Lian Yuxi's POV
You'll sleep in my chambers.
I stopped walking. Excuse me?
Yifeng continued down the corridor like he hadn't just said something insane. Servants pressed against walls as we passed, bowing low, staring with wide eyes.
Your Majesty— I caught up to him. I'm your guard, not your—
Concubine? He glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. Worried about your reputation?
I'm worried about surviving the week. Your court already hates me. If they think I'm warming your bed—
Let them think what they want. He stopped at massive red doors carved with dragons. This is strategy, not scandal.
Strategy, I repeated flatly.
You're my shadow guard. Shadows don't leave. He pushed the doors open. You sleep in my antechamber. Wake when I wake. Guard me always. That's the job.
The Emperor's private chamber was huge. Silk screens. Jade ornaments. Dragons carved into every surface. Luxury I couldn't imagine even after two days in the palace.
This was his world. I didn't belong here.
Through here. Yifeng led me to a side door. Your quarters.
The room was small. Simple. A bed. A weapons rack already stocked with daggers, swords, and throwing knives. A window that faced directly into his chamber.
No privacy. No escape. Constant proximity to the man I'd tried to kill two nights ago.
Well? Yifeng leaned against the doorframe, watching my reaction. Close quarters make you uncomfortable?
Yes. Terrifyingly uncomfortable. I'd spent eleven years sleeping in Guild barracks—cold, isolated, alone. This felt too close. Too intimate.
But I met his eyes steadily. Being owned made me uncomfortable. This is strategic.
His smile turned genuine. Warm. Good answer.
I have one condition, I said.
You're making demands already?
Lock your door at night.
He blinked. Why?
Because old habits die hard. I still wake up reaching for weapons. If I hear movement in the dark, my instincts might kill you before my brain recognizes your face.
Truth. The Guild had trained those instincts too deep. Even now, freedom felt like a trap my body hadn't accepted yet.
Yifeng studied me with those unnerving gold eyes. You're serious.
Very.
Then I'll lock my door. He straightened. Fair warning—I'm a terrible sleeper. I pace. Talk to myself. Have nightmares. You'll probably hear everything through that window.
I've heard worse.
I doubt that. He moved toward his own chamber, pausing at the threshold. Get some rest, Yuxi. Tomorrow, you investigate the Jade Lotus Pavilion. Tonight, just... sleep.
Sleep. Like I remembered how.
Your Majesty
Yifeng, he corrected quietly. When we're alone, I'm just Yifeng.
The intimacy of his real name felt more dangerous than any blade.
Goodnight, Yifeng.
His smile was brief but genuine. Goodnight, Yuxi.
He closed his door. I heard the lock click.
Good. At least one of us was smart.
I couldn't sleep.
Midnight found me sitting by the window, cleaning my new daggers by moonlight. Muscle memory. Comfort in ritual.
The palace was silent. Peaceful. Wrong.
I didn't trust silence. Silence meant ambush. Attack. Death waiting in shadows.
Footsteps echoed from Yifeng's chamber.
I tensed, hand on my dagger, before remembering—he'd said he paced.
More footsteps. Back and forth. Restless.
Then his voice, low and rough: You're being paranoid. Cao is loud but harmless. Mother wouldn't actually... she wouldn't.
My breath caught.
He was talking to himself. Arguing with himself.
She killed your brothers, his voice continued, harder now. Poisoned Weisheng. Arranged Hongyi's 'accident.' Why would she hesitate to kill you?
Silence. More pacing.
Because I'm useful. Because I'm controllable. Because, His voice cracked slightly. Because she's my mother.
Pain leaked through every word.
I should stop listening. This was private. Personal. Not meant for anyone's ears.
But I couldn't move.
Fifteen years, he whispered. Fifteen years on this throne. Fifteen years alone. Can't trust ministers. Can't trust guards. Can't trust family. Can't trust
He stopped. Drew a shaky breath.
Can I trust her? The assassin? She saved my life. But assassins lie. That's their job. What if this is a longer game? What if
I'm not playing games.
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Silence crashed down.
Then his window slid open. Yifeng stood there, moonlight painting him silver. No crown. No robes. Just a man in simple clothes, looking exhausted and young and terrifyingly human.
You were listening, he said.
You were loud.
I thought you'd be asleep.
I don't sleep well. Old habits.
We stared at each other across three feet of night air.
You meant that? he asked quietly. You're not playing a longer game?
I'm terrible at long-term planning. Ask the Guild—I only think three moves ahead, maximum. I met his eyes. If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. I don't need elaborate schemes. Just one blade. One moment. One strike.
Comforting.
Honest.
He laughed—brief, surprised. You're either the most trustworthy person I've met or the best liar in the empire.
Can't I be both?
Now that's actually comforting. He leaned against his windowsill, and for a moment he looked nothing like an Emperor. Just a twenty-eight-year-old man who'd been forced onto a throne at fifteen and never allowed to climb down. Do you ever wonder what life would've been like? If your father hadn't sold you? If my brothers hadn't died?
Every day. Every night. Every mission. I touched the dagger in my lap. But wondering doesn't change anything. We are what we survived.
That's depressingly wise.
That's survival.
Silence stretched between us. Comfortable this time. Understanding.
Get some sleep, Yuxi, he said finally. Tomorrow's dangerous.
Every tomorrow is dangerous.
Also depressingly wise. He smiled slightly. Goodnight. Again.
Lock your door.
Already did.
He closed his window. I heard his footsteps retreat. His bed creak as he finally lay down.
I stayed at my window, daggers in my lap, watching his darkened room.
The perfect Dragon Emperor—cold, controlled, untouchable.
Actually just a lonely man terrified of trusting the wrong person.
I understood that fear.
Had lived it for eleven years.
Maybe that's why I'd saved him. Why I'd chosen his offer. Why I sat guarding his window instead of running.
Because loneliness recognized loneliness.
And maybe, just maybe, we could survive together better than we'd survived alone.
I was almost asleep when I heard it.
A scratching sound. Faint. Wrong.
My eyes snapped open. Hand on my dagger.
The sound came from Yifeng's chamber. Not inside—outside. At his window.
Someone was climbing the palace wall.
Heading straight for the Emperor's room.