"Yat-sen, have you eaten dinner yet?" I asked him as we walked the halls of the base. Soldiers were milling around with sullen expression on their face, most of them bowing or giving nods when we passed by. I focused on Yat-sen, watching the way he ran a hand through his hair, combing it between his fingers.
He bobbed his head. "Yes, I have. How about you, princess?"
Princess? Well that was a new title I wasn't accustomed to.
"I've already eaten what I could," I replied with a hesitant smile. "Yat-sen, just call me Daiyu—"
"Can I call you Aunt Daiyu?" he asked me boldly. I blinked back in surprise and he must've taken my surprise and pause as a negative thing, because he quickly blushed and stared down at the ground, clearly embarrassed. "U-Um, sorry, I wasn't—"
I shook my head. "No, I'm just really surprised, that's all. If you want to call me that, you can. After all, it's much better than princess or empress."
He beamed at me from ear to ear, his eyes brightening up. "Aunt Daiyu, you're just as nice as Lady Jia."
Speaking of Jia, I instantly thought of Fang, who was the very reason Meilin had left the palace to aid the battles against the revolts. Turning to Yat-sen, I grimly grabbed his shoulder. "Yat-sen, what happened to General Fang? I heard he was injured—"
"His shoulder was hurt by a sword attack and he's recuperating. It was a serious injury at the time, but he'll be better real soon," Yat-sen said with a wavering smile. "It was scary at first but now that Uncle Meilin is here, everything will be alright."
The tension left my shoulders and I sighed in relief. At least Fang was alive and well. I wasn't sure how Jia or Kang would handle things if Fang was severely injured or, worst case scenario, killed.
Before I could further converse with Yat-sen, Bohai came up from behind us suddenly, scaring the daylights out of the both of us as we stared at him wide eyed. He didn't seem to notice—or care—about our expressions because he spoke the instant we saw him. "There you are, Lady Daiyu. Meilin was wondering if you had run away when he returned to the room and you were missing," he said as he looked between the two of us. "Everything alright? You both are tense."
"Because you scared us, Commander Bohai," Yat-sen said with a soft chuckle as he bashfully scratched the back of his head.
Bohai watched him for a second before turning to me. "Are you going to bed, Lady Daiyu?"
"I was planning on it," I said slowly, not sure why he was asking.
"Right, you need your rest," he mused.
"Is something wrong?"
"Meilin didn't sleep at all last night and he's exhausted from all the war-planning we've been doing," he said with a shrug. "He didn't mean to fall asleep in his room, but he did. He told me he was just going to rest his head." Bohai ran a hand through his brown tresses, sighing with an unnecessary amount of work. "Well, he fell asleep instantly and I don't want to wake him up since he looked so tired. So, either you bear with him in that room, or you sleep in the hallway."
I stared at Bohai in absolute shock, not understanding what he was saying while knowing exactly what he meant. I wasn't ready to face Meilin since I was still analyzing my thoughts concerning him. I was still deciding on what I was going to decide when dealing with Meilin, and to see him so soon and be in a potentially compromising situation with him was moving things along too quickly.
"I don't recommend the latter," Bohai said when he read the indecisiveness on my face. "There are rats and vulgar soldiers around."
Paling, I knew I didn't have any other choice. "I'll stay in the room; I am, after all, his . . . bride."
It was the first time I had openly admitted to the statement, and although it was an important moment to me, I couldn't dwell on the underlying meanings behind it and what it subconsciously meant to me. So, after giving Bohai and Yat-sen a nod goodbye, I ventured towards Meilin's room, the room I had been planning on sleeping in just a few moments ago, but now wasn't too sure about.
Meilin couldn't have been that hard to deal with, right? After all, he was just sleeping.
Even as I was thinking this, my fingers were trembling in the slightest to be near that man again. He had killed his family and had done so many other atrocious things, and I was going to be in the same room as him again? It was a terrifying thought but I knew that I was going to have to get used to it since he wasn't going to change anytime soon.
Clasping my hands tightly together in front of me, I straightened my shoulders and stopped a few steps short from the door. Hesitating for a second, I pushed open the door slowly and slipped inside. Once inside, I stiffened when I saw that Meilin was, in fact, sleeping on the bed.
He had taken his boots off and they were lying haphazardly on the floor but he was still wearing his military tunic and pants. He hadn't bothered to pull a blanket over himself and was resting peacefully, his hair still tied back and his expression serene.
Edging closer, I stared at his unguarded face, taking in the way his lashes were so long, his skin was so pale and clear, and how his scars were so visible. Still, even though he had scars, that didn't take away from his overwhelming beauty. I had heard that he was a beautiful and cruel emperor when he first took the throne, but I never would've imagined that he would look this beautiful. When he was sleeping like this, it was easier to appreciate his appearance.
How tired was he to be sleeping like the dead right now? Though it was late, it wasn't that late. The sun had barely set and everyone had already eaten dinner, but most of everyone was still awake at this hour.
"Drakkon Meilin," I murmured the name to myself. I had never called him by his name without honorifics or titles, and to hear the name out loud was different.
Right at that moment, Meilin stirred in his sleep and mumbled something before burying his face into the pillow. I froze and watched him, embarrassment flooding over me at the prospect of him hearing me. When it became apparent that he was fast asleep, I relaxed.
"You're not that scary when you're sleeping," I said with a sigh as I walked over and sat down on the seat placed in front of the work desk. I studied the way his scars were on his face and couldn't help but wonder if his hair was as silky smooth to the touch as it looked.
