Fu Yan! Why did you do this to me?!

Hirvan took a deep, steadying breath, trying to suppress the anger that had flared up so unexpectedly. His heart was still racing, but he knew he had overreacted.

"I'm sorry for yelling," he said to Elian, his voice tinged with exhaustion. The weariness in his tone was impossible to hide, and it reflected the toll the day had taken on him.

As he sat back down, conflicting thoughts raced through his mind.

'What am I even thinking?' he wondered, frustration bubbling just beneath the surface.

'This is all Elian's fault, with his constant talk of marriage. Even I for a second believed Fu Yan was forcing me to get engaged!'

Deep down, Hirvan knew Fu Yan would never go behind his back like that. The idea of Fu Yan scheming to involve Elian in some grand plan to make them engaged didn't sit right with him.

'No, it's probably something else entirely,' he reassured himself, trying to push the nagging doubts out of his mind.