The little fox raised its head and looked at the girl. Its eyes were red, and its heart was in a terrible panic.
What was wrong with her?
He gave a wry smile, unable to resist reaching out and taking the girl’s hand.
His voice was soft, capable of sending a tremor through one’s heart.
“Good girl, I was wrong, alright?”
He gazed at the girl, his fingertips touching her cheek, attempting to appease her.
He seemed to have transformed back into a little fox, terrified of being abandoned by its owner. Despite being covered in blood, he crouched down, wanting to wag his tail in front of her.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Are you feeling very unwell?”
The girl glared at him, her eyes still red.
He felt as if his heart had been tightly clenched by her in that instant. With just a single look from her, he was lost, completely at a loss.
He heard the girl’s voice, tinged with a hint of chiding, yet sweet and gentle, setting his heart ablaze. He felt like a man who had wandered the desert for ten days and ten nights, dying of thirst.
And she was his only clear spring.
“What do you think?”
“Didn’t you want to punish me? Didn’t you want to settle scores with me?”
“Come on, then.”
The girl’s eyes were filled with deep grievance, yet she looked so pitiable that the Prince of Yan opposite her was utterly clueless about what to do.
He had intended to punish her severely… to have her on the bed.
He had wanted to see her cry.
But she didn’t even need to weep.
All it took was for her eyes to turn slightly red, and it was he who felt overwhelming heartache, his heart aflutter, utterly helpless. Looking into her eyes, his mind was solely occupied with how to stop her from being angry.
He just wanted to coax her.
He reached out, his gaze falling on the finger marks around her neck that he himself had left. Filled with self-reproach and annoyance, he could only reach out and lift her up.
He cradled her on his lap, lowered his head, and obediently inhaled the fragrance of her hair.
“Don’t be angry anymore, okay?”
“I went mad. But I couldn’t see you… When I returned, they told me you were gravely ill and had already passed away… Did you ever consider how I felt then? I felt as if I had died myself.”
The little fox’s voice was also filled with grievance.
He held her, wanting to nuzzle her neck.
But he restrained himself. His body reeked of blood, and he worried about frightening the girl. He could only whisper his longing into her ear.
“Later, I sensed you were still alive and came looking for you. The Crown Prince set three death trials for me, intending for me to die on the road. I awakened my half-demon bloodline, slew the ambushing assassins, and rode day and night without rest to reach you…”
“Please, don’t be so cruel to me…”
His voice was deep and filled with helplessness.
Hearing him speak thus, she raised her head to look at his face. Indeed, his features appeared haggard, especially the depths of his astonishingly beautiful eyes, which were bloodshot. He had been grief-stricken and had not slept for days; he had truly endured extreme suffering.
The girl sighed.
Her fingertips gently caressed the few blood-red strands of hair growing at his temples, and she said,
“Were you very sad to learn of my supposed death?”
The man opposite her gazed deeply into her eyes and then nodded.
Perhaps it was due to the overwhelming pain. When pain reached its extreme, it often numbed.
That pain felt as if he were being sliced a thousand times, yet it also caused new flesh to grow, leading him to…
To be unable to live, unable to die.
His lips curved in a bitter smile. He reached out, his fingertips slowly touching the corner of her lips.
“How could it not hurt?”
This was the person he held dearest in his heart.
He looked at the young County Princess Mu Ci before him, his eyes red and his heart panicked, but his voice was filled with unbearable grievance.
“You are the one I hold dearest to my heart – how could I… how could I live without you.”
And hearing him say this…
Young County Princess Mu Ci was about to speak when her elder brother’s anxious voice called out from outside.
“Nannan, have you taken your medicine?”
“I’ve found an imperial physician to see you. Don’t be afraid. If you abort this child, you can live a good life in the future. Prince Yan is now a rebel; his child cannot be kept. Be good, listen to me, abort the child.”
“Alright?”
“Nannan, open the door. Your brother has the imperial physician to examine you. That bowl of medicine is a prescription from the palace; it’s very gentle and won’t harm your body. Recuperate well for some time, and then your brother will find a suitable family for you…”
“Please, don’t do anything rash.”
Young County Princess Mu Ci could hear her elder brother’s voice, anxious and tinged with panic.
She looked at Prince Yan before her.
And the half-demon fox, a flicker of elation appeared in his eyes!
But that flicker of elation was fleeting, quickly turning to apprehension.
He stared into Young County Princess Mu Ci’s eyes, looking at the bowl of medicine he had knocked over, his eyes turning red.
But this time, unlike his previous blood-red, bloodthirsty gaze, this was tinged with ecstasy.
He embraced her almost desperately, as if she might vanish at any moment. He held her, pressing himself against her body in a frenzy, kissing her neck with care.
“You’re carrying my baby…”
His eyes were red, as if tears were streaming down his cheeks in that instant. The little fox seemed to transform into a crying baby once more. He held her, as if he possessed the entire world.
Young County Princess Mu Ci tried to break free from his embrace but couldn’t move. She could only grit her teeth and urgently warn him.
“Let me go!”
“My elder brother will be here any moment. Don’t let my brother see you! Do you hear me?”
The man glanced at her, as if wanting to bite her neck forcefully, then it turned into a delicate kiss on her neck.
Then his form shifted, transforming into a small fox, and he curled up at her feet.
Meanwhile, Young County Princess Mu Ci’s elder brother pushed the door open.
He had brought an imperial physician to examine his sister’s pulse. Upon seeing the overturned medicine bowl on the floor, his expression changed.
“How can you be so disobedient!”
“I’ve told you, that traitor’s child absolutely cannot be kept. Do you have such deep feelings for him?”
“We went to such lengths, risking immense danger, just to bring you back from that bitter, cold northern land—”
“Nannan, you absolutely must not be so stubborn!”
Young County Princess Mu Ci’s elder brother gripped her shoulders forcefully, but then he felt a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down and saw a fluffy white creature vigorously scratching him through his trousers. Young County Princess Mu Ci’s elder brother’s expression turned to confusion.
“What is this?”
But as he tried to kick the bothersome little thing away, he didn’t expect it to be so agile, darting past his leg.
Then it landed steadily in Young County Princess Mu Ci’s arms.
Young County Princess Mu Ci, holding her husband, coughed and pretended to be frail.
“This is… a pet I’m raising.”
Young County Princess Mu Ci’s elder brother, the young duke of the Duke’s mansion, looked bewildered.
How could he not know that his younger sister had brought a pet back from the northern lands?