who cares now?

Several days passed since the mid-autumn festival. Fortune had rarely seen Rei. She wondered what she had been up to the past few days. She was extremely shocked to find out that Rei was frequently summoned by Yan Zhou. She smelled a chemistry in the process.

Rei knelt before Fortune.

"I apologize for my frequent absence, mistress." She apologized sincerely.

"Don't apologize. You were called by that guy, hehe!" Fortune snickered "Do tell me, when am I getting a marriage invitation?" She asked with a suspicious glance.

Rei's face turned red as she answered.

"Please don't think like that, mistress. We are not like that." She denied whilst waving her hands and shaking her head.

"Sure you're not, hehe!" She kept the suspicious glance and watched as Rei turned into a blushing mess.

After a while, Fortune grew bored and decided to go sightseeing. The snow had not begin to fall yet and this was the time when most of the beautiful flowers grew.

"I'll be out for a while." She said to Rei and Lynne.

"Shall we accompany you, mistress?" Lynne asked and she shook her head.

"No need. I'll only be out for a while." She smiled as she took out a few things from her backpack. Rei and Lynne watched her as she took out some strange things but didn't dare to ask.

Fortune took out her camera and a little poly bag, to avoid wet situations. She wore something simple and took Sage along.

Truly, the flowers that bloomed in autumn were extraordinarily beautiful. She couldn't resist taking photos of everything she saw and even came in contact with a few strange flowers.

After a while, the weather started changing and Fortune had to head back to the palace before it became completely dark.

She had gone too far from the palace and was now finding it hard to find her way back. Unknowingly to her, there was a huge pit that had been dug and covered with leaves. Due to the dark weather, she wasn't able to see this trap and fell into it. The impact of the fall caused her to sprain both her ankle and her wrist.

"Hurts!" She hissed in pain and looked up. Sage was still up there and meowed worriedly. "Go get help, Sage. Look for Someone to help me." She yelled

"Meow!" Sage meowed still feeling worried.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She said "Just get help and I'll feel much better." She assured feigning a smile and Sage left in a hurry.

Fortune tore a piece if her dress and tied both her ankle and wrist. It was all part of survival skills. She tried to climb out of the pit, but her wrist didn't give  way. All she could do now was wait till Sage finds someone to help her out.

After what felt like half an hour, there was a heavy downpour. It was so unfortunate that she was in the pit and the rain had started to fill it up.

"Oh no! I have to hang on. I can't die like this." She said to herself as she saw the water rise. She was completely drenched and cold. She quickly made a resolve and loosed her hair. It was extremely wet, so she tied it up in a rough bun to avoid it from distracting her attention and enhancing the cold.

"Hurry up Sage." She muttered with a lot of hope. "Why do I feel so weak? I feel really dizzy." She tried to get a grip on herself. "Have I been...poisoned?"

Sage ran really quickly and used its animal instincts to find the palace. The rain had started pouring and she paused. She looked back and meowed worriedly, then looked forward with a lot of determination to find help.

Sage finally got to the palace and found Lixing Ji staring into space with a worried look.

"Meow!" She called and he looked down at her. As soon as he saw her, his mood quickly lit up.

"Sage, you're here. Where...where's Fortune, is she here as well?" He asked and Sage pointed out to the rain.

"Meow!" She meowed and Lixing Ji immediately frowned. He didn't want to believe what he was thinking.

"What happened to Fortune? Where is she?" He asked and Sage jumped down from his grasp and ran towards the direction she came from. Lixing Ji immediately followed without thinking of anything else. The guards saw this and tried to stop him.

"Your majesty! Its raining hard. Plus, its dangerous out there in the dark." They tried to stop him and he glared at them.

"Whoever will try to stop me should have themselves to blame for the outcome." He said and ran after Sage. Seeing that they couldn't stop him, they immediately followed him to avoid danger.

