Author's Note: I am back, and out of my hermit cave! Thank you for the patient and understanding messages and replies on my message board, and thank you for always reading SLS.
Thank you very much for all the support, everyone ❤. I hope you will enjoy the chapter ^_^.
Cecil unsheathed her daggers, twirling them around expertly before she clutched them tight in her hands.
K’xug waved his hand, summoning out his twin swords and he gripped them in his hands. He raised his head, looking at Cecil standing opposite him indifferently.
Cecil eased herself into a better posture, getting ready to launch into an attack anytime soon.
K’xug only nodded his head slowly at her.
Cecil inhaled deeply before she surged forward, a look of intense concentration in her eyes.
K’xug glanced below, hopping backwards when he saw vines sprouting out from the ground, as if trying to grasp at his ankles.
In the entire time of her meditation and training, Cecil had been relying more on her vines to attack rather than using any type of stone or rock formation.
Somehow, she felt using her vines suited her battle style more. Moreover, her vines grew stronger and stronger with every gate she unlocked, and the rate at which she could control them grew faster as well.
Nevertheless, she still utilised the rock that Kai gave her, since it still served a good purpose in her battle. She relied a lot on using misdirection to distract her opponents, and sneak an attack on them.
K’xug rushed at Cecil, and Cecil threw out her rock at the same time, swinging it behind K’xug. He reacted immediately, bringing one of his swords back to block the rock.
The next second, a vine shot out from the ground beside him, coiling at his wrist holding onto his other sword. The vines were more powerful than normal vines, hence, K’xug could not simply extricate his wrist by pulling.
At the same time, Cecil was still running towards him, and she leaped into the air, aiming her two daggers down at K’xug.
Just then, two more vines sprouted out, coiling around his ankles and K’xug furrowed his eyebrows, glancing down.
In that instant, K’xug unleashed his angelic powers, his wings unfurling as he used his abnormal strength to tear away from the vines around his wrist and ankles. His wings were recovering slowly, regaining back its original radiance and he could draw them out now without cringing in pain.
K’xug gave his wings one vigorous sweep, even causing the plants and trees around the courtyard to sway slightly.
The gardener who was busy tending to the plants, turned to look. K'xug has already kept his wings, hence, the gardner did not understand where the sudden gust of wind appeared from.
Meanwhile, Cecil was blown off balance by the violent gust of wind caused by K’xug. She instantly flipped in the air to land safely on the ground, skidding back a little.
“I did it, didn’t I?” she smiled brightly, despite failing in her attack. “I promised you I would do it!”
She had been sparring with K’xug these past few days, while Xue supervised Hana. She made a promise with K’xug that although she would not win, and probably lose every sparring session in complete defeat, she would force him to use his full strength for a short moment.
K’xug kept his wings, lifting his head up as he sighed in resignation, showing Cecil a helpless expression.
Cecil raised her arms in the air, celebrating her small moment of victory.
At that moment, at the other side of the courtyard, a red-haired woman was giggling to herself.
“You are so funny, Xue!”
Xue turned back to Hana standing beside him, and she was beaming at him.
“This entire time, when you keep looking at Cecil, your expressions are always different.” Hana continued giggling, pulling back the bowstring with her gloved hand.
She was finally wearing the glove that Xue had given her, that once belonged to his mother.
“Different?”
“You keep switching from concern to sad to angry,” Hana pulled the bowstring back even more, still grinning. “Ah, and happy, like you are now.”
The smile on Xue’s face faltered.
He was smiling unconsciously when he saw Cecil basking in the sweet taste of victory.
“I...didn’t realise--” Xue started to say, before he narrowed his eyes. “Look at where you are aiming, Hana!”
“E-eh? Eh?!” Hana panicked, looking back to the front. “What?!”
Once again, Jake, the gardener, was doing his work and he felt an ominous presence behind him. He turned to look, seeing an ice arrow aimed at him and he yelped in shock, kicking up the pile of leaves he had swept to one side as he slipped and fell.
“Oh my god, Mr. Jake! I am so sorry, I will turn--”
“No, not that way either, Hana!”
“A-ah?!”
Her arm shook, knowing that she was reaching the limit and Hana panicked even more. In that instant, she released the arrow as it pierced through the air.
K’xug put away his sword to stretch his arm into the air, he wasn’t able to stretch freely due to his sore body before. The moment he did so, his eyes widened in surprise as an arrow aimed straight for him and he ducked on instinct, the arrow flying past his hair.
It disappeared into the shrubs.
“...”
“...”
K’xug slowly stood up, blinking rapidly as he spun around to look at Hana.
Xue couldn’t help but snicker at the stunned look on K’xug’s face, as if he couldn’t believe Hana would shoot at him.
“That was a nice dodge.” Cecil complimented K’xug’s quick reflexes.
On the other hand, Hana blinked in shock before her lips trembled and she rushed up to Jake and K’xug, apologising to them and bowing to them constantly.
“Sorry, sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m really sorry! Sorry!”
