In the third month after my rebirth, I was kneeling on the gravel path of the Royal Garden, and my palms were pricked with bleeding marks from peony thorns.
Xuan Kan's dragon-patterned boots stopped in front of me, and his voice contained a hint of unnoticeable temptation, even... Anticipation: "The Queen... Today, you think of this peony?"
In the previous life, this was the unspoken sweetness between us. He would stand aside, hug me from behind while I was picking flowers, put his chin on the top of my hair, and chuckle: "The flowers picked by Jie Hua are more fragrant than those offered by Shanggong Bureau."
Now, I lower my eyes, avoiding his gaze that tries to capture my eyes, and my voice is as distant as ice: "I see the flowers blooming in full bloom, and I'm afraid... It would be a pity if they withered."
The faint spark in his eyes was instantly extinguished. I leaned over and crushed the Wei Zi plant with my knuckles. The flower juice stained my fingertips red like blood, and my voice was filled with a biting coldness: "What a pity? It's just like the way you looked at Xuan Ling with such a state of disbelief that I feel it's a pity?!" Severe pain hit my wrist bone, and I bit my lip to swallow the pain. A broken sob rolled down his throat: "... You don't even want to cry out for me when you're in pain?"
