19 Anemone: Sincere

Chen's expression looked even uglier than before as he rushed out the door. Not seeing or hearing anyone else, He just ran. He had no idea where to find her, his body felt the need to do something before his mind goes blank.

———

A few moments ago.

"The lady...The lady is missing!"

Chen grabbed onto the guard's collar. "I thought I told you to protect her!!!!" His eyes pierced the guard as if he had already killed him.

It seemed to feel like darts stabbed the man in multiple places. His legs started to shake uncontrollably.

"S-sir, I did as you t-told me and w-went to the l-lady's side right away."

"Then why is she gone?" He scowled at the guard.

His tone had cooled down, but it was even scarier than when he shouted. It had an unsettling feeling to it. The fear of the unknown seeped through his bones.

"W-when I went to where you instructed. She wasn't there. I tried to look around the area. B-but there was no one that even looked similar to her." The guard desperately confessed.

She had unique features, very exotic. It's hard to not spot someone like that.

Questioning this man was useless, he had to do something. Chen let go of his collar.

The guard slumped to the ground and let out a huge sigh. He was saved.

Chen was impatient and had an urge to find her quick. He burst the door open and ran out as fast as he could, leaving the two guards behind.

When he reached where he had specially ordered her to stay, she was nowhere to be found.

With these dangerous people around, his mind pictured the worst-case scenario. If they were tracking him, they probably knew his identity and the people he comes in contact with.

His eyes were extremely dark. Chen started to speed-walked through the streets, kneading through the crowd shouting, "Lily! Lily, where are you!"

She was still not found.

He clenched his fist and hurriedly looked around again. His expression was extremely unpleasant. The surrounding people started to stare at him dubiously at his actions.

After maniacally searching a couple of miles further, he saw a familiar figure.

Lily was walking towards his direction with an expressionless face like an empty shell.

Seeing her all in one piece, Chen's heart felt like it had stopped.

"Lily!" He shouted as he ran towards her.

"Chen?" Lily questioned the voice that called out her name. "Are you done with your—"

Before she could say any further, he had already scooped her into his arm, tightly hugging her.

He burrowed his head deeper into her hair, wanting to engulf her.

She was fine, she was fine. He said over and over in his mind.

It seemed to feel as if ice had melted and the sun shone brightly in the north pole in him.

The heart that felt like it had stopped, finally moved again.

"Chen? What's wrong?" Lily asked him as she unconsciously circled her arms around his waist.

He was silent, hugging her tightly.

"Chen?" She voiced in a mellow tone.

Chen gently held her shoulders and pushed her out of his embrace, and worriedly said, "Are you ok? Did you get hurt anywhere? I thought I told you to stay put!"

"What are you talking about? I'm okay." Her two eyes blinked.

He let out a sigh under his breath and tightly held her hand, pulling her to walk.

"Where are we going?" Lily followed him with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Back to the inn." He said sternly

"Already?" She had wanted to eat more, the skewers weren't enough and the incident earlier had drained her energy.

"We're sleeping together tonight." There's more of them lurking around. It's too dangerous if she isn't close to me where I can protect her.

"You?....me?..what...I...!" Lily turned bright red. What does he mean?!

Not realizing what he had said, his mind was occupying all sorts of things.

Should he handle this without telling the king? By himself? How should he lure them out?

He was lost in his thoughts, knitting his brows before Lily asked, "Chen? Are you ok?"

Chen looked down at the woman beside him. Her face was in a frown with an unpleasant curve on her lips. Seeing her full of concern for him, it sparked something in his heart. He didn't want her to know anything but just be safely be by his side.

Chen slowed down his pace and loosened his grip on her hand. "Some dangerous people are lurking around." He finally confessed to her. His face was devoided of any ill emotions. "You need to stay close to me, okay?"

Lily had a feeling she knew what he was talking about and replied with an "En."

I guess I'll have to warn him about some things as well.

________________________

Far near the western edges of the country stood a man looking up at the sky. His chestnut hair was tied in a high ponytail and shined through the moonlight. The mole on the left corner of his eye lifted as his eyes curved.

"So. How did it go?" The man asked.

"I couldn't find her. As for the mission you gave us earlier today, I asked the locals, but it was no use. No one knew." Xiao Mei replied naturally but inside she was sweating bullets. These people were very hard to deal with and they were sharp.

"Mmmm..... And it's been 20 minutes; it seems like the other one's caught." The man openly said as he closed his eyes to enjoy the fresh breeze.

"..."

"Come, we'll leave first. I have found some useful stuff at least. They won't be that disappointed." He turned his face towards the northwest direction and smoothly continued, "As for the matter with the girl, we 'looked' for her as promised."

"Yes. Please tell them. She wasn't supposed to be here in the first place." Xiao Mei said firmly. "She is at the Merrow queen's palace after all." Her expression turned ugly yet relieved at the same time. She was glad that they didn't look hard enough for her lady but was offended they belittle her to that extent.

Both of them jumped to the other side of the crack, which spliced the country from the rest of the surrounding land.

_________________________

When they reached the Inn, Chen led her to the assigned room. They laid on the bed like two blocks of ice. This time, it was without a pillow in between so Chen can see clearly where she was laying.

It put him at ease, knowing she is close by and closed his eyes.

"Chen?" Lily asked softly.

"Mmm?" He murmured. "It's late. Sleep."

Lily turned to his direction. "Those people..." She hesitated to say, "there are three of them."

He didn't reply for a while.

"How did you know?" He furrowed his brows.

"I encountered one of them earlier, and they confessed." She worked around the truth.

He did not say anything. Looking deeply into her eyes, he felt she was honest with him.

"They went back to where they came from, so it should be fine now, but I don't know when or if they'll come back." Lily continued.

"..." He listened to her intently.

"She also told me they are gathering information from the festival and turning this place inside out." Lily suddenly got serious. "If what she says is true, then the most logical answer is they are planting spies, or someone from our side is working for them. You should be careful! Something doesn't feel right."

"Then what if I'm the spy then, why are you telling me this if you suspect that there's a mole here."

Lily smiled at him, sincerely. "Because I can tell. Your soul is soft and clean like clear freshwater. I trust you, Chen."

The light in his body was blue; it was a beautiful shade of blue and emitted a comforting aura. Lily was attracted to it.

He gave her a small laugh.

She saved me again. What a brave and intelligent woman she is. He thought.

"Go to sleep little idiot; I'll discuss this with his highness in a later time."

"I'm not an idiot! I told you some excellent information!" Lily retorted. "How am I an idiot if I did that?!"

Chen shifted his body and patted her head. "Yes yes you are not an idiot, but a cute one. Thank you."

Lily's cheeks turned slightly red, and she quickly squeezed her eyes shut.

After 30 minutes passed by, she opened her eyes and looked at him again.

"Chen?" She asked gently.

"..."

There was no sound, just slow breathing. Eyes closed, he was fast asleep.

She traced his face from his forehead to the corner of his lips with her fingers and cupped it.

"Thank you, Chen." For believing in me and for not questioning me. "But it seems our goodbye is earlier than I thought."

She scooched a little closer to him, gazing at his attractive appearance before falling asleep, quicker than when she was alone.