-~*~-
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Luyao didn't know what to do. He didn't even know if his action of wanting to speak to her was the right choice or not.
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"She felt it … 100 times more…"
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Luyao brought his body to sit at the edge of the bed. Slowly he moved his arms to reach Yanyi. Her hands landed gently on her shoulder. One that is trembling.
Instead of slowing down, the cries continue to be more persistent. More loud. But Luyao didn't move away. He just experienced such emotion himself just a couple of hours ago.
He had cried for the first time in his life and he felt relieved. Like all the burden and emotion that he has been coping up with this entire time is finally let loose. Not rampaging inside of him without a leash.
Slowly his hands continued to pat Yanyi's shoulder while the female kept on weeping. It goes for about 15 minutes.
Not a single word was spoken.
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Eventually the weeping quiets down and Luyao is able to see Yanyi's shoulder stop shaking. She has stopped crying.
Now what should he do?
Momentarily stunned, he brought himself even further on the empty side of the bed. Sitting there while still patting Yanyi down. Eventually a voice laced with traces of tears spoke to him.
"I..I-I'm sorry…"
Luyao didn't respond with words. Instead he continued to gently pat Yanyi's shoulder. Just like how he saw Uncle Ryuichi do when Aunt Vaiden is stressing out.
He did manage to speak out. "You're never in the wrong for this. You're just doing your job. A request from the crown prince." Yanyi stiffen from the first sentence. She can understand humans so well that she refused to forgive herself.
"Look at me." Is all Luyao said. His hand had already fallen off from her shoulder. Yanyi didn't move for a minute before slowly turning herself to the side. He is now facing Luyao face to face.
Her eyes are red puffy from tears. 'How long have you been crying?' is all he is able to conjure in his mind.
Yanyi then proceeds to blanket half of her face underneath the blanket. She is now a roll of blanket entirely. Luyao can't help but smile at this sudden cute moment from her.
He positioned himself and sat cross legged on the bed. His back leaning against the headboard. He didn't look at Yanyi knowing that a direct eye contact is not what she needs right now.
"Can you tell me why the crown prince wanted you to investigate this?" He started with the most obvious question in his opinion. Why suddenly this case? Why her of all people? Why not anyone else?
Yanyi stayed silent for nearly 5 minutes. Thankfully for her, she is facing with a very patient man. Well for her extension of course. He was never patient when it comes to other things.
Eventually Yanyi spoke. "He wanted me to be Empress of the Underworld…" She didn't get much reaction from Luyao. Instead Luyao just smirks and finds it quite funny. "So that is his plan."
"..."
"He will become the Emperor on the surface while you will handle the underworld as the Empress?"
"Yeah…"
"Do you want it?"
Yanyi nodded. The idea had never really crossed against her. All that she knew before Devian even proposed such an idea is that she will become the pillar of justice just like her father. But clearly Devian wanted her to hold an even greater position.
"You do know what your… family works as… right?" Luyao nodded. He had read some old historical books in the past. Some are stories about the myth of the 6th founder. Not a myth anymore I presume.
"Apparently we are cold hearted and apathetic. He controls the underworld and prevents corruption of power. If the Imperial Crown is the symbol we are their shadows. Something like that, right?"
A nod.
"After a certain issue, the family declined and the task of the underworld was given to the state head respectively. Our family was completely wiped clean from history. But some who had heard make stories of them."
Silence.
Yanyi didn't know what to talk about anymore. She had practically shown him everything. Well Irene had she presume. So now, she wasn't able to pick up on any conversation. Thankfully she wasn't speaking to a wall.
Luyao — "I plan on continuing my family's legacy. Slowly of course."
Yanyi — "Heh?"
Luyao — "I will change my name to Zheng and will sent a memorandum to the Imperial Palace. Of course, my home from here forth won't be just in Kinsel. It will be wherever the old manor is."
Yanyi — "So you're going back to Ashrin?"
Luyao — "I will. But not now."
Luyao then looks at Yanyi's silver eyes. One that is filled with unanswered questions. Those eyes that somehow just found its way to manoeuvre through his heart like a maze. There's only ever been one person who has done it. And they are gone for good.
"I will follow you, Future Empress of the Underworld."
Thanks to Aurilians, half of her face was already covered by the blanket. If it weren't she would be even more embarrassed. Her cheeks and not even just her ears are turning red.
