At last, Bai Qingyue dropped his gaze and rubbed his temples with the tip of his long fingers. "Li Meirong, do not do this."

"Do what, Senior Zhu?"

"You purposefully place a barrier of formality when you face strangers that you're wary of, or worse yet, enemies. I am not a stranger. Nor am I your enemy."

Li Meirong looked aside and bit her lower lip. "I don't know what you mean."

Bai Qingyue's voice turned soft and slightly hoarse, as though his throat was dry. He almost sounded hurt, a complete contrast to the lack of expression on his face. "If I could, I would never leave your side. If I thought you would not reject me, I would have told you everything."

The ache in his tone caused Li Meirong to raise her face to observe Bai Qingyue, and his words alone managed to pull at her heartstrings. He was standing there, tall, regal, and so carefully composed. His previous deductions made her feel easily embarrassed, as if she was an open book that could be so easily analyzed. But at that moment, she looked at him and realized that just like her, he too, was hiding his true feelings, pretending aloofness.

It was difficult to discern, but once she perceived it, she could easily notice the minuscule details about him, like his pair of ivory hands that clenched into tight fists, and the stiffness of his posture that gave him away. There was a certain hurt showing behind those bright eyes that pierced through his carefully constructed mask.

She almost broke down at the sight of him. She wanted to stop with the charade and simply agree to whichever demands Zhu Qingyue had, if only to make the pain in his eyes go away.

However, more than anything, she wanted him to tell her the truth about his disappearance, about his preferences, and whether or not his insistence on being with her was due to an ulterior motive. After he would confess, then they could work things out. Otherwise, they would have no future together, whether it was to be as friends, lovers, or anything else for that matter.

She whirled around and turned her back to him again, staring at the garden outside from the open door. "I want to trust you, but I want you to confide in me. I want you to trust me first."

"Wife…"

She heard him hoarsely call out for her again, as though they were already an official couple. Strengthening her resolve, she decided to leave before she'd end up giving in to him. 'I have to do this or we'll end up going nowhere.'

"I must go to attend my classes. Senior Zhu, Let's talk afterwards, when we've both calmed down." Li Meirong picked a neatly folded robe from her cabinet and immediately fled from her cabin, afraid that leaving even a second later would allow Zhu Qingyue the chance to change her mind.

The twin servants curtsied in greeting to their Lord, bent their head low and followed after Her Ladyship.

As for Bai Yu, he too, bowed lowly to His Lordship, but as soon as he was about to run for dear life, he felt a stinging ache as powerful fingers tightened around the scruff of his neck, twisting his fur painfully as he was lifted up in the air.

"Where is it that you think you are going?"

Bai Qingyue's low sounding words echoed like shattering glass to Bai Yu's sensitive ears.

Bai Yu nervously gulped as he was forcibly turned around to gawk at a pair of furious, blazing eyes. "Nowhere, Sire…"