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(If the translation here is awkward, I'm not to blame; it's the chat GPT)

A sunny morning in the prosperous state of Banyue. To be precise, it would be prosperous if it weren’t for the constant wars. The wars with Yong'an over territory had lasted so long that none of the inhabitants could remember when they began. And it was especially hard for those who had fallen in love with the citizens of their rivals. And their children.

One such child was the Advisor of Banyue. There was a clear similarity between her name and the name of her home state, which could not help but provoke many people. How dare she bear such a noble name of an outstanding state, being a half-blood? Because of this, she was very different in physique and became a scapegoat for the children of Banyue, who had been taught cruelty and cold-bloodedness from a young age. Her father had left her in early childhood, and her mother soon died of illness. But even despite this, despite the endless bullying and harassment, she managed to become more than just a half-blood and a subject of mockery.

Literally from the bottom, she fought her way into the court mages, learning to control the main enemy of the people of Banyue—the scorpion snakes—and from there soon became a state advisor. And if at first everyone still looked at her askance and was wary, they eventually began to respect her immensely.

People finally started to see in her something more than just an object of ridicule or a "suspicious court mage."

***

— Advisor, your carriage is ready, please.

The girl gracefully stepped into the carriage, leaning on the hand extended to her. Despite her newly acquired status as an advisor and her considerable power, she still continued to undertake various assignments, which were often secretive. There was no exploitation; it was her own desire, especially considering that these tasks never involved physical labor. Banyue sincerely sought to help her homeland. Despite her difficult childhood, she still had a huge and kind heart. And like every self-respecting courtier, she had a personal bodyguard. To be precise, a bodyguard. The one who followed her on every assignment and errand. The one who wouldn’t allow anyone to look askance at the Advisor even in her everyday life. The one who was ready to give her life for her. Her personal bodyguard—Xuan Ji.

Xuan Ji’s father was a general in the Banyue army, and soon she rose to the rank of a female general before entering service in the palace. Eventually, after long service, she was finally assigned to protect one of the Emperor’s courtiers. She couldn’t contain her astonished gasp upon seeing who it was. A young woman, who had just recently gained her status as an Advisor, with a physique quite exotic for their people and perfect features. At least, that’s how they appeared to her back then and still do. It was truly worth giving her life for her.

And now, Xuan Ji, as she had a million times before, sat right next to her, waiting for their arrival at the destination. Her cold and aloof, as it might have seemed at first glance, dark purple eyes were directed downward, reflecting the contemplation of their mistress. Few knew that behind those deceptively detached eyes lay a gaze filled with warmth and a huge heart that remembered only kindness shown to her.

And then, the carriage, which looked exactly like those of ordinary mortals, came to a stop. The bodyguard hurried out to offer her hand to her Mistress. Leaning on her, the Advisor stepped down, and they headed to the desired location. The Advisor walked ahead, and Xuan Ji was a step behind her. It seemed that this time everything would go peacefully again, but then several soldiers leaped out from an ambush ahead and rushed at them with wild speed. In an instant, Xuan Ji shielded Banyue with her body and drew her sword, preparing for battle. Despite the obvious numerical superiority of the Yong'an soldiers, the bodyguard skillfully deflected all their strikes. Meanwhile, Banyue summoned snakes, which attacked the enemies in a massive swarm; she couldn’t just stand there and watch. It looked as if they were winning easily, but then a strange sound came from behind. The guard almost reflexively turned her head, ignoring the still-living enemies in front of her. The staff of the former court mage lay on the sand, and she herself was grabbed and held above the ground by a creature about two meters tall. Her heart skipped a beat.

Without fearing to turn her back to the enemies, Xuan Zi rushed toward him. Striking especially aggressively, she tried to inflict maximum damage on the monster without hitting the girl who was shamelessly used as a shield. Like everyone else, she was convinced that the Advisor controlled the scorpion snakes with her staff, but how astonished she was when she saw her use a finger movement to make hundreds of snakes coil around the soldier's legs. At that moment, Banyue broke free, but he maintained his balance. Meanwhile, the snakes bound the remaining surviving soldiers, and after a few more bites, they joined their fallen comrades.

The creature drew its sword and swung it sharply at the bodyguard. The blow landed on her legs. Xuan Ji felt a sharp and intense pain. She squinted for a few moments, and her legs gave way beneath her. No matter how hard she tried to get up, it was all in vain. In such a vulnerable position, a barrage of strikes was about to rain down on her, but finally, the staff she had managed to retrieve deflected all the blows before it fell to the ground again, and Banyue, without hesitation, picked up her bodyguard’s sword, seeing her inability to stand.

