The chamber fell into silence after the soldiers withdrew, the heavy thud of their boots fading down the corridor. Yet the tension clung to the air like a noose, and Hei Lang—Li Yuyan—stood perfectly still, as if one false move might summon them back. Only when the final echo died away that he let his shoulders ease, though his hand remained upon the hilt at his side, veins tight with restraint.
On the bed, Hua Lian stirred. Her feverish cheeks flushed with both exhaustion and pain, her lashes quivering against her pale skin. Slowly, she reached for him, her weak fingers clutching his sleeve with the desperate strength of a drowning soul.
"Father… don't leave me again…" Her broken whisper sliced deeper than any blade. Tears streamed down her cheeks, raw and unrestrained, her voice trembling with the forgotten innocence of a five-year-old child. "They killed you… they killed mom … I was alone hidden… I… I'm sorry I couldn't save you and mom… They killed my foster parents. I'm now alone in the world. Please… don't leave me…now"
Li Yuyan froze.
The word Father was not one he had ever expected to hear directed at him. Cold, aloof, and feared by the court, he had long sealed away his humanity beneath layers of steel and silence. Yet the sight of her—this girl who only hours ago had faced him blade to blade, now reduced to trembling fragility—struck a chord buried too deep to ignore.
Her body shook violently as her memories overtook her. She clutched at him with both hands now, burying her face against his chest as if terrified he might vanish. The sobs racked through her frail form until it seemed the weight of her grief might shatter her bones.
For the briefest of moments, the assassin's hands hesitated in the air. His instinct told him to pull away, to reestablish the cold mask that had always shielded him from entanglements. But something—perhaps the lingering echo of her duel with him, perhaps the haunting way she had seen his unmasked face—compelled him to lower his arms and steady her against him though giving some little space. He patted her head gently though mechanically because he was not used to comforting anyone. He only killed evil people mercilessly.
The steady beat of his heart became the anchor to her storm.
There was a knock.
Low. Controlled. Consistent.
"Your Highness," came a deep voice from beyond the door. "The imperial physician has been summoned per your command."
Li Yuyan 's eyes narrowed. He glanced at Hua Lian—her face damp with tears, still unconscious of her words—and carefully laid her down. Rising, he slipped his deadly sword back into place. When he opened the door, his shadow loomed like a beast, eyes glinting from beneath the bronze.
The physician bowed so low his forehead nearly brushed the floor. "Forgive the intrusion."
"Speak of this to no one," Li Yuyan said coldly, his voice sharp enough to slice the air.
The doctor trembled. "Understood, Your Highness."
The examination began. The trusted physician carefully peeled back her bloodied garments to assess her injuries—deep slashes, bruises, and the jagged cut at her back where Bai's man she pitied had struck. Each wound told the story of her desperate fight and narrow escape.
Li Yuyan stood nearby, arms crossed, eyes unyielding. But inwardly, every time the doctor pressed against her wound and she flinched, something inside him coiled tighter. He did not understand why her suffering unsettled him. He had seen countless bodies, had slain without hesitation. Yet this…
Perhaps it was because, when she sobbed and whispered "Father," the fragile girl had clung not to anyone, but to him. Or probably because he could relate to her pain. He had seen trusted buddies snatched away from him. Even his mom. He was not willing to let that repeat again to someone he cared for.
When the physician finished dressing her wounds, he bowed again. "She must not be moved for several days. With proper rest, she may survive. But her spirit… her trauma is deep. Nightmares will plague her. She has a strong will to survive otherwise she would have been dead. Thanks for your timely intervention. I've detoxified her system ."
Li Yuyan dismissed him with a flick of his hand. "Leave. Thank you."
Moonlight spilled through the window as silence reclaimed the chamber. Li Yuyan moved closer, his shadow falling over her sleeping form. His sharp gaze softened against his will.
She looked nothing like the fearsome opponent who had crossed blades with him beneath the stars. Her features, delicate and pale, betrayed a fragility she never revealed when wielding a sword. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, and her lips murmured incoherent words of the past—cries of pain, loss, and blood.
Without meaning to, Li Yuyan reached forward, brushing away a stray strand of hair plastered to her damp forehead. The gesture was almost… gentle.
And then, as if burned by his own betrayal of coldness, he pulled back sharply.
This is dangerous.
He had sworn never to be bound by attachments. To kill without hesitation. To guard his true self at all costs. Yet here was this girl—his maid, his enemy, his savior and his secret—sleeping under his roof, clutching his sleeve even in her dreams.
Li Yuyan turned away, fists tightening. He must remind himself: she was his maid, Yue Ying, wanted by the empire, hunted by Bai, even wanted by himself before the discovery for her troubles,dangerous to the dynasty. Keeping her alive was reckless. Keeping her hidden, treason.
And yet…
His jaw clenched. He remembered her blade pressing against his throat in the duel. The fire in her eyes as she declared she would unmask him. The haunting way she looked at his true face—unflinching, unlike all others who had ever seen it.
Only she.
Suddenly, the distant toll of the night bell broke his thoughts. A sound of urgency echoed through the palace corridors—boots pounding, voices rising.
"The Emperor commands—search every chamber again!"
"Whaaaaat!!"