Ningyan's eyes widened. "…I was… actually going to die?"
He had assumed Meishan would fix it. That there would be an instant solution. There was always a solution.
Rong Yue nodded once. "Yes."
Ningyan sat back down on the bed slowly this time. "…oh."
There were no dramatics anymore. No jokes. Just... that.
A faint violet glow stirred around him, soft and instinctive, reacting to the shift in his emotions.
Rong Yue had said we.
That meant... they had all been there waiting for him to either live or die.
Ningyan looked up again.
This time, his eyes were softer. Brighter. Almost like starlight flickering beneath the surface.
"…I'm sorry," he said quietly. "For scaring you all."
Rong Yue hadn't expected an apology from Ningyan. He stood there for a moment, simply watching.
