244: 影魅 梨花 🖤🎭

🖤 Rika of the Shadowlight

Rika stood before the window, her silhouette outlined against the fading light of the sun. The black dress clung to her like a whisper, its ruffled hem swaying gently with each breath. Outside, the sky burned orange and gold, but inside, the shadows curled around her like old friends.

She was known in the city as “Kage-mei”, the Shadowlight. A name spoken in hushed tones only by those who dealt in secrets. Rika had a gift. She could walk through light without being seen, and tell truths that made liars forget their own names.

Tonight, she had one final task.

The letter lay folded on the table behind her. A name. A location. A promise. She read it once, then burned it. She never needed to read things twice.

Her reflection in the glass was calm. But behind her eyes, memories stirred. Memories of a sister lost to betrayal, of a mentor who vanished into smoke, of a vow made beneath a blood moon.

She turned from the window. The room darkened as the sun dipped below the hills. Her heels clicked once on the wooden floor, then vanished into silence.

By the time the stars blinked awake, Rika was gone.

Only the scent of jasmine remained.

And somewhere in the city, a secret was about to die.