After Luoli left, Xiamir pressed her ear against the door, listening intently to the sounds inside the room.
The door panel wasn’t thick, so as soon as she leaned in, she could clearly hear the subtle noises from within.
First came Yiyi’s soft, trembling, “Don’t, don’t bite there,” followed by Lilia’s low chuckle and the gentle rustling of fabric, like feathers tickling at one’s heart.
She rested her fingertips against the door, a faint smile spreading in her eyes, even her voice unconsciously lightened, as if afraid of disturbing the people inside.
Just then, Yiyi’s breathy murmur came from the room: “You already drank a blood vial, why are you still biting…”
Her words were cut off by Lilia’s quiet laughter, with the faint, heated sounds of fabric brushing against skin lingering in the air.
Xiamir couldn’t help but curve her lips, tapping her fingertips gently on the door panel, her voice gentle with a hint of teasing: “If you keep biting, Yibao probably won’t be able to get out of bed today.”
The noise inside instantly ceased.
After a moment, Yiyi’s flustered, embarrassed voice sounded: “Xa—Xiamir! Don’t come in!”
Then there was Lilia’s dissatisfied little huff, as if their fun had been interrupted, and more rustling of clothes.
Outside, Xiamir listened to Yiyi’s anxious tone and chuckled softly, tapping lightly on the door again, her tone full of mischief: “I don’t mean to interrupt—just, if I wait any longer, the rose cakes the imperial kitchen just made will be cold. Yibao talked about them all day yesterday.”
As soon as she finished, there was a clear sigh of relief from Yiyi inside, then Lilia’s unwilling grumble: “Got it, got it, Aunt Xiamir.”
The rustling grew louder, as if Yiyi was pushing Lilia to get up.
After another moment, the palace door was pulled open just a crack.
Yiyi poked her head out, half her cheek flushed red, her eartips tinged pink.
When she saw Xiamir, her gaze darted away as she spoke in a small voice: “We—we’ll be ready soon. The cakes… can you save us some, please?”
Xiamir looked at Yiyi’s loosely draped clothes, clearly just thrown on.
“You two were on the bed just now, what exactly… were you doing?”
At this, Yiyi’s face flushed so red it seemed blood might drip, hurriedly pulling up her loose collar, her eyes avoiding Xiamir’s: “N-nothing! It was just… just Lilia being playful, that’s all!”
“Then how come I heard some, hmm, less-than-decent sounds?”
Yiyi’s face turned as red as a ripe peach, her voice stammering: “N-no indecent sounds! None at all! You must have misheard!”
She instinctively shrank back, trying to hide behind the door, but Lilia’s arm snaked around her waist from behind.
“Yiyi was clearly enjoying it just now~”
Lilia said, taking Yiyi’s ear into her mouth.
Warm breath and a wet touch fell on her eartip, making Yiyi tremble as if burned, her hands wrinkling the hem of her clothes in her grip.
She hurriedly tried to push Lilia’s shoulder away, her voice soft and trembling: “Lilia! D-don’t—don’t do that!”
Xiamir took in the whole scene, only smiling and making no further jokes before turning and leaving.
Watching Xiamir’s departing figure, Yiyi suddenly sensed danger.
She tried to seize the chance to break free and escape from Lilia, but the person behind her grabbed her wrist tightly and yanked her back into the room.
With a loud “bang,” the palace door slammed shut.
Yiyi struggled to break free from Lilia’s grip, her ankles in white stockings scraping faint sounds across the floor, her voice nearly crying: “Let go of me! Xiamir’s gone—what more do you want?!”
But Lilia pulled her onto the soft divan, gently pinching her chin, forcing her to lift her gaze, scarlet eyes brimming with cunning amusement: “It’s better now that Aunt Xiamir is gone—what we got interrupted earlier, we should finish now~”
…
No one knew how much time passed before the palace door opened again.
Yiyi emerged slowly, supporting herself against the wall step by step.
She had changed into a little white camisole, her bare shoulder still marked with faint red imprints.
Her cheeks were so red they looked ready to bleed, her legs weak and wobbly as if she were stepping on clouds, her white stockings torn in several places, dangling loosely at her ankles.
“Lilia, you scoundrel…!” She bit her lip, her voice choked with grievance, but she hadn’t the strength to turn and glare at the person following lazily behind her.
Lilia trailed after, pinching a piece of rose cake dusted with sugar, her gaze full of indulgent laughter as she watched Yiyi wobble along the wall: “How am I a scoundrel? Who was it just now, hugging my waist and sobbing ‘go slower’?”
“Y-you shut up! You promised you only liked my blood and only wanted to bite me, but you… you even touched my body later!”
Yiyi’s eyes reddened in a panic, her voice trembling.
Lilia stepped forward, one hand gently supporting Yiyi’s waist to keep her from falling, her fingertips brushing carelessly under the camisole, making Yiyi tremble all over again.
“When I bit you, you didn’t push me away, did you?”
Her voice was soft and low, with a teasing lilt, pretending not to know.
“Besides, your body’s so soft, touching a bit won’t hurt—plus, you just now…”
“I did not!”
Yiyi hurriedly cut her off, her cheeks burning so hot they could catch fire, but she didn’t have the nerve to argue harder, only biting her lip and turning away, muttering softly.
“Anyway, you’re a liar…”
“Heh, so what.”
Lilia let out a low chuckle, her fingers pinching Yiyi’s reddened earlobe, making her shiver once more.
“Tricking you—isn’t that enough?”
“You!”
Yiyi gritted her teeth, turning to try and escape, but Lilia wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her firmly into her embrace.
The warm hug enveloped her in a familiar scent, and the spark of anger that had just flared up was instantly doused.
All she could do was clutch Lilia’s clothes, cheeks puffed in irritation as she looked away: “Let go of me! Someone might see!”
“No, no, not letting go. Let’s go back to the room and I’ll help you change.”
As Lilia spoke, she’d already turned around, carrying Yiyi toward the room.
“Let—let me go, I don’t want you to change me! Y-you’ll…”
Yiyi’s voice grew softer and softer, the final words trembling, her face buried in Lilia’s neck, even her ears turning crimson.
How could she forget—last time, when Lilia helped her change, she’d used the excuse of straightening her collar to leave several bite marks along her collarbone and chest.
Lilia lowered her head, hearing the unfinished sentence, chuckled softly, her breath brushing over the top of Yiyi’s hair: “What will I do? Bite you again?”
She deliberately slowed her pace, gently patting Yiyi’s back, her tone full of mischief.
“Or, is Yibao afraid I’ll do something else?”
“You already dare to touch my body, wh-what do you think!?”
Yiyi jerked her head up, eyes rimmed red, but she didn’t dare really glare at Lilia—she could only quickly turn away, her voice still carrying the lingering pout.