[*]
His eyes, dark as lacquer, flickered with firelight, deep and grim.
The young man's eyes were usually exceedingly clear, but now they seemed shrouded in a black mist.
After a long moment, he said in a low voice, "So it was a dead end."
A silence fell, leaving only the CRACKLE of the sparks.
"Little General," Amy clapped her hands lightly and smiled at him. "Weren't you determined to serve the nation with utter loyalty, swearing to die for it? Why so timid now?"
"If I had been born in a time of chaos, with no one but myself, my death would mean nothing. But with our nation adrift and in peril, even if I have the will to repay it with my life, I fear it won't be enough to prop up a collapsing dynasty."
Dongfei said glumly, "The Chi Mansion is full of martyrs. In the Little General's generation, you're the only heir left. If something were to happen to you, Little General, the Chi family line... would be extinguished! And who knows how heartbroken the old madam would be..."
