Black

Inside Concubine Shaye's room, Shali was sitting before her mother.

"What?! He survived??" Concubine Shaye dropped to the floor in relief. It felt like a noose around her neck had been released.

"Yes, mother." Shaye was shaking from relief and joy at knowing Syryn was alive. Nothing else mattered. After her brother's death, every family member and friend was a precious life she would no longer take for granted.

Concubine Shaye hadn't told her daughter about the plans that she had had for Syryn but Shali suspected it anyway because it was very obvious that her mother had wanted Syryn at the clamshell area. She was puzzled as to why the concubine had reacted positively to the failure of her plans at harming the human.

"Mother, were you trying to kill him?" She raised her head and asked in a tentative voice.