Sivir was stunned.
Her amber eyes widened instantly.
Her pupils contracted slightly.
She stared at Lin Gui.
She stared into those indifferent eyes of his.
Under the moonlight, those eyes that usually held little emotion were now watching her quietly.
It was not an interrogation.
It was not anger.
He was just... waiting for an answer.
Sivir opened her mouth to speak.
Then, she slowly sat up.
Moving away from Lin Gui’s lap, she sat facing him.
The moonlight fell between them.
Below the city wall, the cheers still echoed faintly.
But up here, it was very quiet.
It was so quiet they could hear each other’s breathing.
Sivir looked at him.
Then, she smiled and pointed toward the celebrating citizens below.
“The revolution will fail?”
“Are you joking?”
“Uncle Kars, who’s been treasuring that low-quality ale for years, too stingy to touch even a drop...”
“He’s recklessly splashing it out for the celebrating workers today.”
“This is the victory of the revolution!”
“We’ve driven away the nobles who sat upon our backs, driving us to desperation, holding blades to the throats of our loved ones and extorting our worth!”
“We’ve driven away the knights who saw us as slaves and compared our lives to worthless weeds!”
“This is the blossoming of Spark!”
“The Council has recognized the founding of Spark City! It won’t be long before we are integrated into the City-State Alliance. This is our victory.”
“We don't have to face the wrath of a force as massive as the Alliance because of any chain reaction our system might have caused.”
“We’ve already won, Lin Gui.”
“No accidents will happen.”
Sivir stood up.
She walked to the edge of the battlements and, with her back to the lights below, spread her arms wide.
The night wind blew through her hair, fluttering her faded white shirt.
Behind her lay the entirety of Spark City.
Countless dancing flames, countless cheering silhouettes, illuminated streets and mine shafts, and those mountains of slag that had accumulated over decades.
Moonlight fell upon her.
It fell upon her pale blue hair and into those amber eyes.
She stood there, looking like a lord overseeing her own domain.
“Lin Gui.”
She spoke softly.
“Look down there.”
“Those people who once couldn't even get a full meal.”
“Those who once worked themselves to death in the mines, and in the end, had no one to collect their corpses.”
“Those who once watched their daughters being taken away by nobles, yet didn't even dare to utter a sound...”
She paused.
“Now, they can drink as much as they want.”
“They can sing at the top of their lungs.”
“They can hold their children and tell them that from now on, they don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
Her voice was very light.
But every word seemed as though it were being pulled from the depths of her heart.
“Do you know, Lin Gui?”
She turned her head to look at him.
Those eyes of hers reflected the lights of the entire city.
“I once saw a miner.”
“He worked sixteen shichen every day, from morning to night, without rest.”
“His wife died of illness because he couldn't afford a physician.”
“His daughter was targeted by the lord's son. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed until his face was covered in blood, begging them to let her go.”
“Then, he was dragged out and given thirty lashes.”
“Because he had offended the nobility.”
Sivir's voice faltered for a moment.
“His daughter... was still taken away in the end.”
“Three days later, her body was dumped on a slag pile.”
“That miner went mad.”
“He would get up every night and dig in the slag pile.”
“Digging for his daughter.”
“He dug for three whole months, until he himself died in that slag pile.”
She took a deep breath.
“But now, that won’t happen anymore.”
“No more miners' daughters will be taken away.”
“No more fathers will kneel on the ground kowtowing until their faces are bloody.”
“No more children will starve to death in the winter, and no more elderly will freeze to death in the streets.”
“They will eat their fill.”
“They will be well-dressed.”
“They will have houses to live in.”
“Their families won't suffer torture, or even death, because of a single action.”
“Their wives and daughters won't be insulted at someone’s whim.”
She turned around to face Lin Gui.
The city's lights burned brightly behind her.
In that moment, her beauty was breathtaking.
She looked like the goddesses from legends, descending to Earth to rescue all living beings from their suffering.
“This is what we are pursuing, Lin Gui.”
“This is the meaning of the revolution.”
“And now.”
She spread her arms as if trying to embrace the entire city.
“We’ve succeeded.”
“The Council has recognized us.”
“Spark City will truly continue to exist.”
“We will become a member of the City-State Alliance, the first city-state on this continent that truly belongs to the common people.”
“We will build more houses, cultivate more land, and let everyone who comes here survive.”
“We will show those who used to look down on us.”
“That mud-legged peasants can also build their own city-state.”
She looked at him.
There was a smile in her eyes.
There was light.
There was a certain conviction that bordered on the sacred.
Lin Gui watched her.
The moonlight fell between them.
Below the city wall, the cheers still echoed faintly.
The firelight dyed half the sky red.
She stood there in the center of that light.
So beautiful.
So resolute.
So...
As if she were trying to convince herself.
Convince herself that the Spark Revolution had already come to its conclusion.
That they could enjoy the coming prosperity to their hearts' content.
Lin Gui did not move.
He just sat there, watching her quietly.
The expression on his face did not change in the slightest.
His eyes remained as indifferent as ever.
Like a pool of stagnant water.
He was not moved by Sivir’s speech.
He knew.
He knew everything before him.
He knew those cheering people, those dancing fires, and the city that was burning with life.
He knew every word Sivir was saying and every picture she was painting.
It was all real.
At the very least, in this moment, it was real.
But he also knew.
After tonight’s celebration.
The Black Dragon Army would trample this place.
Those who were currently celebrating would fall in pools of blood.
Those currently illuminated streets would be swallowed by fire.
Those beautiful days currently being described would turn to ashes within a single day.
As for Sivir.
This woman standing under the moonlight, beautiful as a sacred statue.
This fox who was painting a beautiful picture of the future for Lin Gui.
In the massacre of the following day, she vanished into thin air.
She did not die by the enemy’s sword.
She did not fall amidst the flames.
Instead, at the moment right before the enemy’s army stepped into Spark City.
She vanished into thin air.
The arrival of the Black Dragon Army made everyone realize that the so-called peace talks and agreements were nothing but a ruse.
Disaster descended as the army, led by traitors who had been bought off...
Searched for members of the Spark organization.
The people of the Spark organization fled in all directions with the help of the citizens.
Sivir alone was nowhere to be found, no matter how much the entirety of Spark City was searched.
Many people thought she had been secretly kidnapped by the enemy’s assassins.
They thought she had been executed in secret.
They thought her body was buried beneath a pile of nameless bones.
But Lin Gui knew.
None of that happened.
Because disappearing along with Sivir was the Heavenly Star Sphere that assisted her in performing Prophecy.
That Heavenly Star Sphere that never left her side, sealed by the secret technique of the Star Fox clan, and hidden in the most secret location in the city.
Aside from Sivir herself, no one could have broken through the layers of protection to obtain that thing.
There was only one possibility.
Sivir knew.
She knew of the impending destruction.
She knew that tonight’s celebration was the final one.
She knew that the beautiful days she had personally described would never arrive.
Therefore, she left.
Before the enemy arrived.
Before the massacre began.
While everyone else was still fast asleep.
She was gone.
But what Lin Gui could not understand was...
Why did she not give any advance warning?
Even just thirty minutes.
Even just thirty minutes in advance.
Perhaps a few more people could have escaped.
Perhaps he could have delivered the word to the other two city-states a bit faster.
Perhaps a few more people could have been saved.
Even just one.
Even if it were only one.
Yet she did not.
Just like that... she abandoned her so-called ideal and ran away.
Rate on N.U.