***
Thus, the gruelling training for Hana’s archery skills began, she was tasked to shoot at least a hundred arrows everyday, including creating the arrows for herself. Of course, Hana could not achieve that standard, as she lacked in many aspects, though, she still tried her best in achieving that goal.
Meanwhile, Cecil rinsed and repeated the same schedule, training with K’xug and dancing with her mother.
In between training, whenever K’xug and Cecil stopped to take a break, K’xug would always look cautiously over to Hana.
Alas, it was because he now had a phobia of being near Hana when she trained for her archery.
One day, while he was walking past the corridor in the courtyard, stretching his arm, an ice arrow went straight from him again. The next moment, he saw Hana running towards him and apologising.
Moreover, this did not happen just once or twice, it happened more times than K’xug could count. It was almost as if K’xug was a target dummy at this point.
Even Xue found it hard to find it amusing anymore, now, he could only smack himself in the forehead when it happens.
Unfortunately, it always happens when K’xug decides to let his guard down and stretch comfortably.
K’xug excused himself the moment with a silent gesture when they decided to take a break, rushing out of the courtyard.
Hana watched K’xug escape with a pout, knowing the reason behind it. She made a noise when she felt someone pinching her cheek softly.
It was Cecil, raising her eyebrows. “Stop getting distracted, or you are going to shoot someone again.”
Hana made a whining noise.
“From the amount of times you have shot at K’xug, it isn’t a surprise that he has developed a phobia of you.”
Hana made a sad noise now.
“That’s why, learn how to aim and shoot perfectly, until you amaze everyone.”
“Okay.” Hana huffed, nodding. “I will prove to K’xug I won’t shoot at him anymore!”
Cecil didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that statement.
“Ah, mother was looking for me for something, I need to go find her first!” Hana gasped in realisation, keeping her bow. “I’ll be back later, Xue, Cecil! ...and K’xug…”
Cecil urged for Hana to go, and Hana hurried off.
In the end, the courtyard was only left with Xue and Cecil.
If Cecil were to be honest, she had been avoiding situations where she would be alone with Xue. Ever since Hana had informed her about Xue’s feelings, and she realised how his feelings were the same like his other soul fragments, Cecil couldn’t help but be conscious.
Especially when Hana’s words “because he likes you” keeps replaying in her mind.
...however, if the man was sleeping, Cecil did not mind.
Due to Hana’s knack for causing trouble, and how easily distracted she was, Xue had a hard time teaching her as well. He needed to be more vigilant, adding on to how noisy his soul fragments could be, a peaceful rest hardly came by for Xue.
He took shelter under the tree in the courtyard, shielding himself from the sun. Resting against the thick trunk, he was breathing evenly with his eyes closed. Cecil admired the picturesque view from afar, noticing how his black, long-sleeved shirt and pants created a contrast against the bright background.
A breeze blew by, causing some of the leaves to flutter down from the tree, landing on Xue’s hair. One of the leaves even landed on Xue’s nose, and a small frown creased his forehead but he didn’t make a move to swat the leaf away.
Cecil smiled to herself, amused, and she approached Xue quietly. Crouching down, she noted the lack of response from him and decided to reach her hand out, planning to clear the leaves on his hair and face, one by one.
She took away the leaf from his nose, and the frown on his face eased. She proceeded on to his hair, just as another breeze blew by, causing the leaves to scatter and Cecil shut her eyes.
She opened her eyes once again, noticing something from the corner of her eye as she glanced down.
“...?!”
Once again, there was another leaf on his nose.
Cecil couldn’t hold it in, turning her face to the side as she laughed softly.
“Falling onto the same place twice, is it lucky or unlucky?” Cecil muttered to herself, turning back as she moved to remove the leaf on his nose. “I wonder how he would react if he knew this--”
Suddenly, Xue inhaled sharply, his eyes snapping open as he grabbed Cecil’s wrist. There was a wary look in his eyes, as well as a hint of panic.
“Xu-Xue?”
The moment Xue heard Cecil’s voice, and saw her in front of him, along with her familiar scent of herbs and flowers, Xue instantly calmed down. The wary and panicked look in his eyes died down.
This isn’t the heavenly or demon realm anymore.
...I forgot.
Xue sighed in relief, his entire body relaxing as well as the grip on Cecil’s wrist.
“Are you okay? You seemed as if you were expecting a fight.”
“It’s a habit,” Xue lifted his head up, meeting her onyx eyes, his voice gentle. “What are you doing anyway?”
Cecil’s heart skipped a beat as she looked into his grey eyes.
“Well, the leaves...they were everywhere on you, so…” Cecil spoke in a distracted manner. “I was helping you sweep them away…”
“Oh, then continue on.”
Cecil blinked in surprise.
But you are already awake…and you can do it yourself now.
Xue raised his eyebrows, as if waiting for Cecil to do it.
“...if you let go of my wrist, I will continue.”
Cecil gestured to her wrist in his hand, and Xue glanced towards it before looking back into her eyes.
