Chapter 121: When Did They Become So Close? 7

Those two people, are together.

Inside, Tii’s heart churned like waves, and she gripped the doorframe, a cold sweat forming on her forehead, sliding slowly down to the floor.

Su Ling and that Princess… When did they become so close? When did their relationship change like this?

How could it be? Is this real? Is it really true? Didn’t all those things that just happened feel like a dream?

Clutching her trembling lips, Tii stared blankly at her reflection on the windowpane, feeling as if she was about to cry, her body weighed down by an indescribable heaviness.

She had always thought she understood Su Ling best—after all, they spent their days together and saw each other every day—but it turned out, in a corner she never noticed, Su Ling had quietly changed without her ever realizing it.

And she herself, hadn’t noticed a single thing.

The world collapsed all at once, as if struck by thunder from above.

She quietly let go of her hand, took a gentle breath, making sure the two in the room wouldn’t notice anything. Then, Tii forced herself to stand up, her body searching for the light of day.

Her heart throbbed painfully. She didn’t want to look into that room again, so she hurried away, her footsteps growing faster and faster, the air whooshing past, almost breaking into a run.

“Tii is someone I trust.”

Su Ling’s words echoed in her ears, pounding again and again at Tii’s heart. The amount of happiness she felt upon hearing Su Ling say those words was now matched only by her pain.

Tii forced herself to suppress her emotions and strode forward, passing through one door after another, her shadow dancing on the ground.

That day, when Su Ling looked at her with such peace in her eyes—those gentle, clear eyes, like water, so pure you couldn’t find a single blemish—it had made Tii believe that their relationship was really special.

Could it be all of that was just an illusion?

Tii couldn’t understand.

If it was someone else by Su Ling’s side, maybe it wouldn’t hurt this much. But why did it have to be that Blood Clan Princess?

Tii knew that Princess’s Blood Clan lineage was pure. During her days as Princess Ying Tang’s personal maid, she had seen her mistress coldly sentence people to death many times—those crimson eyes devoid of compassion, without a hint of mercy or warmth.

All because of some rules in the palace, the Blood Clan would take lives without hesitation.

So, Tii was certain that inside Princess Ying Tang’s bones, she must be like every other Blood Clan—skilled at deception, killing without blinking, treating human lives like weeds or ants.

“So… Su Ling has been bewitched by that Blood Princess’s powers?” Resentment grew in Tii’s eyes.

No, I can’t let Su Ling go on like this. I must save her…

With that thought, a powerful sense of duty sprouted in her heart.

Simple and kind Su Ling, she must be so easy to trick and take advantage of. In this entire city, the only one who can reach out and help her is me.

So, as Su Ling’s best friend, there’s no way I can just stand by and watch her be bullied and deceived by someone else. I must make Su Ling see the truth and come back to my side.

Her footsteps echoed along the stone staircase, heading downward. Tii’s hand slid gently over the icy stone walls, following the downward path step by step.

Only when she reached the cold, empty kitchen space did her pounding heart finally begin to calm down.

Once she was down, she took a deep breath and pushed open the kitchen door.

“Tii? What took you so long? Come help in the kitchen and make lunch!”

As soon as she opened the kitchen door and before she could even catch her breath, the work of a maid fell upon her. Amane and Du were busy scrubbing the big washbasin, waving to Tii to hurry up and help.

“You’re so absent-minded, that’s not like you, Tii! You never make mistakes during work!” Amane said loudly while kneading dough in the basin, “If you’re any later, lunch will be over!”

“Sorry.”

Tii’s face was pale, her eyes a little vacant, clearly still not recovered from what just happened.

“That… Lady Tii?” A timid voice sounded nearby, it was the worried Bo, “Are you all right? Are you feeling unwell?”

“I… I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Thank you for caring, Bo, you’re a good kid.”

Tii forced out a smile, just like always, and reached out to pat Bo’s messy hair.

“If you ever need my help, Lady Tii, please just say so,” Bo said, scratching her fingers, her little eyes darting around.

“Okay, thank you.”

“Enough, Tii, don’t just stand there chatting. We don’t need you for lunch anymore today—go check the Moon Eclipse Rite supplies!”

Ka walked over, interrupting the conversation, holding a Silver Incense Burner in her hand, her movements rushed.

“Tch, that guy from the supply team, honestly! The ritual starts tomorrow and it’s all a mess because he just stands around pointing at things! We’re the ones who have to clean up his mess!”

She shoved the Silver Incense Burner into Tii’s hands.

“Tii, hurry and polish this burner, get all the black stains off!”

Tii took the burner and just nodded.

Then she turned and walked toward the storeroom piled high with all sorts of ritual objects. It had been cleared out for the ritual, looking much more spacious, though the air was still as damp as always.

The ten days of ritual preparation were finally nearing their end. In the first five days, the servants made ritual foods and prepared living sacrifices.

For the last five days, the sacrifices had to maintain bodily purity, so their food was replaced with plain water. The servants’ focus shifted to cleaning ritual objects, preparing royal costumes, and arranging the altar.

Now, what lay before her was a mountain of ritual objects to clean. Time was tight, the tasks were difficult, but even so, she just couldn’t work at her usual pace.

She numbly soaked her rag in the water basin, then wiped away the spots of oxidation on the burner.

Piece by piece, the silverware glistened anew under her polishing, as if reborn.

Without realizing it, she worked endlessly, not knowing how much time had passed.

“Tii.”

A soft voice called out, making Tii’s shoulders tremble all at once.

“Why are you the only one working here?” Su Ling, who had just entered the storeroom, put away her basket and walked over to Tii’s side. “Let me help you.”

“Oh, Su Ling.”

Perhaps because she hadn’t spoken for a while, Tii’s voice sounded a little unnatural, and her emotions, which had just calmed, started to fluctuate again.

“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?” Su Ling had already started working, tucking her silver hair behind her ear.

“That… I… have a question I want to ask you…”

“Go ahead, you can ask me anything.”

“Um…”

Tii hesitated, a thousand words swirling in her mind, but when she saw Su Ling’s face, all those words seemed to vanish.

Suddenly, Tii reached out and grabbed Su Ling’s hand.

“Hey, is it really important?” Su Ling’s eyes flashed with surprise, but her smile was gentle as always, “Then I’ll stop and listen to you.”

Being stared at by those eyes, Tii found it even harder to speak. She took a deep breath, looked up at the gray ceiling, then let her gaze fall on Su Ling again.

As expected, she just couldn’t say it.

“It’s nothing, Su Ling.”

Facing her again, Tii put on her usual smile, as if nothing had ever happened.