Lin Rui was alone when Arkan finally came back.
The study was quiet. The kind of quiet that made every tiny sound feel too loud. Outside, the only sound was the cold breeze. Lin Rui stood by the window, letting the cool night air touch his face as he closed his eyes. They did nothing to ease the tension sitting in his chest.
His silver mask lay on the desk behind him, placed there carelessly, like he'd started to put it away and then simply forgotten why.
Arkan stepped forward and stopped a few steps behind him. He didn't speak immediately. He had learned over the years when to push and when to wait. This moment definitely required waiting.
Lin Rui did not turn around.
After a few moments, Arkan finally broke the silence.
"You really should stop avoiding her." Arkan's voice had shifted into that brotherly tone he used when he was done being a subordinate. Lin Rui knew that tone. It usually meant he had done something stupid, and Arkan had officially run out of patience.
"I'm not avoiding her." Obviously, lying was not Lin Rui's forte lately.
Arkan snorted. "Right. You've been 'not avoiding her' for six days straight now."
Lin Rui didn't answer. He couldn't.
"She came looking for you again," Arkan continued, a hint of exhaustion in his voice. "She asked me where you were. Again."
Lin Rui's shoulders stiffened. He kept his eyes fixed on a random spot in the courtyard, staring at nothing in particular.
"And?"
"I told her you were not available."
A long pause followed. Lin Rui waited, knowing there was more.
"She didn't believe it," Arkan added. "Not this time. She looked at me like I was a prisoner who had just failed an interrogation."
Lin Rui closed his eyes and chuckled slightly. That sounded like her.
"She told me to pass along a message," Arkan continued.
Lin Rui turned then, slowly, as if moving too fast might shatter something already fragile.
"What message?"
Arkan met his gaze. His expression was tight, serious in a way Lin Rui only saw when actual danger was approaching.
"She said that if you don't see her tonight, she would not come looking again." Arkan straightened. "She is done."
Lin Rui did not react at once. His face remained still, but the room seemed to tilt slightly, as if his balance had shifted without warning.
"Done?" he repeated.
"Completely," Arkan stressed. "Those were her words."
Lin Rui looked away. His eyes drifted toward the desk, to the papers stacked neatly, to the brush he had been holding earlier and never finished using. He couldn't even see Arkan in the eyes right now.
"She did not sound angry," Arkan added again. "She sounded calm."
That detail hurt more than anger ever could. Anger, he could manage. Calmness meant she was moving on.
Lin Rui nodded once. "You may go."
Arkan hesitated. "Your Majesty." He was back to addressing him as the Khan.
Lin Rui glanced at him, tilting his head at the change in tone.
Arkan chose his words carefully. "Whatever you decide, I will carry it out."
That was all he said. It was the only warning he was going to give.
Lin Rui inclined his head slightly. "You may leave."
Arkan bowed and withdrew, closing the door quietly behind him.
The room felt significantly smaller once he was gone.
Lin Rui stood there for a long moment, unmoving. For a moment, his mind was blank.
Tonight.
If he didn't go to her tonight, that was it. It would be over. The connection they had built, the kiss at the hot spring, would all be erased.
Exactly how he had intended.
But was it actually what he had wanted?
He exhaled slowly, rubbing his face with his hands.
Going to her tonight would undo everything.
That was the truth.
The distance was working. Every day he stayed away, the memory of her warmth softened. Every night he held firm, the boundary he needed stayed in place. If he just endured this, the story would settle back into its original tracks.
She would move on.
He tried to convince himself: I can still protect her from afar. I can stop Kabil's torture or the palace bullying.
But then what? Protect her for what?
Her destiny was already written. In the original manuscript, she died. She had to die. That was the whole point of this twisted story. Her death was his ticket back to his own world, back to his apartment, his coffee, his actual life.
Staying away wasn't just about being a coward. It was about not interfering with a fate that was already sealed.
His hand clenched into a fist.
But another image surfaced anyway.
Xiao Zhi standing in the corridor. Xiao Zhi looking at him with that steady gaze. Xiao Zhi laughing, unguarded, forgetting where she was for just a moment. Xiao Zhi smiling.
His chest tightened so hard it was difficult to breathe.
He looked at the eunuch attire folded neatly on his bed. The Ruhan disguise. He took a step closer, his fingers brushing the fabric. He picked it up, turning it slowly in his hands, feeling the weight of the choice.
Then, he placed it back on the bed.
Not yet.
If he went now, he would not stop at words.
He knew himself too well for that.
He would rush towards her, pull her close. He would hold her, not letting her go. He would undo the careful space he had built with his own hands.
And once broken, it could not be rebuilt.
His breath caught. He lowered his hand.
Minutes passed. He did not know how many.
Night deepened.
Lin Rui stepped back from the bed.
He crossed the room again and sat down heavily in the chair by the desk. His elbows rested on the table. His head bowed slightly, his fingers pressed together as if holding something fragile between them.
He stayed there.
He did not go.
This was the line he had drawn.
And he forced himself to stay on this side of it.