Chapter 4- The Name That Was Erased
1334 Words
The library of the Wen estate was always quiet in the morning.
Selerin liked it that way.
The room smelled of old paper, ink, and cedarwood. Sunlight slipped through the tall windows and fell across rows of ancient books.
She stood on a small wooden ladder, returning a stack of records to their shelf.
"Careful."
Selerin looked down.
Wen Zhihao stood below her, holding another pile of documents.
"I am careful."
"You said that last time."
"I didn't fall last time."
"You nearly did."
"That is not the same thing."
Zhihao sighed.
"It is when you're standing on a ladder."
Selerin smiled.
For a moment, everything felt normal.
The strange forest.
The white stag.
The general.
The mark beneath her collar.
All of it seemed like a dream she had somehow carried into daylight.
Then Zhihao placed an old book on the table.
"This one."
Selerin climbed down.
"What is it?"
"Historical records."
She glanced at the worn cover.
There was no title.
Only a faded symbol stamped into the leather.
A crescent surrounding a single vertical line.
Selerin's fingers stopped.
Her chest suddenly felt warm.
Zhihao noticed.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
She quickly pulled her hand away.
Zhihao opened the book.
Most of the pages were damaged.
Some were missing completely.
Others had been deliberately scratched out.
He frowned.
"This is strange."
"What?"
"This record belonged to the imperial archive."
Selerin leaned closer.
"Then why is it here?"
"I don't know."
He carefully turned another page.
The writing became older.
Names of kings.
Names of kingdoms.
Treaties.
Wars.
Bloodlines.
Then Zhihao stopped.
There was an entire section where several pages had been removed.
Not torn accidentally.
Removed cleanly.
Selerin stared at the empty binding.
"Someone took them."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Zhihao didn't answer.
He continued searching.
At the bottom of the next page, only one sentence remained.
The blood of Yin shall never-
The rest had been erased.
Selerin's stomach tightened.
"Yin."
Zhihao looked at her.
"You know that name?"
"No."
But she had heard it before.
Not from a person.
From somewhere she couldn't remember.
Zhihao turned the page.
A faded drawing appeared.
A royal crest.
A crescent.
A line through its center.
Selerin touched her collar.
The mark beneath it burned faintly.
She stepped back.
Zhihao noticed.
"Selerin."
"I need to see something."
She pulled the collar slightly aside.
The birthmark rested beneath her skin.
Zhihao stared.
The color had always been faint.
Now, for only a heartbeat, silver light moved through its edges.
Zhihao's expression changed.
"Where did you get that?"
"I told you. I've had it since I was little."
"No."
His voice became quieter.
"Where did you get that symbol?"
Selerin looked at him.
"I don't know."
Zhihao compared the mark with the drawing.
They were almost identical.
Almost.
Except the symbol in the book had one additional line.
A line that had been deliberately scratched away.
Zhihao closed the book.
"Selerin, don't tell anyone about this."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Because if someone erased these records..."
He looked toward the library doors.
"...they didn't want anyone finding them."
That afternoon, Selerin couldn't concentrate.
She carried a basket of folded linens through the eastern corridor, but her thoughts remained in the library.
Yin.
The word wouldn't leave her mind.
She had spent seventeen years without a family name.
Seventeen years without knowing where she came from.
Whenever she asked Madam Qiao, the answer was always the same.
You were abandoned.
Your parents are gone.
There is nothing to remember.
But what if that wasn't true?
Selerin stopped walking.
A strange thought entered her mind.
What if someone had made sure she forgot?
She immediately shook her head.
No.
That was impossible.
Her childhood memories were simply empty.
There was no conspiracy.
No hidden family.
No reason for anyone to erase her past.
At least, that's what she had always believed.
"Selerin?"
She turned.
Lianhua stood at the end of the corridor.
"You look pale."
"I'm fine."
"You always say that when you're not."
Lianhua approached.
"Did something happen?"
Selerin hesitated.
She wanted to tell her.
About the book.
The symbol.
The general.
The stag.
Everything.
But something inside her told her to stay quiet.
"Nothing happened."
Lianhua studied her face.
Then she smiled gently.
"You don't have to tell me."
She took Selerin's hand.
"But if you ever want to..."
She squeezed it.
"I'll listen."
Selerin smiled.
"Thank you."
For a moment, she forgot about the mark.
Forgot about the erased pages.
Forgot about the name she had never known.
Because Lianhua was there.
And that felt like home.
That night, Zhihao returned to the library alone.
He placed the ancient book on the table.
Then he opened a drawer beneath the desk.
Inside was another document.
Older.
More fragile.
He had found it hidden behind several official records.
There was only one surviving paragraph.
When the Yin crown disappears, its heir must not be named.
Zhihao stared at the sentence.
"Why?"
He turned the paper over.
Nothing.
He searched the edges.
Nothing.
Then he noticed something.
A faint imprint beneath the writing.
Someone had written a name before the page was scraped clean.
Zhihao held it beneath the candlelight.
Only three letters were visible.
Yi-
His eyes widened.
Before he could investigate further-
The library door opened.
Zhihao turned sharply.
Madam Qiao stood there.
Neither spoke.
Her eyes immediately went to the document in his hand.
For the first time, Zhihao saw fear in her expression.
Not anger.
Not annoyance.
Fear.
"Where did you find that?" she asked.
Zhihao slowly folded the paper.
"Why?"
Qiao stepped into the room.
"That document does not belong to this house."
"It came from the imperial archives."
"You should return it."
"Why?"
Her expression hardened.
"Because some names were erased for a reason."
Zhihao stared at her.
"And who decided they should be erased?"
Qiao didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the door.
Then back at him.
"You are a clever young man, Zhihao."
Her voice was almost a warning.
"Clever enough to know when to stop searching."
She turned and left.
Zhihao remained motionless.
He looked down at the fragment again.
Yi-
Then he remembered Selerin's mark.
His expression slowly changed.
"No..."
Across the estate, Selerin stood before a small mirror.
She pulled down the collar of her nightdress.
The mark was visible.
For years, she had thought it was nothing more than a strange birthmark.
Tonight, it looked different.
The silver lines seemed sharper.
Almost like the symbol was waking.
Selerin touched it.
A sudden image flashed through her mind.
A woman.
Long dark hair.
A crown.
Arms holding a newborn child.
Then-
darkness.
Selerin gasped and stepped backward.
The vision disappeared.
She pressed a hand over her mouth.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
Only silence.
Then she heard footsteps outside her room.
She quickly covered the mark.
The door opened.
Madam Qiao stood there.
Selerin froze.
Qiao stared at her.
For one brief second, their eyes met.
And Selerin noticed something strange.
Qiao wasn't looking at her face.
She was looking at her collar.
At the place where the mark was hidden.
Selerin's heart began to pound.
"Madam?"
Qiao's expression returned to normal.
"You should be asleep."
"I couldn't sleep."
"Why?"
Selerin hesitated.
Then she asked the question she had never dared to ask before.
"Did you know my parents?"
Qiao went completely still.
Only for a second.
But Selerin saw it.
"Yes," Qiao finally said.
Selerin's breath caught.
"You did?"
Qiao looked away.
"Go to sleep."
"Madam-"
"Your parents are dead."
Her voice was cold.
"And there is nothing left for you to find."
Qiao closed the door.
Selerin remained standing in the darkness.
She didn't know why.
She didn't know how.
But for the first time in seventeen years-
she knew one thing for certain.
Madam Qiao Meizhen was lying.
And somewhere inside the walls of the Wen estate, a forgotten name waited to be found.
A name that someone had tried very hard to erase.
Yi Xin.
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