Embers of Jade: A Soul Rewritten

The city lights were distant flickers beneath the Xu estate rooftop. The moon hung like a silver coin in the ink-blue sky, bathing the terrace in a cold glow.

Aurora stood barefoot against the stone tiles, the night breeze whispering through her silk robe. The world below was quiet, but within her, storms clashed in silence.

Behind her, footsteps approached—unhurried, purposeful.

"You always seek the highest ground when something's weighing on you," Sebastian said quietly.

She turned. He wasn't wearing his usual tailored suit tonight. A simple black linen shirt clung to his form, sleeves rolled carelessly. Somehow, the casual look made him seem more dangerous.

"I needed air," Aurora replied.

"Or distance," he said knowingly. "From everything… or everyone?"

She didn't answer.

Instead, she looked up at the moon. "You want me to fake a partnership. I want revenge. We're not exactly aligned."

"But we want power," he said, stepping closer. "And that makes us allies."

His words were deliberate. Cold, calculated. Yet there was a faint warmth beneath them—a quiet pull she couldn't ignore.

He extended a hand. "Marry me. On paper. In front of the world. You'll gain your name back, and I'll gain strategic silence from your enemies."

Aurora laughed, though it sounded more like disbelief. "You're proposing a contract marriage under moonlight? That's either poetic or insane."

"Both," he said simply. "But the world will believe us if the performance is flawless. We'll protect each other. Use each other."

"And what if we fall for the illusion?" she asked quietly, almost to herself.

Sebastian's eyes didn't flinch. "Then we'll burn again. But together this time."

Something inside her cracked—an invisible wall she hadn't realized was still standing.

She looked down at his hand.

A pact made under the moon carried old power. She remembered it from a past life. Blood oaths sworn under starlight. Promises that bound souls across centuries.

Aurora slipped her hand into his.

"Then let's make the world believe," she said.