I sat still, recalling our moments together. To be honest, my eyes were teary, and I may or may not sobbed for a bit.

  A few hours went by and I continued hiding. The sun that day stayed brighter and higher than usual. By the evening, the sky still looked like it was just noon.

  All that time, with nothing to do, I worried about how the people from South City would perceive Ly Giai's sudden presence.

  That worry grew over time. I became more anxious when I realized that I was too far up the mountain to see anyone down the village. I contemplated whether or not I should move down a little closer, at least enough to see people.

  But that would increase the likelihood of them finding me, so I was in a back-and-forth.

  In the end, I decided to come down, telling myself worrying about Ly Giai was just an excuse. The truth was I had already started to miss her.

  "Just a little bit," I reminded myself as I was carefully moving down the mountain. I constantly looked left and right in case someone was still in the mountain. But luckily, beside me were nothing but trees, rocks, and dirt.

  "A little bit more won't hurt," I told myself as I continued moving down, farther than where I originally planned.

  "There is probably no one left in the mountain, so a little closer is fine."

  "I don't see anyone around. I can move down more."

  ...

  ...

  Before I knew it, I was at the bottom of the mountain.

  I was extremely scared and nervous about being found out, but there was no one nearby, so I took the risk of going into the village.

  The village was small and clean. They were mostly agriculture with all the equipment and farms I ran by.

  The sun was starting to come down. I had to hurry, the people of South City could start moving soon before night came.

  I walked slowly through the tiny houses with my back bent. I didn't know if lowering my back would make me smaller or not, or if it was just an unconscious action to make myself smaller. Whatever the reason was, the fear of being spotted while walking in an open street with nowhere to hide was unbearable.

  Going through the houses, I finally ended up at one that was built larger than the others. Coming closer to it, I heard the sounds of people talking inside. I watched my step and got close to the wall to peek in. Finally, I've found Ly Giai.

  Inside the house were the people from South City and the villagers. They were having dinner together. I saw the people talking and laughing, having a great time.

  In the middle of them, surrounded by other ladies, was Ly Giai. She was the center of attention. I saw her talking and smiling with them naturally. I was relieved seeing her surrounded by people who appreciated her like that. Seeing her smile, I felt a bitter happiness that she left me for a better place.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I stood beside the window to watch her in secret. In the end, nothing has changed. Things were just getting back to how it should be. Watching her from afar was the most blessing I could have.

  Even though I accepted the harsh reality, I wasn't willing to leave. I stood there, watching her dearly.

  But I was too greedy.

  "You! You're 'Grass'!" A voice from nowhere rose.

  My heart sank.

  Someone saw me! I swung my head to where that sound came from. There's someone who just came out from the house.

  "You're not dead?" he asked in surprise and approached me.

  "No... No!" The thing that I feared most had happened. I got recognized!

  So I ran.

  "Hey! Hey!"

  I ran as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was running. I just wanted to get as far from there as possible.

  "I got found out! I got found out!" I repeated to myself. I couldn't think of anything anymore.

  I looked back to see if anyone was chasing me. There was no one. So after a while, I stopped running.

  My heart was beating like it had never had before. I felt the pulses in my head, and I could hear it loud and clear through my ears.

  I felt dizzy, running out of my mind like that made everything I was seeing warped. Somehow, the land had curved, and the houses looked like they were floating.

  I was dying for air. The fear, the images I tried to ignore were suffocating me.

  "They are... not going to tell Ly Giai about me, are they?"

  I was horrified even when the thought just slightly crossed my mind. All tiredness instantly washed away. I stood up and began sprinting back to the house.

  "Please don't tell her! Please don't tell her! Oh heavens, please don't let them tell her!" I prayed and prayed as I ran back to the house as fast as I could.

  When I got there, I quickly jumped to a bush close by to hide my presence. I should have done it in the first place. But in this bush, I couldn't see anything inside the house. I could only hear them.

  "Old man!" someone called. He sounded like the man that saw me.

  "What is it? You're disrupting everyone," the old leader spoke. I couldn't hear the laughs and talks anymore. He had drawn all the focus on him.

  "I just saw Grass!" the man said.

  I closed my eyes and prayed. My hands were all sweaty listening to them but I couldn't dare to do anything. I was frozen in fear.

  "Grass?" The old man asked again.

  "Yes!"

  I heard conversations arise from the room. Most of them were about why I wasn't dead yet.

  Among the talking, one stood out, "Who's Grass?"

  "Ly Giai," I recognized her voice. "Please, don't tell her. Please..." I desperately prayed, closing my eyes tight.

  "You don't know Grass?" someone asked her, a woman's voice.

  "No, I don't. Who is it?" she admitted.

  "I'm surprised that you don't know about him," the woman said. "He had been in South City for many years now. His posters were all over the city."

  "I didn't know. Who is he anyway?" Ly Giai asked again.

  There was a long silence after Ly Giai's question. I hoped that the other lady wouldn't say anything. But my wish was only short-lived.

  "Grass is what we call him," the old leader spoke. He must have overheard Ly Giai's conversation.

  "There are many things we don't know about him, and to be honest, we don't want to know more about him. What we do know is that Grass is not from our country, Sa. He came from our enemy, Ly."

  "Is that why you all despise him?" Ly Giai asked.

  "Of course not," the old man said. "South City is the main trading city between Sa and Ly. It's not strange to see Ly people come and live with us. Many of us here have family roots in Ly. So no, we don't hate him because he is from Ly.

  We hate him for what he does."

  "What did he do?" the old man stated.

  ...

  "He sexually assaulted a lady."

  "Oh heavens! He said it! He said it!" I cried, biting my hand to not make a sound. I held my heart, It was so painful that I just wanted to die.

  One by one, people commented.

  "I heard that she is from Ly's royal family."

  "His face and his crime were posted in every city throughout Sa and Ly. People called him Grass."

  "Grass, as in, 'How dare a grass try to touch the clouds?'"

  "Truly despicable! How shameless he is staying at South City when everyone knew what he did!"

  ...

  ...

  In those conversations, Ly Giai finally asked, "This... Grass, do you know his name?"

  One lady told her, "Do. That's his name."

  The last bit of hope in me had died. "Please heavens... Kill me."