “Your Majesty, it’s terrible…”
Queen Consort Qinghe beside her frowned as she sat up, “Why such panic?”
“Forgive us, Your Majesty and Queen Consort.” The servant panted, unable to hide the panic on his face. “The… the mountain outside the city… it seems to have collapsed.”
“Were there any injuries?”
“It’s a remote area. No casualties.”
Qinghe sighed in relief. “Then why rush in here?” As long as no citizens were harmed, everything else could be handled gradually.
The servant hesitated, glancing at Ruijun’s expression before finally saying reluctantly: “…It’s the mountain where the Saint is buried.”
At these words, Ruijun’s expression changed dramatically.
Though Miki had passed, a Saint appeared only once per generation. Even in death, she provided protection to the kingdom; her grave must not suffer any mishap. They needed to send people immediately to check…
She glanced at the storm raging outside and frowned. In these conditions, all roads would be impassable. Even if the city patrol was dispatched immediately, it would take time to reach the site.
It seemed they could only send them. Ruijun lowered her eyelids and ordered calmly, “Summon all the mercenaries to the palace.”
Elsewhere, Wakako was awakened from her dream. Together with her roommate Lin Lin, she sleepily dressed and headed to the palace. The rain was so heavy that even the trained horses couldn’t open their eyes, and their pants were soaked with mud.
Everyone’s rain-soaked and muddy appearance dirtied the floor of the queen’s study.
But there was no time to worry about such things. Ruijun gave her order: “Protect the Saint’s grave with all your might. Leave now, and don’t let her coffin be disturbed in the slightest!”
Miki’s coffin? These words made Wakako’s heart clench suddenly.
Her master had been laid to rest; if in this disaster her remains were lost…
She wouldn’t allow it!
Outside, wind and rain made it nearly impossible to see the road. Even the battle-hardened veterans suffered in this night, constantly pelted by rain-swept mud.
But Wakako didn’t utter a single complaint, just charged ahead on horseback.
Lin Lin was the first to notice something wrong with her state and called out: “Senior Sister! It’s dangerous!”
But Wakako couldn’t care about anything else, focused solely on protecting Miki’s remains. She quickly pulled ahead of the others, reaching the hillside first.
Mud and water rushed everywhere, trees swayed in the wind, making it impossible to see the mountain’s condition.
“You can’t go up there!” Liu Siruo and Lin Lin grabbed her firmly from both sides. Even their combined strength barely held back Wakako’s tremendous force. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
What was happening?
Rain poured into Wakako’s eyes, which had grown red: “Let me go!”
“Wakako…” Hua Yumu also spoke up to stop her. As the only one present who knew her history with Miki, he sighed, “Look over there.”
At the foot of the mountain, the coffin made of purple wood was partially buried in mud and water, stubbornly exposing a corner. It was unknown when it had rolled down from the mountain.
Others quickly worked together to pull it out, clearing away the mud inside.
It was empty.
The Saint’s body, which should have been lying there peacefully, was gone—presumably swept away by the mudflow when the coffin tumbled down.
Hua Yumu said: “We’re too late. We can’t search now. We’ll have to wait until the rain stops to look for the Saint.”
Wakako stared blankly at the empty coffin for a long while before whispering: “How… could this be…”
She had never been a worthy servant.
She couldn’t protect Miki five years ago, and now she had failed again.
The Saint, who loved cleanliness so much, who bathed at least twice a day—how could she bear for her remains to be buried in mud?
Wakako’s lips moved, but nothing came out.
It was her fault…
***
Wakako hardly remembered what happened afterward. She even forgot how she returned. She just sat dazedly, even forgetting to eat or sleep.
Finally, Lin Lin couldn’t bear to watch anymore and forcefully dragged her to bathe, then made her lie down: “You’ll die if you don’t sleep!”
She knew that many people had deep feelings for the Saint; perhaps her Senior Sister was the same… but wasn’t this a bit too much!
Wakako would only ask one question: “Have they found the Saint’s body?”
Lin Lin shook her head helplessly.
Five years after the Saint’s death, probably only bones remained in the coffin. Finding them would be like searching for a needle in the ocean—so far, they had found nothing.
Wakako didn’t speak again, lying down woodenly and closing her eyes.
Exhaustion finally claimed her, but she could sense Lin Lin hadn’t left.
Hua Yumu understood the source of Wakako’s distress and had given her several days’ leave, but Lin Lin should have been at training.
Was she worried and staying behind out of concern?
Wakako didn’t want her emotional state to affect her junior sister’s training and meant to tell Lin Lin she didn’t need to stay. But when she opened her eyes, she found her junior sister standing by the bed, staring at her intently.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but Lin Lin’s face seemed inexplicably pale.
Lin Lin’s hand suddenly reached for Wakako’s neck. Since they were close, she didn’t dodge, allowing the other’s cold fingers to lift the necklace around her neck.
The engagement necklace bestowed by the Queen couldn’t be removed yet.
“Lin Lin?” Wakako asked, confused.
After several sleepless days and nights, she had no energy to decipher the complex emotions in her junior sister’s eyes.
Lin Lin made a sound of acknowledgment.
“The engagement necklace…”
She spoke slowly, her voice sounding unlike usual, pausing between words.
“How… very… pretty… Wakako.”