She skillfully deflected all the strikes aimed at her and, with a single blow, finished him off. Catching her breath, she dropped the sword and knelt in front of Xuan Ji. Her gaze was fixed on the latter's feet, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the right words. It was already clear that the mission would have to be postponed.

— I’m sorry, my Mistress, I couldn’t protect you properly.

— It’s alright… let’s go, — the foreign melodic voice was barely audible, so softly it was spoken.

The surprise on Xuan Ji's face was something to behold when this petite girl, almost 20 centimeters shorter than her, lifted her into her arms with some effort. Her legs hurt terribly. Banyue carried her to the carriage and seated her inside. The bodyguard felt so ashamed. For not being able to protect her. For forcing the Emperor’s courtier to carry her in her arms. For so foolishly exposing herself to the blow. For not being able to fulfill her duty. For not being able to stand after a single blow. But in the eyes before her, there was not a trace of anger or disappointment. Only… concern. And in her voice, there was… guilt?

Upon their arrival at the palace, the court nurses and servants took care of the guard. It turned out that both of her legs were broken. She wouldn’t be able to walk for a very long time. What upset her the most in all this was that she wouldn’t be able to walk alongside the State Advisor anymore. And that she would be assigned another bodyguard. What would happen to her after she recovered? Would she be able to continue serving Banyue? Or would her new bodyguard perform her duties much better than she did? Or would she be completely removed from service? While Xuan Ji tried to dispel all these unnecessary and inappropriate thoughts, there was a knock on the door.

It was Banyue. In an instant, she was in front of her and sat down beside the bed. For more than a minute, she tried to gather herself to start a dialogue, but finally, she spoke the long-awaited words.

— Xuan Ji… forgive me. It’s all my fault. If I had been more careful, none of this would have happened… I… — the girl spoke quietly, slowly, with pauses and breathlessness.

— Advisor, what are you saying? It’s I who failed in my duties. I should have protected you until the end, but I let them grab you.

It was clear that this speech had no effect on her. In her beautiful, starry-eyed gaze, guilt still lingered. But she didn’t argue; she simply took Xuan Ji’s hand in hers and continued to sit silently beside her. Xuan Ji would have liked to just chat with her about this and that, but she couldn’t find the words. It pained her to see this sincere girl suffering over something she wasn’t even guilty of. Such emotions did not suit her beautiful face. And the longer the bodyguard looked at it, the less she could control her forbidden thoughts. She longed to stroke her hair, gently kiss her, assure her that she wasn’t to blame, and hold her tightly… But Banyue was the Emperor’s courtier; how could Xuan Ji even think such things? It seemed she truly wasn’t fulfilling her duties. In every sense.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a touch on her lips. Her eyes widened in disbelief. The soft lips of Banyue pressed against hers, while her hands continued to hold her bodyguard's hand. The latter felt as if she were dreaming; everything seemed so unreal. But before a moment had passed, the Advisor pulled away, her cheeks flushed, and she ran out of the room. She would clearly regret this act.

Xuan Ji watched her leave for a long time. Maybe she had imagined it?.. Perhaps that blow had affected more than just her legs? Or had she lost consciousness back then, and all this was a dream? Or maybe she was already dead? All of this sounded far more realistic than the idea that the Advisor had actually kissed her.

(If the translation here is awkward, I'm not to blame; it's the chat GPT)

Puddles of crimson blood surrounded the pedestal where just a short while ago a majestic statue of a still very young but already very successful and beloved deity had stood. Now, in its place, lay the very same deity, now deposed, unconscious and bleeding. Poor, poor Crown Prince, how sad it is, how sad it is to realize that not all problems can be solved with excessive self-sacrifice and grand, pompous phrases! But it’s alright; after all, he had no experience to understand this, right? This naive and overly self-confident boy still has everything ahead of him. And most importantly, he will have the most reliable and best helper in this. How regrettable it is that his little prince so aggressively refuses to acknowledge his assistance. He merely wants to help this foolish child open his eyes and finally see the world as it is, without rose-colored glasses. But it’s alright; very soon, his Xiangle will realize the mistake he made, will come to him, and will start begging the demon for guidance. And until that happens, the White Calamity will gladly assist him with this. Most importantly, he will prove that no one in this world will love him as much as he does.

