Chapter 141: The morning after

Ru Yi woke up before the light had fully settled into the room. Her senses returned slowly, careful fragments as the lingering haze of wine and the dangerous magic pulsing around her finger slipped quietly out of her veins.

For a long moment she did not move or breathe too deeply. She did not let herself think beyond the simple awareness that Qingyue was beside her.

She was close enough that the warmth of her body pressed faintly against Ru Yi’s arm, like what had bound them together had not totally loosened its hold.

Ru Yi turned her head, just enough to look at the sleeping woman beside her. The sight in front of her felt entirely different from the overwhelming pull the night before.

There was no magic urging her closer, no invisible force blurring her judgement. The only thing that remained was the quiet and undeniable truth of what she and Qingyue had done the night before.

She watched Qingyue, the way her lashes rested softly against her cheeks...her expression stripped of its usual control.

For the first time Ru Yi woke up to the woman who wasn’t a strategist and unyielding protector. But simply a woman who had allowed herself, if only briefly, to exist without her armor.

Ru Yi felt something tighten painfully in her chest as she watched her. She could blame all the external forces she wanted but she knew what happened between them wasn’t entirely imposed or unnatural.

There was a hidden affection that had taken root slowly since the start of their journey, growing in the spaces between shared glances and restrained words.

The sound of the door sliding open broke the stillness, and Ru Yi reacted instantly. She pulled the blanket up and covered Qingyue completely before the attendant could take another step into the room.

It was the female attendant that had shown them to the room. She lowered her gaze respectfully and spoke in a calm, practiced tone.

"It’s time for you to leave," the attendant said. Her voice was firm, like this was a routine she had repeated countless times before.

Ru Yi inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Okay," she replied quietly.

The attendant withdrew and slid the door shut behind her.

Ru Yi exhaled slowly, uncertainly finally taking root when she reflected on her actions. Even with Yexue she had not felt anything strong like this.

Her eyes drifted to the ring on her finger.

Qingyue stirred then, her brows knitting slightly as consciousness returned. The moment her eyes opened and took in their surroundings she froze completely.

Her entire body went rigid beneath the blanket as awareness struck her all at once. For a brief moment neither of them spoke.

Ru Yi felt an unfamiliar heat rise to her face, a sudden and unexpected shyness settling over her where confidence had once been. She found herself looking away first.

"I’m sorry about last night." Ru Yi’s voice was quieter than usual. "It must’ve been the wine." The explanation sounded insufficient even to her own ears.

It was fragile in the face of everything that had happened, and yet it was the only shield Ru Yi could offer. The only way to frame the night as something external rather than something deeply personal.

Qingyue did not respond immediately, her gaze merely lingered on Ru Yi for a fraction too long before she finally nodded once.

Without another word she pulled the blanket away and began to dress with the same efficiency she applied to everything else in her life.

"I’m really sorry," Ru Yi mumbled as she scrambled to put her robe on. "It really was a mistake. I don’t know what came over me."

Qingyue kept her back to Ru Yi without offering a response. That only seemed to unnerve Ru Yi the most.

"Can we act like it didn’t happen?" Ru Yi could feel the panic start to settle in when she was met with another silence. "And please...don’t tell Yexue. I don’t want to hurt her feelings more than I already have."

Qingyue turned then, her face was back to being a blank canvas. "And what about my own feelings?" she asked casually, pushing her fingers through her hair.

Ru Yi couldn’t come up with a coherent answer.

"Come on, let’s go." Qingyue took a brief glance at the bed. "They must be worried to death about us." Her tone was even, giving no indication of the storm that might be brewing beneath the surface.

Ru Yi nodded, hating Qingyue’s lack of expression. The version of her she’d gotten last night was very much etched into her brain.

All the expressions Qingyue had made when Ru Yi claimed her in the most intimate way possible, was a strong contrast to the woman in front of her.

If not for the bite marks that were littered on her shoulder, Ru Yi would’ve mistaken it for nothing more than a dream.

A certain distance settled between them as they left the winehouse together. The early morning air was cool against their skin, the remnants of the night fading behind them.

Neither of them spoke during the short walk back to the inn, the silence stretching between them with a tension that they were both not willing to break.

When they stepped inside the inn they were lodging at, the shift in the air was immediate and impossible to ignore.

Yexue was already there, standing near the centre of the room with her eyes bright with unshed tears. Her hands were clenched at her sides.

And the moment she saw them she let out a shaky breath that sounded dangerously close to breaking.

"You—" Yexue started, her voice wavering. But whatever she had intended to say faltered as her gaze moved between Ru Yi and Qingyue.

Behind her stood Lieyin, who was anything but uncertain. Her expression was sharp, her eyes narrowing the moment they landed on Ru Yi.

Then it shifted to Qingyue, and in that single glance she understood far more than either of them said.