She then proceeded to hide even more under the blanket. Luyao just laughs at her little shenanigans. Albeit this little moment, he did offer her some help. "Do you want to learn to be apathetic?"
Yanyi then takes her whole face out of the blanket and stares at Luyao. "Learn to be apathetic?" To which Luyao nodded. He then proceeds to explain that the face of his father is so cold and glaring that just a single stare could make anyone feel powerless.
Yanyi — "How though?"
Luyao — "There are various steps. Especially for someone who wasn't born with a cold face to begin with."
Yanyi — "So it will be much harder for me? Because of what?"
Luyao — "Because you are very very empathetic. Which is not what we want."
Yanyi — "..."
Luyao — "But you've already grasped some of the basic things."
Yanyi — "Like what?"
Luyao — "Building a mask. Yes, it is a temporary one, but soon enough you'll be able to just adapt it into your life much more naturally."
Yanyi then snuggled even closer to the center of the bed. She wasn't really aware of her action but Luyao is. And he didn't back away. Instead he himself even scoot closer to her. "In the underworld, you want people to fear you. The most basic thing is showing your ruthlessness. However if horrible rumours ever come out about one's bloodlust, people aren't going to be happy with it."
"Then?"
"Wear your normal face everywhere else around the empire. Make it look like your true persona is the fake one. People tend to believe that the side that is not often shown is a person's true colour."
"So instead of just tricking the selected few, the best way is to trick the whole society?"
"Correct. When rumours flow out about your bad reputation, society will not see it as true. Why?"
"Because they've only been shown the good part. People will believe what they see, not what they hear. If such words come out of the culprit's mouth, people will see them as delusional or deserving of punishment."
"Precisely."
"Wow… have you been doing this whole time?"
"I don't have to. Everyone just naturally knew that my face is like this. However, in my case, people focus more on action. So by being the Inspector Chief as well as one the General commander of the Ryuichi militant, people will generally have a good view of me."
"Woah… anything else?"
They both continue to talk for the rest of the evening. Because Yanyi had exerted herself enough from crying and emotional baggage, she ended up sleeping while listening to Luyao's teaching.
Luyao sees the little lady before him and smiles. A smile that he hadn't often used. Smile with love. He knew deep down that he had fallen for her. He will tell her one day, but not today.
He then proceeded to lay down on his side. Watching the female before him. Her sleeping face looks so ethereal. But most importantly, she wasn't stressed.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't shaking.
She wasn't hurting.
She is healing.
He decided to take a quick nap for his own sanity by her side. There's no need to stay for long. But knowing that the girl before him is sleeping peacefully is enough for him to have a piece of mind.
Slowly, he closed his eyes and submerged into a temporary slumber. 'I'll just take a 15 minute nap'. He says to himself.
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A knock came at the door of Yanyi's bedroom. It then slowly opens to reveal a pair of emerald green eyes peering into the room. Irene's eyes then darted to where her bed was.
That is when a silent gasp escaped her mouth. She was shocked to say the least. She almost couldn't believe her own sight.
There laid on the bed is Yanyi sleeping peacefully. Her face is facing the door. Her body was covered by a blanket. That is not the most shocking thing. The person beside her is the most shocking thing.
There laying on the empty space of the bed is the man that has yet to come down. Everyone had been waiting for them in the living room for a great two hours mind you. She had even thought that they had a fight and had nearly killed each other.
But there he is, laying beside Yanyi. His back facing him and his face facing her friend.
They are sleeping together.
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What?
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Eker, who had followed Irene, was curious when she didn't move to open or close the door. The boy then slick his way into the room and saw the two on the bed. He wasn't as surprised as Irene and proceeded to slowly walk over to the bed.
He then climbs on top of the bed and proceeds to sleep in between the two figures. He happily takes both Luyao and Yanyi's hand into his own. Closing his eyes in hopes to be embraced by sleepiness.
He wasn't as shocked.
He was happy.
Happy to see two of his favourite people getting along.
Not fighting.
But sleeping.
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When Yanyi opened her eyes again, she felt a heavy weight laying on her forearms. Looking down at where the pain is she saw Eker sleeping there peacefully. Not wanting to wake him up, she slowly pulls her arms away and places a pillow underneath his head.
