"Ah... anyway!" Mati cleared her throat, fluster still clinging faintly to her cheeks. "Back to the legend."
Shan Yifeng nodded eagerly, eyes shining as he settled in.
Mati's gaze drifted toward the open window, her voice softening into the hush of a bedtime story. "She was so beautiful…"
Her voice taking on the soft, wistful cadence of a bedtime story. "So breathtaking, in fact, that even the gods of the heavens grew jealous.
They all desired her, but only one among them crossed the line. He didn't just desire her. He took it, even if it was by force."
Shan Yifeng's smile faded slightly. He listened in silence.
"Beauty without strength… it came with a terrible price," Mati continued. "She was taken, used, and left with child. A child born not of love, but of force. She hated that child, hated what it represented. And the culprit, he left, roaming the land freely."
Mati's eyes drifted to the ceiling as if seeing the memory etched in starlight.