The old temple had long been deserted, and the people who had dared to stab a sword into the chest of their own deity, to whom they had once prayed for salvation and health for their own lives, had instantly forgotten all of his deeds, consumed only by their selfish desire to live, had long turned to ash beneath their feet. Only two figures, clad in white—though who could say—remained inside the half-destroyed, blood-stained temple, from which the acrid metallic smell seemed it would never dissipate.

After several hours of silence in the temple, finally, some sound broke the stillness. The rustle of clothing, followed by quiet, almost imperceptible steps barely audible to human ears. Over the now former deity, a demon loomed, still clad in all white. He scrutinized the face of the fallen god, as if everything could have changed in those few hours. Then, thoughtfully, and with a somewhat anticipatory, sinister smirk, he pulled something small, metallic, and shiny from his sleeve.

He then turned it under the light of the only remaining, barely flickering candle, examining it as if seeing it for the first time in his life. It turned out to be a silver ring with a stone, very similar to what two lovers typically wore after their wedding ceremony. But it had one very small peculiarity. The stone was not attached or welded to the ring itself, as is usually the case; it was held by a nail inserted inside the ring. In other words, to wear this ring, one would literally have to pierce their finger through. It seemed only a madman would wear such a thing! Indeed, only a madman would. And that was exactly what the White No-Face was.

After a moment, the White No-Face smoothly shifted his gaze from the sadistic ornament to the rather emaciated, pale, blood-soaked hand of the former Crown Prince. With a deft and swift motion, he removed the nail with the stone and slipped the ring onto the thin ring finger of the deity's right hand, the place where married people typically wore their wedding ring. A moment later, a sound filled the temple that seemed completely unfamiliar, inappropriate, and too loud—the sound of metal ringing, the crunch of breaking bone. Just a couple of hours ago, the entire temple had been filled with these sounds. Everything had merged into one, and the common folk, for whom hearing such a sound had once been pure horror, no longer paid it any heed. Now, however, the temple was once again enveloped in such tranquility, as if a brutal massacre had not just occurred within its walls.

A new stream of blood once again desecrated the nearly deathly pale skin, which in life had only known the touch of the blood of enemies felled by its bearer. Although, looking at the state of the Crown Prince Xiangle, this was practically unnoticeable. Considering how much blood he had already shed and the wounds visible on his body, this small detail would go unnoticed by anyone.

It was completely unnoticeable, but for Xie Lian, it remained a disgraceful mark far worse than the cursed kanji, especially considering who had left it and with what intentions. Unlike the cursed kanji, which peacefully rested on his neck, merely reminding him of the horrors of his kingdom's fall, bringing immense pain, both physical and moral, serving as a reminder of even more horrific events and of a completely immoral, disgusting creature that did not adhere to even basic moral standards, for whom there were no boundaries of what was permissible, wearing only white and having the audacity not only to adorn him with such a thing but to wear an identical ornament on his own ring finger, which was originally meant to symbolize a strong and happy marriage. But there was one caveat: unlike His Highness, who was less fortunate, the White No-Face's ring was an ordinary wedding ring, without any masochistic inclinations. Wedding rings with the White No-Face… just think about it… it sounded utterly unimaginable; it was too insane to be true. Even such a bright and lovely tradition for lovers had been defiled by the demon with his perverse and completely immoral thoughts.

But his motive remained a mystery to Xie Lian. It was clear that he wanted to inflict as much pain as possible, to humiliate him as much as he could, to trample him into the dirt in order to finally break the excessive pride of the Crown Prince, but there were plenty of other ways to do that! Why did it have to be done this way? Moreover, hadn’t he done this not long ago when he destroyed Xiangle, proving to the naive Se Lian that he was not omnipotent? And that torture with a hundred swords had been more than enough to finally break the almost defeated fallen deity. So this action was completely unnecessary. Such ornaments should be worn by lovers who had willingly chosen this, and the White Calamity was perhaps the last person one could call such.

The ring could not be removed by any means. It pierced through the bone, preventing it from healing, causing excruciating pain. The only way to get rid of it would be to cut off his own finger, and His Highness was not yet mad enough to take such a step. To be honest, he wouldn’t dare. Besides, it remained inconspicuous only when the internal organs of the prince, minced into fine pulp, were on display. When he, dressed in modest monastic robes made from the most disgusting fabric imaginable, gathered trash to somehow make ends meet, the shiny ring with a rather large and clearly expensive stone caught the eye first and foremost.