All through the way, Lixing Ji was completely worried. Lightning struck and thunder spoke. It was so horrifying that it felt like the gods were wronged.

Fortune tried to hang on as the water had already started covering her face, she had to hold on with the hope that Sage was on her way with help. Plus, the poison was taking quick effect. After struggling for what felt like eternity, she decided to give up and wished a good health for her grandpa, and a nice new owner for Sage. Plus, she also wished that Lixing Ji would find love with someone else and not worry about her demise.

Being under that water felt like she was drowning in a large ocean. Then, flashes of memories filled her mind. Although, she was only two years old when her parents died, she was still stuck in the incident. It had been a large shipwreck and in order to save their child, they gave up their life equipments.

Seeing this made Fortune extremely sad. In other terms, it was actually because of her that they were no longer alive, and now, she was dying in the same way.

'Is this the end? Is this how I am going to die?' She thought and then, a vague figure dived into the water.

Lixing Ji had no second thoughts in diving into the pit and as soon as he caught hold of her, he gave her a reviving kiss in order to avoid her from loosing oxygen.

He took her out of the pit and laid her on the floor. She coughed and opened her eyes slowly. Her smile was faint and her vision was blurry, but she could always recognize Lixing Ji, no matter what.

"What...took you so long?" She asked

"You were too far and I couldn't reach you on time. I am truly sorry. I failed to protect you." He kissed her hand and she chuckled faintly.

"Next time, when I say 'Teach me how to swim', do it without hesitation." She smiled.

"Don't worry. I will!" He assured and she nodded.

"My Prince Charming! See you when I wake up." She muttered and closed her eyes gently.

She was immediately carried back to the palace. There, the imperial physician confirmed that she was poisoned by a very rare flower and the antidote was hard to obtain. However, Lixing Ji happened to know a guy who knew a lot about poisons and antidotes. Luckily, he had the antidote but Lixing Ji had to pay a price but the price didn't affect him nor the kingdom. It only took a bit of his pride and dignity.

Over a week, Fortune did not wake up, nor did she move an inch. She was just like a sleeping corpse and that fresh and light skin of hers, had completely turned pale. The medicine was difficult on the other side. Fortune couldn't take in anything and so, Lixing Ji had to give her the medicine, mouth to mouth.

Another week passed. The snow had begun to fall and the snow peonies flowers we're in full bloom. They were lovely and Lixing Ji wished that Fortune could see them with him.

"Little girl, why do you make me worry so much? Please wake up!" He said sadly. Drop of tears rolled down his cheek and fell on her face. The impact of this drop of tear jolted her from her deep sleep and she woke up yelling; "Don't cut my hair!" she screamed and then cheeked her hair, it was perfectly intact. She looked at Lixing Ji who was taken aback. He quickly pulled her into his embrace and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so glad that you are alright. I thought I would loose you." He said passionately. She felt tears falling on her shoulder. She could tell he had been crying.

"I feel so tired. What happened?" She asked and Lixing Ji ended the hug.

"You were poisoned and almost drowned. As a result of that, you we're in a coma." He said.

"For how long? I feel so exhausted, like I've slept for days." She stretched her arms widely.

"Careful! You've only been asleep for two weeks." He announced and Fortune's hands stiffened in the air.

"Come again!" She thought that her hearing was going bad all of a sudden. "I seem to have misheard, did you say two days or two weeks?" She asked

"Two weeks!" He said with a smile. She was indeed funny, even in this weak and frail state.

"That's a really long time. Feels like I hibernated and now I don't have any energy left. I'm so week and hungry. Such a sorry state is indeed pitiful." She spat out.

"It is indeed a sorry state but, its your sorry state."

"Who cares now?" She shrugged her shoulders. "If I am in this sorry state, it wouldn't matter because, you are always here to protect me from harms way." She smiled having so much confidence in him.

Just then, Sage ran in and jumped on Fortune. Lixing Ji watched them happily. He was glad that she was safe and happy.