After the chaos, Xuan Mo personally walked Lin Yue back to her quarters.
Not because she needed escorting.
Because he refused to let go of her wrist.
She glared down at his hand. "You're doing that thing again."
"What thing."
"Clingy glacier behavior."
His grip tightened slightly. "If I was clingy, you would not walk. I would carry you."
"NOT BETTER!"
They entered her room.
He finally released her, though reluctantly — like letting go of something he had already decided belonged in his orbit forever.
"Lin Yue," he said quietly.
She glanced up.
His eyes softened. Too much. Too honest. Too dangerous.
"In all my years, I have never met someone who could alter the flow of destiny simply by existing."
She looked down nervously. "I didn't choose that."
"No," he murmured. "But you endure it."
She swallowed.
He stepped close enough that the air between them heated.
"You fear the prophecy," he said. "You fear harming me."
She met his gaze. "…Yes."
"Do not."
"Kind of impossible!"
"If I fall," he murmured, "I will fall by my own choice. Not because of you. Never because of you."
Her heart clenched.
"You don't know that."
"I know myself," he said softly. "And my fate bends now toward yours."
She inhaled sharply.
Xuan Mo reached out—
Brushed a thumb across her cheek—
Leaned closer—
The universe held its breath.
Lin Yue whispered, "Are you going to—"
A blast of emergency qi shattered the balcony.
Xuan Mo snapped back instantly, glaring at the interruption with enough fury to reshape continents.
A guard screamed from outside:
"YOUR MAJESTY—THE HEART OF THE SKY HAS CRACKED!"
Xuan Mo exhaled slowly, dangerously.
"We will continue this later."
Lin Yue wheezed, "NO! WE ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT—"
But he was already gone.