Dawn arrived quietly.
No horns.
No watchers.
No celestial pressure bearing down on the ruins.
That absence felt more unsettling than any threat.
Liuxue woke before the others, the fire reduced to glowing embers. For a moment, she lay still, listening to the steady rhythm of her breath and the faint hum beneath her skin.
The seal was different.
Not quieter.
Clearer.
She sat up slowly, placing a hand over her chest. The warmth there felt steady, responsive, like something waiting for instruction rather than fighting restraint.
"You are awake."
The Starborn man stood a short distance away, watching the horizon. He had not slept.
"Did they return?" Liuxue asked.
"No," he said. "Which means they are deciding how to proceed."
She rose to her feet, joints stiff. "So are we."
He turned to her then, studying her with careful intensity. "Do you understand what you chose last night?"
"I understand enough," she said. "I will not reclaim the throne they fear. But I will not remain what you made me either."
A shadow crossed his face. "That path is unstable."
"Good," she replied. "So was the old one."
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips before vanishing.
Yining stirred awake nearby, groaning as she sat up. "Please tell me the heavens collapsed overnight."
"Not yet," Liuxue said.
"Disappointing."
They broke camp quickly. The ruins felt less oppressive now, as though the land itself had loosened its grip. When Liuxue stepped forward, the air shifted subtly around her, responding.
Yining noticed immediately. "Is it just me, or does the world feel… alert?"
The Starborn man nodded. "You are no longer suppressing your presence."
Liuxue frowned. "I am not doing anything."
"That is the point," he said.
They followed the old road deeper into the Borderlands. As the sun climbed, the land changed. Stone gave way to cracked earth and twisted trees, their branches bent as if shaped by old storms.
Liuxue felt something tug at her awareness.
"This region is wounded," she said.
"Yes," the Starborn man replied. "Your fall caused fractures across multiple realms. This land sits along one of them."
She stopped walking.
"My fall," she repeated.
He turned back, meeting her gaze. "Your refusal shattered the balance. When the heavens judged you, the shock tore through reality."
Yining frowned. "So all of this is collateral damage."
Liuxue's jaw tightened. "Then I owe this place something."
The Starborn man's expression sharpened. "You do not owe the world your obedience."
"No," she said. "But I owe it accountability."
She stepped off the road toward a cluster of withered trees. The ground beneath her feet warmed, responding to her presence. Cracks in the earth softened, closing slightly as if easing a long held strain.
Yining gasped. "Liuxue, what are you doing?"
"I do not know," Liuxue admitted. "But it feels right."
The seal flared, not painfully, but brightly.
The air hummed.
The trees shuddered, their bark smoothing, leaves trembling before slowly unfurling. Color returned, muted but alive.
The Starborn man stared. "You are stabilizing the fracture."
Liuxue's breath came fast. "Without the throne?"
"Yes," he said softly. "Without it."
Yining laughed in disbelief. "You are healing reality by existing."
Liuxue staggered slightly, the effort draining but not overwhelming. She stepped back, the land settling into quiet once more.
"That was instinct," she said. "I did not force it."
The Starborn man approached her carefully, as though she were something newly discovered. "This is why they are afraid."
Liuxue looked at her hands. They did not glow. They did not tremble.
"They do not get to decide what I am anymore," she said.
A sudden pressure rolled across the land, sharp and intrusive.
The Starborn man stiffened. "They felt that."
Yining groaned. "Of course they did."
The sky darkened slightly, clouds gathering unnaturally fast. In the distance, something vast shifted.
Liuxue lifted her head.
"I will not hide again," she said.
He searched her face. "Then our next step will put you directly in their sight."
"Good," she replied. "I am tired of being watched."
Thunder rolled faintly across the Borderlands.
Somewhere beyond the clouds, the heavens turned their gaze fully toward her once more.
And this time, Liuxue did not flinch.