The unfamiliar address and the familiar voice filled the entire room with a heavy silence.
Qin Luo Yi listened to the softly creaking door, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips as her arms tightened around Yun Mu’s neck.
Yun Mu instinctively turned his head toward the door, momentarily stunned before remembering he could no longer see anything. He then spoke, “Mm, I’m here. May I ask if this is Miss Qiu Yue?”
“Y-Yes… it should be me… my father and mother always call me that…”
The girl’s hesitant voice was tinged with uncertainty, as if she were hearing her own name for the first time.
“Um, is this a good time? I’d like to come in and see you…”
First it was ‘Yun Mu’, now it was ‘you’ again…
Yun Mu easily sensed the obvious strangeness and recalled the unfinished words Qin Luo Yi had just spoken, pondering quietly.
“Well… if it’s inconvenient for you, I… I won’t bother you.”
“Ah, sorry, I was just lost in thought. I’m fine now,”
the moment the girl spoke again, he realized he might have been a bit rude and hurriedly responded,
“Please, come in.”
Then, the door creaked open.
At the entrance, Shangguan Qiu Yue slowly pushed the door, clad in a red cotton jacket despite it being early summer, her shoes lined with fur.
She looked cautious, her footsteps small, slow, heavy, and measured, like a timid child afraid of making a mistake.
“Has your health recovered?”
“Ah! Yes, yes, thanks to you, my illness has gotten better… so I thought to come see you…”
“You?”
The unfamiliar address compelled him to ask, his calm and cold tone startling the girl.
“W-Well, you voluntarily gave me your eyes and bones. You’re my Benefactor. My mother said that one must be polite to their Benefactor, so that’s why I address you this way. Please, is there something wrong with how I address you? If so, I-I-I can change it.”
She explained timidly, a string of words spilling out as she bowed her waist.
Though Yun Mu could not see, he could imagine the girl’s appearance and realized something—Shangguan Qiu Yue must have Amnesia.
Voluntarily, huh?
It seems the Shangguan family has already fabricated a new identity for me, albeit based on their subjective judgment.
But it’s not a problem—after all, I did voluntarily give her those things, in repayment of my Rescuer and the Rescued debt.
In fact, this works out well—this way, she won’t be sad for long over me, a “stranger.”
Yes, yes, this way, things are settled.
With that thought, his tone brightened considerably.
“It’s fine, Miss Qiu Yue, you can address me however you like. It was my tone earlier that was wrong, I apologize…”
“No, no, you did nothing wrong. It’s me who spoke awkwardly…”
“No, it’s mostly that I frightened you, so it’s my fault.”
“No, no, no…”
“All right! How long are you two going to keep apologizing to each other? Do you think I don’t exist?”
As the two prepared to continue their bickering, Qin Luo Yi, who had been silently hanging on Yun Mu’s neck all along but had been ignored, finally spoke up.
She glanced at Shangguan Qiu Yue and immediately spotted the pair of black eyes she had personally replaced.
A surge of possessiveness flared within her, sharpening her words instinctively.
“By the way, Shangguan Qiu Yue, you just recovered from a serious illness—why come here if you’re well? Are you still not tired of your short life?”
“N-No, I-I-I heard that Lord Yun Mu is leaving tonight, so I came specifically to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye? No need for that, right? You’re just strangers passing by. Anyway, he’s taken many favors from your father already; it’s all settled.”
Favors?
How come I didn’t know?
Clearly, this was another fabricated fact unknown to Yun Mu.
But he was too lazy to bother with these truths and half-truths.
He just silently listened to the two women’s conversation, refraining from interrupting.
Now, the sharp exchange had shifted to Shangguan Qiu Yue’s turn.
“Strangers?”
The girl wanted to refute but felt a stabbing pain in her chest.
She didn’t understand why the words, though reasonable, made her involuntarily sad—as if this closeness that should have existed between the boy and herself no longer did.
She raised her hand to cover her chest and stared at the two so close to each other, her tone edged with sharpness:
“Then may I ask, Your Highness, what is your relationship with Lord Yun Mu? And why are you interfering in our conversation?”
“I’m his Owner?”
A flicker of confusion, but more so pride.
“That’s not ‘Owner’, Miss Luo Yi, don’t say such things.”
The immediate rebuttal.
“See? He won’t even admit such a strange relationship. Your Highness, it’s better if you don’t ad-lib like this, okay?”
Suddenly interrupted, Qin Luo Yi flushed with embarrassment and anger.
After pinching Yun Mu’s arm hard, she stood up and walked straight to the girl, cupping her face and asking irritably, “Then I ask you, what is your relationship with him? And with your status, what gives you the courage to question me like this?”
“I-I am…”
The girl was startled by the gesture.
She stammered for a long time but couldn’t utter the words “Rescuer and the Rescued.”
She didn’t know why, but her chest felt terribly tight.
Though she had no memory of Yun Mu, her heart fluttered every time she saw him.
That feeling seemed to tell her—
Her feelings for him were more than that, and the distance between them should not be so great.
