Chapter 6: Angelina and the Yulan Secret Arts
ANGELINA stood in front of a door. Opening it, she found a large tree growing from the ground. Sizeable, golden leaves formed the canopy. Small, blue fruits reminiscent of stars hung from the branches in clusters. Angelina looked upwards with wide eyes. The golden bell hung above her, and crepuscular rays spilled down from six arches.
“This is the bottom of the tower,” she mumbled to herself with a sigh. “The one shaped like a hexagonal prism.”
Angelina walked around the tree. Dry, golden leaves had formed piles around the circumference, softening the ground. After walking halfway around the tree, Angelina’s eyes widened again. A large marble platform etched with Yulan characters sank into the tree. The platform also had an incision that resembled a drawer. Despite having no knob, it did have a triangular keyhole. By all appearances, she could stick the Dagger of Mercy into the keyhole and use the handle as a knob.
Golden characters—most likely ancient Yulan—had been etched above the drawer. When Angelina held her magic bookmark above the characters, they were translated into the words, “Forgive us.” That was the secret incantation whose meaning had been lost, according to Phaenna.
“What does this mean?” Angelina muttered while cocking her head. “Did the royal family regret something?”
Since thinking would get her nowhere, she unsheathed her dagger and placed it in the keyhole. With a crack, a white fragment fell from above. After raising her head, Angelina rubbed her eyes, unable to believe what she saw.
A man stood atop the marble platform, partially embedded in the sparkling, golden trunk. The light filtering through the canopy illuminated his beautiful form. His blond hair was parted down the middle, falling straight down to his shoulder blades. His azure eyes were the same color as Angelina’s. He looked similar to the troupe leader with the barrel organ. The only difference was the bright red stone glittering on his forehead, which shared the same shape as the Tianshi’s Protective Seal. Clearly, the marble platform had been created to display him.
From the waist downwards, he was as white as a marble sculpture, as if his lower body had been coated with plaster. His upper body, however, resembled a flesh and blood person. That said, he wasn’t human. Black wings grew from his back—the symbol of a fallen tianshi. Tragically, a dagger similar to Angelina’s had been stabbed deep into the left side of his chest. White fluid reminiscent of milk spilled from the wound. That fluid had hardened, covering his lower body.
Is this the legendary fallen tianshi?! Angelina cried out internally, at a loss for words.
The tianshi donned a bitter smile while looking down at her. “Just a little longer, and I would have been free…”
Though his despair-inducing voice oozed hatred, his tenor was as beautiful as a heavenly melody. With a crack, another fragment of the stone covering his lower body peeled off and fell downwards. Angelina clambered up the marble platform, where white flakes had piled up around the fallen tianshi’s feet.
“Are you okay?!” Angelina cried, heaving herself up over the lip of the platform. “How did you end up like this?!” As she approached the tianshi, the white stone flakes crunched beneath her feet and crumbled into dust. “This is terrible. What should I do? Would it be safe for me to pull the dagger from your chest…?”
The tianshi bellowed with laughter in response to Angelina’s panicked expression. “You don’t know anything, do you?” he asked, his lips twisting into an exasperated sneer. “Fool of a royal princess.”
“I’m not the royal princess,” she responded, looking up at him. “My name is Angelina. What’s yours?”
“Successive queens have called me the Yulan Secret Arts for generations.”
“Huh?” Angelina asked, cocking her head. “That’s not a name, is it?”
The fallen tianshi glowered at her. “I am the Yulan Secret Arts. Your ancestors are the ones who imprisoned me here. I would rather you didn’t speak my true name.”
“I don’t believe it. Didn’t the tianshi fall in love with the inaugural queen…?”
“That’s right,” he replied with a snort. “I fell in love with your ancestor, we had a child, and I became a fallen tianshi. However, we tianshi live far longer than you humans. When my wife crossed the gates of Heaven without me, I vowed to stay on Earth and protect our descendants. Don’t you see, Angelina? You and I have the same eye color.”
“You’re my ancestor? Then how did you end up like this…?”
“I had the exact same thought! I loved my daughter. I protected my descendants. Nevertheless, they feared me.” The tianshi began to roar, “Because I didn’t age! Because of my powerful magic! Despite that, they bound me to this tree with sorcery to steal my power. Their seal prevents me from going anywhere. They bound me here with this accursed, cross-shaped wedge and siphoned my magic into a dagger!”
Without thinking, Angelina gripped the knife in her hand.
“Yes, the Dagger of Mercy,” the tianshi confirmed. “Possessing that dagger is proof that you are Queen of Yule. It is also the magical artifact that steals my power.”
This dagger had saved Angelina’s life countless times up until now. All the while, she’d never known its dark secret.
“You merely want my power as well,” the tianshi accused.
“I didn’t come here to seal you away,” Angelina responded.
The tianshi snorted. “Then why did you come here? Someone from Yule must have guided you, correct? How can you expect me to believe you?”
“I was told that the time-reversal sheet music is in Yule Castle. A little while ago, I met my mudder, and she directed me here.”
“You mean Princess Phaenna—the young woman who never inherited my power.”
“…Yes. So, I don’t need anything other than the sheet music.”
Hate darkened the fallen tianshi’s eyes as he looked down at Angelina. “I never expected the cruel emperor to sacrifice himself for his daughter. Perhaps I should have taken parental love into account.”
The tianshi’s muttered words sank into the light and disappeared like soap bubbles.