I sat there and watched him for the longest moment, taking in his features, his beauty, and his fierce personality that usually had me shivering. After a moment of staring and thinking, he moved once again. Startled, I watched as he murmured something before falling back asleep, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.
"Meilin." I said softly, wanting to know what it sounded like to my ears.
"What?" he mumbled, cracking his eyes open and then rubbing at them.
My eyes widened and I stared at him. Was he that light of a sleeper that my voice was enough to wake him?
"N-Nothing, go back to sleep," I blurted out, treating him like I would treat my younger siblings if I accidentally woke them.
It didn't work.
He rubbed at his eyes and cracked them open, his dark gaze flickering over to me. He looked at me for a moment before rubbing a hand down his face. Cursing softly and sitting upright on his elbows, he yawned loudly. "Daiyu, you didn't run away."
"No."
"Hmmm, that's good, I guess," he mumbled as he laid back down. He rubbed his eyes and then scratched the back of his head before he buried his head into the pillow. "You should probably sleep too."
"Y-Yes."
"Did you eat?" he asked in a sleep laden voice.
"Yes."
"Hmmm, that's good," he said softly.
Before I could reply to him, I saw that he had already fallen back asleep.
"Meilin?"
I stared down at my hands, not at all sure what I felt about him.
After what felt like forever, Meilin stirred in his sleep once more but this time seemed to slightly wake up, since he rubbed at his eyes again and yawned loudly. Slowly sitting upright, he sighed and scratched the side of his head before glancing around the room. When his eyes landed on mine, he furrowed his brows together. "Daiyu, you look tired."
Taken aback, I could only stare at him.
"You should sleep," he said as he pushed the blanket off his body. He cursed under his breath and yawned once more. "How long have I been sleeping? Idiot Bohai didn't wake me up."
"He said you were really tired so he felt bad for waking you up," I said once I found my voice. For some reason, I didn't want Bohai, who obviously cared for Meilin, to be badmouthed in any form.
"I shouldn't have slept, though," he said calmly. "If I'm sleeping that means someone else is pulling the weight for the work that I should've done. I don't want to burden my men like that."
"But you haven't slept since last night."
"I slept right now."
"But only for a little bit."
"I suppose." He frowned but then shrugged, dismissing the thought. "Anyway, I remembered something important I wanted to tell you about. You're really lucky that Atreus was there when you were taken by those men, and going along those lines, I want to discuss two things with you."
I nodded slowly. "Alright, and what's that?"
"One, a bodyguard," he said with another yawn. He pulled at the hem of his sleeves and then loosened the ribbon around his hair. "And the other, the wedding."
Swallowing, I bobbed my head once more.
"Well, after what happened, I've come to the realization that you need someone to be with you at all times to protect you. I'll gladly protect you whenever I can, but I'm busy and I can't babysit you." He undid a few buttons on his top so that he could get more comfortable, his expression relaxed. "I don't want anything like that to happen again and since I don't want to put soldiers on you—I can't trust soldiers, especially since there are apparently enemy soldiers in the palace—I'm going to let Vita protect you."
"Vita?"
"Yeah, she's from the Peccata." He paused, watching my expression carefully. "I didn't tell you who they were, did I? They're a group of six people that I trust with my life, so you'll be in safe hands. Atreus is among them."
"Yat-sen told me about them."
"Oh, did he?" He seemed lost in thought for a split second before shrugging. "Well, that's good, I guess. I was going to put Atreus as a guard since he's already here and might as well let him take you back to the palace, but since you're a woman and Atreus can't be with you at all times, I've decided to put Vita with you. Plus I need Atreus here with me, helping with the war."
"Oh, I see."
"She's not too far away from here and I've just contacted her so she'll be here in two weeks, maybe. I might've put Thera with you, but she probably wouldn't like that idea too much," he mused with a faint smile. "She's always been feisty and she wouldn't want to be bored."
"You must love them a lot," I said as I watched his expression. It was probably the first time I had seen a genuine smile on his face when he spoke of Thera and Vita; it was obvious to see that he cared deeply about them. "The Peccata, I mean."
Meilin looked at me in surprise before he glanced up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I do love them," he said, surprising me with the boldness and bluntness of his statement. I didn't think that he would actually admit to it. "I practically raised them. They're the closest to family—along with Bohai and Fang—that I have."
Family. That was right, he didn't have an actual family since he had murdered them. That thought brought a coldness to my heart as I watched him. What could've happened to make him murder his family? By the way he was so fondly speaking of Bohai, Fang, and the Peccata, it was clear to see that he valued family morals—or love, really—so what exactly made him murder his family?
Just as quickly as Meilin had started to open up to me in the slightest, his expression became guarded once more and he smiled smoothly, the warmth not reaching his eyes. "But, right now, I don't have time to discuss family since I have a revolt to crush." He slid off the bed and stretched out his arms, watching me for a moment before flicking his dark eyes out the window. "You should go to sleep. Don't worry, I won't be coming to bed tonight so you can sleep peacefully or whatever."
"O-Oh, ok."
"The second matter I wanted to discuss is the wedding." He scratched the side of his head and yawned once more. "I don't have an exact date set down, but maybe sometime after the revolt. If you have any time set in mind, do tell me."
"A-Alright."
"Good night, my little rabbit," he said as he swiftly left the room.