Just then, the corner of Xue's lips curved into a slight smile.
Without any other word, his hand slid up her wrist and he proceeded to pull her down to sit beside him.
Cecil gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief.
“Use your other hand to sweep them away,” Xue spoke lowly, still smiling as he lifted their entwined hands. “And not this hand of yours.”
“...”
Cecil couldn’t find the words to even speak, her mouth opening and closing.
Most of the soul fragments inside Xue were clapping at how smooth his actions and words were.
“...si-since you are awake now, you can do it yourself…!”
“You were doing it halfway, why not do it until the end?”
“...”
Cecil was speechless.
Since when was Xue this...this...shameless with his words?!
In the end, she gave in and reached over, sweeping the leaves from his hair. Since Xue was awake now, there was no need to be so careful in her actions.
“...cheeky guy.” Cecil muttered lowly, but Xue clearly heard her.
“I am only doing this because you kept avoiding me.”
Cecil stiffened, before she cleared her throat. “I am not avoiding you.”
“Just the other day, in the corridor, when you saw me you turned and ran the other way.”
“...”
“And yesterday, I went to find you in your room, but your maid said you weren't there. Later I saw you peeking out and looking around.”
“...”
“Two days ago, when you and Hana were talking in the living room and I went in looking for you as well, Hana told me you were hiding under the table.”
“...”
Hana, you betrayer!
“And also--”
“Okay, okay! En-enough, yes, I-I was avoiding you!”
“Why?” Xue questioned without hesitation.
“I...I--”
Xue leaned in closer, the look in his eyes were soft yet intense.
“Why do you keep avoiding me?”
Cecil moved back, her eyes widening as her heart started drumming in her chest.
“That--”
“Hm?”
“I--”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t--”
“Mhmm?”
“...ask...ask Hana! She told me everything!” Cecil exclaimed, squeezing her eyes close.
Xue recoiled back in shock and puzzlement, the grip on her hand losing. Cecil quickly took this chance to escape, as if her life depended on it, her face burning.
Her hand flew to her chest, and she couldn't help glancing back at Xue once more.
Now, he seemed to be opening up more, especially to her, and he was becoming more playful and straightforward in his words.
Cecil exhaled heavily, squashing her cheeks with her palm.
Whereas, Xue stared at the hand that entwined with Cecil's soft and fair hand, a fond look in his eyes.
***
Meanwhile, at the corner of the courtyard, a red-haired woman had been peeking at the couple seated under the tree for quite a long while. There was a delighted look in her eyes, and she felt a presence behind her a second later.
She looked up, seeing K’xug looking down at her with a confused look.
She pointed towards Xue and Cecil, bringing her finger to her lips.
K’xug rolled his eyes and started to walk out, making Hana gasp in horror.
No, you can’t interrupt their sweet moment!
Hana jumped out, embracing K’xug from the back to prevent him from moving any further. Her arms went around his waist and chest, squeezing him tightly.
K’xug froze on the spot, his different coloured eyes widening as he turned, glancing down at the red-haired woman hugging him. Hana lifted her head up, a pleading look in her blue eyes and he immediately felt something stabbing at him.
Right in his heart.
...how…!
Ho-how cut--!
K’xug halted his thoughts, realising he was traversing on a dangerous line. Though, he himself knew what he was thinking.
He cleared his throat, gesturing for Hana to move away.
Hana gradually realised she was hugging K’xug too passionately, and she inhaled sharply, withdrawing hastily.
Eventually, the two of them awkwardly stood there, their eyes unable to meet. One of them twiddled her thumbs, while the other rubbed at his neck.
“What are you doing?”
Hana and K’xug were startled.
Xue regarded them with indifference.
“Hana.”
“Ye-yes?”
“Cecil...Cecil has been avoiding me, and she told me to ask you why,” Xue spoke, a hint of annoyance and embarrassment in his voice. “She said you told her everything.”
“Everything? That’s why she avoided you?”
“Yeah.”
“Mhmm, everything...what did I tell her that made her avoid you…” Hana muttered to herself, contemplating. “Mmmmm…”
The answer immediately hit Hana right on the head and she grew horrified. Her years of reading romance novels weren’t wasted after all.
I...I told Xue’s feelings to Cecil!
She is feeling conscious now and avoiding him! But...but how can I say this to Xue?!
No way!
This time...it was her turn to escape.
“Oh, look at the time! I have to go see my mother!”
Hana scuttled away like the wind.
The two men stood there, left in the dust, looking at one another.
“Didn’t she talk to Kezla a moment ago?”
K’xug nodded.
She did, I saw her.
Xue suddenly found himself at a loss, since it wasn’t just one person avoiding him, but two.
K'xug only patted him in the shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look.
You have it really rough, buddy.
Xue frowned deeply, smacking K’xug's hand away.
***
《 start 》
I do not know what is worse.
The person you like telling everyone you are not her type.
...or the person you like avoiding you.
No, I know what is worse.
...when it is both of them...combined.
《 stop 》