A new life with you.

"Run! Run! Xiao Mei!" Yifei panted restlessly. "I'll take care of them. Hurry!"

"But my Lady! I'm your servant. I should be helping you!"

"Now it's not the time. I don't want to do this if it meant sacrificing a life I care about," Yifei ushered her again. "Quickly. Head to the ice palace."

"Y-yes!" Xiao Mei ran. There was nothing she could do to change her master's mind, so she obeyed. She ran towards the forest first.

A man climbed above the water onto shore shortly after. "You bitch! After I get my hands on you! The Lord wouldn't even punish me for killing you!"

Yifei instinctively turned around and sliced him cleanly through his neck.

His head popped off and rolled onto the ground. Blood hastily ushered out and splattered all over the place and even some onto her face.

Yifei wasn't fazed.

Seeing a couple of others chasing her from a distance, she quickly made her way into the forest.

Since Xiao Mei was out of the way and the Merrow queen assured her safety, Yifei was free to leave without any restraints.

After climbing as fast and high as she could, she waited for them. Above the trees, she pointed her hands forward. Suddenly, a gush of water splashed through the place like a mini tsunami.

They were all instantly wiped out and was pulled back into the water. Some managed to stay on land, but the impact had crushed their bones. They laid there frozen.

With the injuries prior, Yifei rushed down from the trees and limped her way to the other side of the land.

The stinging pain on her face was hard to ignore. Yifei squinted laboriously. It was difficult to see in the night, and blood further hindered her sight. Furthermore, her nails were chipped in every way possible and halfway towards being completely ripped off while her legs were severely bruised. With little to none besides a coat, it was cold in the night.

So cold.

Everything felt like hell, but she persevered.

Once Yifei got on the other side, a boat was already prepared, and she rowed herself as fast as she could. It would take at least two weeks to get there.

She just had to hold on. Just a little more.

A few hours ago, Xiao Mei and Yifei have waited patiently for this moment. It was painstakingly tough. So tough that after escaping, it still doesn't feel safe.

They killed so many people. Some deserved it; some didn't. This didn't really make a difference to Yifei. They were all working for the same group.

Why should I spare any of them? What they did to me was more than I could bear.

After staying locked in that home for months, it was finally time.

They snuck out at night to avoid being visible to the enemy's eyes. It was inevitable that some of the soldiers would catch wind of it. Thus, ending them was the answer. This was probably a sin she could never wash. For the sake of a selfish wish, she did it.

I'll seek for redemption in the future. But right now, all I wanted was to return.

Return to him, to our home. It was where she felt happiest.

Seeing the distance was good enough away from the forest, Yifei stopped rowing and looked back.

Her face did not look remorseful nor happy. She just gave one last unattached glance and turned around again.

This was goodbye.

———————

Chen thought about it before when they meet again.

What should he do?

Kiss her? Hug her? Or get angry at her for taking forever. There were many scenarios in his head.

But when it finally happened. Seeing her made him unable to think completely, losing all reasoning and logic.

He didn't expect it to happen this way.

Seeing her look so ragged and beat, it was different than before where she was full of smiles and cheerful.

His heart curled inside out. It was a mixture of anger and heartbreak. An unexplainable pain surged through every part of him.

Right now, He just wanted to simply hold her. That was it.

And that was what he did.

Having the feeling of her in his arm, the restlessness he felt for months and months disappeared like it didn't even exist before. He felt secure and calm again. She was within reach.

Chen didn't want to let go.

The headache he felt, and the sluggish feeling he felt all this time started to hit him. He slowly closed his eyes and leaned on her.

She felt something was wrong.

His heavyweight came crashing on her, so she started to panic.

"Chen?" She voiced softly to him.

There was no answer.

She was holding him up as best as she could.

"Chen?" She asked again. Her voice became insecure.

Her hands were still covered in blood, so she quickly wiped them onto her coat and felt his forehead. Though her hands were freezing from the rain, she could tell it was abnormally hotter than average temperature.

She quickly closed the door behind her and dragged him to the second floor. After putting him in bed, she promptly went to get washed and found some bandages to close her wounds hurriedly.

Luckily only his shirt was covered in blood due to hugging her. She had to change him.

It was embarrassing, but it was a severe situation that there was no time for it. There were no servants around.

She put a cold towel on his forehead and check his temperature 30 minutes later.

It was not cooling down.

Heavy breathing started to form out of his mouth.

She quickly dashed towards the kitchen cabinets to see if she could find some medicine. Thankfully, the maids had labeled emergency necessities, and she took the pills. She ran upstairs and lifted his head to pop one into his mouth with water.

Unfortunately, she wasn't versed in medical magic, so all she could do was alleviate the pain he felt during his sleep.

An hour later, Chen was stable. After replacing the towel on his forehead to a fresh one, she stood up to change the water.

Suddenly, she felt a hand gripping her.

When she turned around and looked down, Chen had his brows scrunched.

"Li...ly don't go...Don't... leave me....alone," He murmured. "....not... you...."

She tried to hold in her tears; mouth tightly sealed together, trembling.

Lily sat down beside him again.

"Fool, I'm not going anywhere when you're gripping me so tightly."

Her tears dropped.

"Fool..." She kissed his cheek. She put her head down on her crossing arms and stared at his peaceful face.

Chen's hand was tightly holding hers on the bed, so she folded her fingers and held his in return.

Looking at their hands, hers looked dirty and damaged compared to his, but he was still holding on to them. It was as if he had accepted everything of hers no matter how she looked or who she was.

Immense warmth and gratitude immerged from the cockles of her heart.

Starting now, she was going to start a new life with this man. It was only a matter of time before this "like" gradually turns to love.

He was such a fool.

Liking someone who was hiding a huge part of herself — confessing to her so fast.

Trusting his whole fortune to her. He doted on her every whim in a heartbeat.

This man that she liked was definitely a fool, an idiot.

But guess that makes her a fool as well.

For believing in him, hoping he would save her, for liking him back.

But it was okay; they can be a foolish couple. A fool and his foolish wife. At least they are happy together, and that was enough for her.

Dying from exhaustion, she fell asleep sitting next to his bedside.