Pov Author
The silence in the hall did not last.
"Remove her."
The command came from Shou Feng.
Calm. Final.
Anna did not react at first.
For a moment, she simply looked at him—as if waiting for him to take it back, as if somewhere beneath that steady, distant gaze, the man she knew would surface and stop this.
He did not.
The guards moved.
This time, they did not hesitate.
Anna exhaled slowly. The fight drained out of her before it could rise again. There was no point. Not here. Not like this.
Not when the one person who should have stood beside her had already turned away.
She did not resist as they seized her arms.
The hall watched in silence as she was dragged back, her cloak slipping from one shoulder, her face pale but unyielding.
Naka did not speak again.
She only watched.
And Shou Feng—
He did not look at her.
Not once.
The palace gates closed behind Anna with a heavy, echoing thud.
For a long time, she stood there.
Still.
Breathing.
The world beyond the walls felt unfamiliar, too open, too empty. The noise of the streets drifted faintly in the distance, but it did not reach her.
Nothing did.
Her hands trembled.
She clenched them into fists.
"…proof," she whispered, the word breaking apart as it left her lips.
A hollow laugh followed.
It sounded wrong.
Like it belonged to someone else.
"So that's all it took," she murmured. "To erase me."
The wind stirred, brushing past her like something that had no intention of staying.
Anna lowered her head.
For the first time since she had returned—
She felt it.
Not anger.
Not yet.
But something deeper.
Something colder.
A quiet, sinking realization that what she had lost was not just recognition—
It was him.
"Still standing?"
The voice came from behind her.
Lazy. Amused.
Anna stilled.
She did not turn immediately.
Footsteps approached, unhurried, stopping just a short distance away.
"You always did have a habit of lingering where you're no longer wanted."
Anna closed her eyes for a brief second.
Then turned.
Renji leaned against the stone wall, arms crossed, as though he had been there long before she arrived. His expression carried that same infuriating ease—half a smile, half a challenge.
Nothing about him had changed.
And yet—
Everything had.
"You followed me?" Anna asked, her voice steady again.
Renji's smile widened slightly.
"Followed?" he echoed. "That would imply I didn't already know you'd come crawling back here."
Her gaze sharpened.
"I didn't come crawling."
"No," he said lightly, pushing himself off the wall. "You walked in. And got thrown out."
The words were blunt.
Deliberately so.
Anna did not flinch.
But something in her eyes darkened.
Renji noticed.
Of course he did.
His gaze lingered on her for a moment longer than necessary, something unreadable flickering beneath his usual indifference.
"…so," he continued, tilting his head slightly, "was it everything you hoped for?"
Anna let out a quiet breath.
"No," she said.
Honest.
Simple.
Renji hummed softly, as if unsurprised.
"And him?" he asked. "Did he recognize you?"
A pause.
Brief.
But enough.
Renji's smile faded—just slightly.
"…I see."
Anna turned away, her gaze falling back to the closed gates.
"They replaced me," she said.
Not bitter.
Not loud.
Just a statement.
"There's another healer now."
Renji's eyes narrowed faintly.
"Another?" he repeated. "And you're telling me they chose her over you?"
Anna said nothing.
That silence was answer enough.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The wind passed between them, carrying the weight of something unspoken.
Then Renji scoffed under his breath.
"How predictable," he muttered.
Anna glanced at him.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Renji met her gaze again, and this time, there was no amusement in his expression.
"Power doesn't like uncertainty," he said. "And you—" his eyes flickered over her, sharp and assessing, "—you've always been unpredictable."
Anna frowned slightly.
"And that justifies this?"
"No," Renji said. "It explains it."
A beat of silence.
Then he added, quieter—
"But it doesn't make it right."
Anna looked at him then.
Really looked.
For the first time since she had been thrown out, something shifted in her chest—not enough to ease the weight, but enough to steady it.
Renji sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"So," he said, his tone returning to something lighter, though not quite as careless as before, "what now?"
Anna turned back toward the gates.
Her reflection stared back at her in the polished metal—faint, distorted, but still there.
Forgotten.
Erased.
Replaced.
Her fingers curled slowly at her sides.
"This isn't over," she said.
Quiet.
Certain.
Renji's lips curved again, but this time, the smile held something sharper.
"Good," he replied.
"Because I'd be very disappointed if that was all it took to break you."
Anna didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The fire had already begun to return.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
Behind the gates, the palace remained unchanged.
But outside—
Something had shifted.
And it would not stay buried for long.
To be continued...