[She wakes up around five minutes later, her head throbbing. It takes her a few moments to gather her bearings and try to figure out what had happened. The last things she remembered was Beat attacking her...but why...? And where did he...
Her gaze lands on Beat's body and she stares at the kunai in his chest, horrified.]
W-what have I...
[It's not the first time she's had to kill someone to defend herself, but even with her pounding headache, she instantly realizes the consequences of her actions. Her immediate impulse is to remain by the body until they found it; she couldn't just let someone else take the fall for her.
...but her clan. Her people. If it was only her own life on the line, that was one thing, but the lives of nearly a thousand people rested entirely on her surviving and returning to Xing. The Chang clan had no other heirs and no way to appeal to the Emperor without her. They were already struggling just to get by; if she died here, it would only be a matter of time before their line perished entirely. If she was to be a good ruler, shouldn't it be her responsibility to ensure her people's survival and well-being, no matter what the cost?
...but then again, what kind of ruler would let an innocent die in their place?
There's a good chance she would have stayed there frozen in shock and horror until someone found her anyway, but Xiao Mei's frantic squeaking and pawing at her clothes snaps her out of it. Blind with panic, choked with terror and guilt, she grabs the kunai in Beat's chest without thinking and yanks it out, slipping it up her sleeve before running out of the chapel as fast as she can.]
no subject
Her gaze lands on Beat's body and she stares at the kunai in his chest, horrified.]
W-what have I...
[It's not the first time she's had to kill someone to defend herself, but even with her pounding headache, she instantly realizes the consequences of her actions. Her immediate impulse is to remain by the body until they found it; she couldn't just let someone else take the fall for her.
...but her clan. Her people. If it was only her own life on the line, that was one thing, but the lives of nearly a thousand people rested entirely on her surviving and returning to Xing. The Chang clan had no other heirs and no way to appeal to the Emperor without her. They were already struggling just to get by; if she died here, it would only be a matter of time before their line perished entirely. If she was to be a good ruler, shouldn't it be her responsibility to ensure her people's survival and well-being, no matter what the cost?
...but then again, what kind of ruler would let an innocent die in their place?
There's a good chance she would have stayed there frozen in shock and horror until someone found her anyway, but Xiao Mei's frantic squeaking and pawing at her clothes snaps her out of it. Blind with panic, choked with terror and guilt, she grabs the kunai in Beat's chest without thinking and yanks it out, slipping it up her sleeve before running out of the chapel as fast as she can.]