She said nothing, gently pushed Qin Luo Yi’s hands away, and looked up with a faint smile.
“Sorry, I lost my composure. I only came to say thank you, but somehow it turned out like this. I apologize…”
Her small body trembled uncontrollably, but the bow of apology was deep.
Her appearance weakened the originally harsh aura of Qin Luo Yi, who found it hard to deal with a face so much like Lin Yaye’s.
“All right, all right, don’t look so pitiful as if I’m bullying you… Besides, I’m not one to hold grudges. As long as you don’t provoke me, everything will be fine.”
“Then… may I speak to Yun Mu alone for a moment? It won’t take long, okay?”
“Tsk, asking for a few kind words, you’re really pushing your luck, I…”
“Miss Luo Yi, please step outside first…”
Yun Mu finally spoke, his tone making Qin Luo Yi’s face change dramatically.
She looked back at the youth and could no longer hold back her anger.
She cursed with extremely foul language before slamming the door and leaving.
Only the two remained inside, and the once noisy room fell silent.
“Tick-tock,”
“tick-tock”
Rainwater struck the roof and dripped down the tiles onto the ground, disturbing the girl’s heart.
She moved a few steps before stopping, lingering without stepping forward.
“Miss Qiu Yue, are you still there?”
“I-I am…”
Yun Mu turned toward the voice and smiled gently, like a spring breeze.
“Come closer, we aren’t really that distant.”
“Y-You know me?”
His gentle tone encouraged the girl to take small steps, inching closer and slowly finding comfort.
“I do…”
“Then… are we close?”
“That depends on how you see it. Do you think our relationship is good or not?”
He lightly patted the bedspread on the edge of the bed, and the girl obediently sat down.
“I think… our relationship is both good and not good.”
“Oh? Why do you say that?”
“Because when I’m near you, I feel inexplicably at ease, even… more so than when I’m beside my father. So I think our relationship is good.”
“And why is it not good?”
“Um…”
She instinctively clutched the corner of the blanket and paused for a long moment before speaking.
“Because when I just saw you, my heart ached, my chest felt so tight. It was an unpleasant feeling, and I don’t understand why…”
The disappointed tone made Yun Mu slightly stunned. He never expected that Shangguan Qiu Yue, though Amnesiac, would have such feelings.
But soon, he smiled with ease.
After all, she was that sensitive, kind little girl deep down.
No matter what happened, that wouldn’t change.
He lifted his arm and skillfully touched her head, gently stroking it.
“It’s all right. You don’t need to dwell on these things. The fact that you have these feelings shows you’re a good child.”
“R-Really? Am I really a good child?”
“Of course. I have no reason to lie to you. And I’ve never lied to you.”
Except… for accompanying you to the academy, sorry, I have to go find my master.
“I-I see. Thank you for complimenting me even though I took your eyes and bones…”
“No worries. It was voluntary, and more importantly, a trade.”
“But this concerns your future life, I…”
“All right, all right, don’t you have something to tell me? Hurry up… I think I hear someone calling you again…”
“R-Really!? Hearing you say that, it does seem like someone is calling me. I-I-I…”
Yun Mu’s teasing made Shangguan Qiu Yue genuinely nervous.
After stammering for a while, she shyly grabbed his hand and placed it on her cheek.
The warm, soft touch transferred to his hand, making him somewhat puzzled.
“Miss Qiu Yue, what are you…?”
“J-Just feel carefully, don’t say anything…”
“Mm…”
He closed his mouth and quieted as she said, but in his heart, he naturally recited silently:
Brows like distant mountains, eyes dark as ink, gaze like autumn waters with gentle waves, lips touched with cherry blossom pink, a delicate jade carving like frost.
He couldn’t see, but he remembered her face.
Whether this poem was any good or not didn’t matter—after all, he was no longer the child who loved studying poetry’s rhythm and tone.
His hand gradually moved down to her neck.
The girl stopped him, lifted her hand, rubbed her face twice, then reluctantly let go.
“Yun Mu Sire… no, Yun Mu, if next time you don’t remember what I look like… I’ll let you touch my face again, and you should remember. Promise me you won’t forget me, okay?”
Behind her trembling voice was an even more trembling heart.
“Mm, I won’t forget.”
“Then… I’m leaving now… I won’t see you off tonight…”
“Remember to rest well.”
“All right, goodbye…”
“Goodbye.”
By his ear, the girl’s footsteps gradually faded away, along with her voice growing weaker and weaker. Yun Mu felt an emptiness inside.
The person who had accompanied him for eight years was suddenly gone—an unavoidable reality.
But… he didn’t feel very sad.
He quickly calmed his heart, even felt relieved.
The stone named ‘repayment’ that weighed on his heart had now fallen away.
A mind as still as water best described his current state.
***
Outside,
Qin Luo Yi sat in the courtyard’s pavilion, munching on a peach blossom cake.
She quietly watched Shangguan Qiu Yue emerge from the room, clutching her chest and wiping away tears,
And simply smiled.
“Hm, tonight’s peach blossom cake is indeed delicious—sweet but not cloying. A true delicacy.”