Taking Leave, Leaving a Reason for War

So what if I hit him?

Serena Feng stared proudly at Reid Yale, her eyes burning with furious fire.

She would never let Reid Yale off!

The Crown Prince, William Wang Jinling, Holden Cui, and Dominic Zhai all silently stood by Serena's side, wordlessly supporting her.

Even if Serena Feng slapped Reid Yale in public, none of them thought she was wrong. If they were in her place, they'd have done the same.

Reid Yale's greatest mistake was using General Feng and Madame Feng's remains as leverage, and openly saying he wanted to feed them to dogs. If Reid had found their bodies and delivered them respectfully, Serena might have let bygones be bygones. But now...

Reid Yale should be grateful for having a powerful father. If he weren’t the Young City Lord of Night City, he’d already be dead. The way Serena looked at Reid was as if she were staring at a corpse.

Prince Damien of Southlyn and Prince Terrence of Lyndaria both felt a chill in their hearts. They hadn’t expected a woman like Serena to harbor such deep hatred; even they felt cold just witnessing it.

The two princes were secretly relieved—they hadn’t openly taken part in this, at most they were accomplices. Even if Serena wanted revenge, it wouldn’t fall on them. Sharing a tacit understanding, they quietly retreated into the crowd, determined not to end up like Reid Yale as public enemies of Eastlyn.

The eerie silence made Reid Yale realize how serious things had become. He clutched his face, staring blankly at Serena as if he had no idea what to do next.

Everything had spun beyond his expectations. He couldn’t understand what he’d done wrong or how things had gotten to this point.

He’d dug up General Feng and Emma Lu’s remains not to return them to Serena, but to break her—to make her cry and beg him for their bones.

But what happened? Serena did cry, but not to beg him—instead, she shed tears of rage, looking ready to tear him apart and bury him with her parents.

Reid didn’t want to face this version of Serena. But... he hadn’t yet destroyed General Feng and Emma Lu’s remains, and he couldn’t let it go.

But what could stubbornness do for him now? He’d already lost his chance to act, and inside, he’d grown afraid—even if his pride wouldn’t let him show it.

Reid stubbornly lifted his chin, locked in a standoff with Serena. He refused to just leave because she told him to—where would that leave his pride, or Night City's reputation?

Reid needed a way out. William Wang Jinling realized if Reid didn’t leave, Serena really might kill him. He nudged the Crown Prince, signaling him to speak up.

The Crown Prince nodded knowingly, stepped forward to separate Serena and Reid, and decisively reframed the situation.

"Young City Lord, regarding today's incident, I will personally question the City Lord of Night City about what this means. Young City Lord, you don't seem well—perhaps you should go home and rest."

The Crown Prince’s words did give Reid a way out, but at the same time, they dragged all of Night City into the mess. If needed, Eastlyn could now use this as a reason to go to war with Night City.

The Crown Prince believed that, with proper justification, none of the other eight cities would send troops to help Night City. As long as the Nine Cities didn’t unite, Eastlyn’s army could easily swallow Night City into its territory.

That’s the Crown Prince for you—always thinking about Eastlyn. William Wang Jinling shook his head and looked at Serena with sympathy. Of all the people present, only Serena was truly grieving for General Feng and Madame Feng’s remains; everyone else had their own agendas.

...Reid Yale broke out in a cold sweat, his face deathly pale. He just couldn’t understand it—he’d only dug up General Feng and Emma Lu’s remains, so how did the Crown Prince turn this into an Eastlyn versus Night City affair?

He moved his lips, wanting to explain, but couldn’t find the words—or maybe he was just too afraid of Serena’s threat to feed him to the snakes. Even if he wanted to, he didn’t dare speak.

Reid looked helplessly at Prince Damien and Prince Terrence, hoping they’d speak up for him. In a situation like this, one wrong move could destroy all of Night City.

But after searching, he couldn’t find either of them. Reid realized it was over—they’d abandoned him, and Night City would have to bear the blame alone.

Reid stood in despair, realizing his arrogant actions had pushed Night City to the brink. He was about to become Night City’s greatest sinner.

At this point, Reid not only lost his voice—he lost his spirit. He just stood there, blank and dazed, unable to see or hear anything, not even reacting when someone dragged him away.

After Reid left, Serena’s emotions gradually calmed. She didn’t scream or shout—she just stood there, silently crying. Even so, her voice was hoarse.

Serena bowed to the Crown Prince and everyone present, her voice rough: "Your Highness, honored guests, after what’s happened, I’m unable to host you any longer. Today’s banquet is over. In the future, I’ll prepare generous gifts and personally apologize."

With that, she bowed deeply again.

After such an incident, who could stay to eat and drink? That would be disrespectful to Serena’s parents. Led by the Crown Prince, everyone said it was fine and told Serena to focus on General Feng’s affairs.

"Serena, take care of yourself. If you need anything, send word to the Crown Prince’s residence. If I can help, I won’t refuse. When General Feng and Madame Feng are laid to rest, I’ll personally pay my respects." With these words, the Crown Prince left first, and the others followed.

Serena stood like a wooden statue, mechanically bowing to anyone who spoke to her. Her sorrowful expression was hard to watch.

William Wang Jinling and Dominic Zhai stayed behind, wanting to comfort Serena. But before they could speak, Serena refused: "I want to be alone for a while. You should go."

Some pain can’t be shared, nor can company ease it. She’d already caused enough of a scene today; she just wanted to be alone and lick her wounds in silence.

Her heart ached—ached terribly!

William nodded, saying no more. Before leaving, Dominic offered a word of comfort: "Alright, Serena, take care. At least you found General Feng and Madame Feng’s remains. Don’t be too sad."

Dominic meant well, but to Serena, it felt like another stab to the heart.

"Mm." Serena nodded numbly, biting her lip hard to keep from crying.

William glanced apologetically at Serena, hurriedly dragging Dominic out. Dominic didn’t understand, but William did—Dominic’s words weren’t comforting at all; they were like a dagger to the heart.

Another dagger thrust into Serena’s bleeding heart!

The Imperial Astronomer said today was the best day of the entire winter. Maybe so...