That night, Jingrui couldn't sleep, partly because of the conversation she had with Prince Zhanying and Xiao. But mostly because, whenever she tried to close her eyes, a strange sound would pierce her eardrums.

"The desolate wind, the infinite fog

The dwindling snow, the falling rain

Forgetting the night, cherishing the pain

As there exists no dawn."

A woman's voice sang a haunting tune. Not melodiously sung, but sharp and rough like rumbling sea waves. It echoed in her, calling for her. Like a pair of powerful claws, it reached for her, trying to pull her out into the cold night and let darkness consume her whole.

It must be around half-past midnight, and she flipped and turned, squinting her eyes shut. She clutched her ears, trying to block out the sick tune that kept on repeating in a loop. Her heart thudded in her chest the whole night, and she was in and out of her sleep until the sun rose, and dawn plastered the sky.

By then, her eyes were dry and heavy, and she pushed herself up from her bed. Slumping out into the open air, the refreshing morning breeze didn't help ease her tiredness. She scanned the courtyard and realised that Xiao and Prince Zhanying were already up, sitting amidst the courtyard and playing a game of Wei Qi¹⁴. She yawned and waved at them.

Xiao's eyes widened when he saw her. "What happened to you, lass?" he exclaimed as he beckoned her to him. "You look like a corpse!"

Jingrui plopped down by the table, trying to pull her eyelids open. "I couldn't sleep last night. An unmannered person was singing outside my chamber for the whole night. . ." She turned her sullen face to Prince Zhanying who was sipping tea as per norm. "Your Highness slept in the same courtyard as me, did you not hear anything?"

He did not look at her as he gestured for her to pour him another cup of tea. "I could hear your whining and shuffling from behind the wall which distracted me from my sleep. But don't feel guilty, high deities rarely need much rest."

Jingrui held the lid closed on the teapot as she poured him a steaming cup and smacked it down on the table in front of him. "Not those sounds. I meant the strange singing that tried to lure you out of your quarters. Did Your Highness hear it?"

"I didn't hear anything else," he told her as he calmly sipped his tea.

Jingrui scanned his expression to see whether he was trying to scare her as he had always found it amusing to do so. "Your Highness really didn't hear anything?"

He lifted his serious gaze to her. "I have terribly good ears, but I didn't hear anything, Bao Bao." He turned to Xiao who was attentively listening to them. "Perhaps you should ask your senior. Maybe he knows the source, after all, he is this Sect's supreme General."

Xiao shook his head. "I've been here for around a moon. Although we are not permitted to leave our quarters after midnight, I've never heard strange noises in the middle of the night as Jingrui had mentioned."

Prince Zhanying nodded as he placed a black pawn onto the checkerboard. "You are hallucinating, Bao Bao. None of us heard such a thing."

Jingrui furrowed her brows. "But I really was not hallucinating. I could hear it as clear as day. It was calling for me." Jingrui shivered and gave him a glare. Prince Zhanying never took her seriously, and sometimes, she wished he would not forsake her. "Do you not believe me?"

Prince Zhanying beckoned her to come closer to him. She grumbled under her breath but still complied.

When she was near his reach, he caressed the back of his finger over the bridge of her nose, making her face flush with a strange warmth. "Don't come out of your chamber after midnight no matter how much it calls you," he told her, and a strange light emitted from his long fingers. A substantial strength pulsated through her, almost knocking her backward.

"W-What did Your Highness just do?" Jingrui touched her flushed face, feeling whether she still looked the same.

"I put a spell on you," he said as he continued sipping his tea and placing his last pawn onto the board. "Checkmate."

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