The marketplace was crowded and noisy, filled with merchants shouting over one another, the scent of food drifting heavily through the streets. People brushed past constantly, shoulder against shoulder beneath hanging lanterns.

And somehow—

Right in the middle of all that chaos—

you crashed directly into someone.

---

“Ow—”

A low voice muttered above you.

Strong arms instinctively caught your waist before you could completely lose balance. The wine flask in the stranger’s hand tilted dangerously, nearly spilling.

For a moment, everything around you seemed to go strangely quiet.