The first light of morning spilled into the chamber, painting the room in soft hues of rose and gold. Lan Yue woke slowly, her body humming with a deep, peaceful contentment she had never known. She was wrapped in Xue Lian's embrace, the Empress still sleeping soundly, her face serene and unguarded. Lan Yue's gaze was immediately drawn to the nape of her neck, to the proof of the promise made in the night.
There, against Xue Lian's pale skin, was her claim. The mark was a delicate, scale shaped pattern left by Lan Yue's bite from the night before, shimmering with a faint celestial glow, like captured stardust. It pulsed with a gentle warmth she could feel through their soul bond, a permanent anchor that declared this magnificent woman belonged to her.
As if feeling her intense gaze, Xue Lian's eyes fluttered open, a soft, sleepy smile on her lips. She saw where Lan Yue was looking and a faint blush colored her cheeks.
"My mark looks good on you, My Empress," Lan Yue murmured, her voice a low, possessive rumble. She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss right beside it.
The blush on Xue Lian's cheeks deepened.
"It makes me want to put more," Lan Yue continued, her hand tracing the line of Xue Lian's shoulder. "For all creatures to know that you're mine."
Xue Lian's smile turned into a playful, teasing grin as she turned in her arms. "Getting possessive now, are we, my love?" she chuckled.
"I can't help it," Lan Yue admitted, her expression turning serious. "You're an Empress, after all. Your subjects look up to you. And maybe some Alphas in your kingdom… wanted you, you know, before me? Thinking about it makes me want to take their eyes."
"Woah there," Xue Lian laughed, tapping Lan Yue's nose. "You're not planning to be a bad cultivator, are you?" Her expression softened, her amber eyes full of deep, unwavering love. "My love, I'm yours. Without a mark or with a mark, I am yours." She leaned in and sealed the promise with a deep, soulful kiss.
Lan Yue pulled back slightly, her silver eyes twinkling with mischief. "Well, it's been ten years too, you know. Ten years I was gone. I bet you had all sorts of admirers during that time. Princes, warlords, maybe even a particularly charming demon general or two vying for your attention?"
Xue Lian gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest. "How dare you! Implying that I, the formidable Empress of the Netherworld, would stoop to entertaining such… lesser beings when my heart was irrevocably claimed by a certain aloof saint? The audacity!" She poked Lan Yue playfully. "Besides, you were the one who vanished for a decade! For all I knew, you were off charming some celestial empress in another realm!"
Lan Yue feigned an injured expression. "Me? Never! My devotion was absolute, even in… spiritual limbo." Her playful tone faded then, and a shadow of the last decade's loneliness crossed her features. Her voice became a soft, serious whisper. "But you know... I'd rather have you cheat on me than not have you at all, Lian."
The sudden shift from banter to raw vulnerability made Xue Lian's heart ache. She immediately pulled Lan Yue into a tight, secure embrace, tucking her head under her chin. "Hey, stop thinking about that," she murmured into her hair, her voice firm but incredibly gentle. "I would never. There's nothing in this world or any other of equal value to me if it's not you."
She tilted Lan Yue's chin up and kissed her again, a slow, sweet kiss full of certainty and reassurance.
After a moment, Xue Lian pulled back, her playful smirk returning to chase away the last of the shadows. "But don't think I haven't noticed that you seem to be enjoying this 'possessive Enigma' persona immensely."
Lan Yue, her heart settled and warm, grinned back. "Can you blame me?" she said, pulling Xue Lian closer. "You're just so exquisitely mine."
That morning set the tone for the days that followed. The weeks settled into a rhythm of healing that was as nourishing for the soul as it was for the body. Lan Yue's strength returned with a steady pace. Her spiritual core, once chaotic, now hummed with a calm power, stronger than ever thanks to the constant, harmonizing presence of the new mark.
Their life at Blackwood Manor became a quiet domesticity. Mornings were for sparring, afternoons for researching Elder Feng's conspiracy, and the evenings… the evenings were for them.
Tonight, Xue Lian had unveiled her latest acquisition: a magnificent, mortal made brass telescope, set up on the highest balcony. "Behold," she announced dramatically. "The mortal cosmos."
Lan Yue peered through the eyepiece, her breath catching. "It's beautiful."
"It is," Xue Lian agreed. "It's also a massive, collapsing cloud of interstellar gas and dust."
"Or," Lan Yue countered gently, "it is the celestial nest of the primordial phoenix."
Thus began their new favorite pastime: the great astrophysics versus mythology debate, which eventually gave way to a comfortable, intimate silence as they stood side by side, looking up at the vast expanse.
"I missed this," Xue Lian said softly.
Lan Yue reached out, her fingers lacing through Xue Lian's. "I do not feel small when I am with you."
Xue Lian turned and kissed her, a slow, tender kiss full of quiet joy. In that perfect, stolen moment, there was no war, no conspiracy, no lost years. There was only the two of them.
It was then that Xue Lian suddenly stiffened, her eyes going wide. A jolt of pure panic shot from her mind to Lan Yue's through their bond.
"Lian? What is it?" Lan Yue demanded, her hand flying to her sword.
"That was Vex'aal," Xue Lian finally managed, her voice a strangled whisper.
"What's happened? Is Xue An alright our Princess?"
"Oh, she's alright," Xue Lian said, a slightly hysterical laugh bubbling in her throat. "She's more than alright. It seems our daughter was having a… theoretical disagreement with her metaphysics tutor."
"A disagreement?"
"Yes," Xue Lian said, her voice a breathless, panicked rush. "The tutor insisted that manifesting a high level, sentient, corporeal energy form was impossible for a child her age."
A terrible, dawning suspicion formed in Lan Yue's mind. "Lian… what did she do?"
Xue Lian swallowed hard. "She got frustrated," she said, "and to prove him wrong, she accidentally manifested a two hundred foot tall, shimmering, celestial moon dragon in the main courtyard of the Silent Palace."