She has been rotting in bed for the rest of the afternoon. Looking outside the window and seeing the moon in bright and clear view, she figures that it has already passed the scheduled dinner time.
As she was getting out of her bed to take a bath, she saw a tray on the coffee table in her room. She went over and saw a note had been left behind. It read, 'Eat up after you wash up. Nutrition is important. Z.L.'
She smiles before lifting up the tray cover to find a bowl of warm porridge and a cup of warm water underneath. 'He must've put it here just a few hours ago.' She speaks to herself.
She went and cleaned herself up before sitting down and eating her late dinner. Despite it not being hot anymore, it is still tasty. Enough to satire her hunger.
After finishing her meal, Yanyi covered the tray back up and prepared herself for bed. Eker had already been changed into his pajamas so she figured he had taken care of it too. Yanyi sleeps peacefully with Eker by her side.
She saved a lot of energy for tomorrow.
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The next morning.
After breakfast, Yanyi had prepared herself to go back to the station. She had also packed up Eker's belongings as his stay for the week had come to an end. She was walking down the stairs when a whistle came from the end of the stairs.
She knew exactly who that was.
"What now, Irene?" She asks, totally unimpressed by her weird action, especially in the morning. The girl in question didn't say anything and just sent over her smirk to Yanyi. That cat-like smirk could only mean one thing.
She is teasing her for something.
"So~ how was your little nap yesterday evening?" She asks, elongating the 'So' to make it more playful. At first Yanyi didn't react much to what she is saying. Her brain works fast and the next thing, her eyes went wide with embarrassment and her ears turned red from both anger and embarrassment.
"Shut. Your. Trap. Asshole." She warned her, emphasizing each and every single word. If Irene dares to tell anyone about what happened that evening, she herself will skin her. Who cares if she's her friend. Respect her privacy.
"Aw~ It's not like you turn into a tomato. Usually you would be ignorant or just dense as a rock. I guess someone found their soulmates already~" Yanyi swore she saw her eyebrows wiggle for a bit.
Yanyi didn't want to bother her anymore, move quickly down the stairs and place the luggage in front of the main door. Irene keeps on teasing her silently but Yanyi had no wish to abide by her rule. She had more matters to look into.
"Hiss!"
The slight hiss from the living room had finally turned Irene's head the other way around. Kazuto has been injured pretty badly and he needs time to recover. His shoulder is more important.
Irene, seeing Kazuto trying to hold onto the wall to walk over to them, immediately went over and grabbed his arm. Steadying herself to be the pillar for Kazuto to hold onto. Yanyi's eyebrow raised a few millimetres.
"Before you speak about me, look at yourself in the mirror. Two faced bitch."
"Hey!"
Before she could run up and pull her ear, she had accidentally forgotten that Kazuto was holding onto him. She had accidentally pulled him without a warning. Consequently making him hiss in pain.
"Sorry…" Irene proclaimed a silent apology before checking back to the man before her. Yanyi rolled her eyes. She then looks over at Kazuto and asks, "So I figure that you won't be able to continue with the task?" He shook his head.
Kazuto — "The Doctor said that I need to rest for about a week. The wound needs to be closed up first."
Yanyi — "I guess I'll be handling everything on my own then."
Kazuto — "Not exactly. Luyao will be returning back to the station. He has the right as he is related to this whole thing anyway."
Yanyi — "What will he work on?"
Luyao — "I will be working on personally bringing the suspect to a close interrogation. I do believe that he would be far more lenient with me."
Luyao came from the other side of the hallway, Eker following him close behind. "Great then. I'll be handling the whole drug thing. After that, we can make a report and send the case to a close." Yanyi gave her two shades.
Something then crossed her mind and she turned to Irene back again. "What about you? You're not going to work?" Irene shakes her head. She then explained how she will be staying over and caring for Kazuto for the time being. Her internship is coming to an end and they promised to work on something together.
They all went their separate ways. Yanyi, Luyao and Eker went to the station and the other two left behind in the manor.
The whole process didn't take long. Eventually they ended up closing everything and made a full on report about everything. Soon enough it will be sent to the Marquess office and a copy will be sent to the Imperial Palace.
Yanyi also has some things that she needs to clear up, but I will save that for the next entry. Luyao also has a couple of things that need to be handled. After all is well, we will be experiencing the next journey.
Goodbye for now.
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-~*~-