Chapter 86
Later that afternoon, Poppy wandered toward a small waterfall that fed into one of Huǒyáo Jìng’s glowing pools. Mist drifted low. Dragonflies glittered like living jewels. She knelt near the water, letting her fingers brush the surface.
“You’re thinking too hard,” Mingxi said behind her.
She startled but relaxed at the sound of his voice. “You move too quietly.”
He sat beside her, close but not touching. “You look overwhelmed.”
“I’m… adjusting,” she admitted. “It’s beautiful here, and it’s safe. But it’s nothing like what I imagined for myself.”
He tilted his head. “Is that good or bad?”
“I don’t know yet,” she whispered. “It feels… like a dream I shouldn’t be allowed to have.”
“You deserve everything here,” he said softly. “More than any of us.”
She looked down at the shimmering water. “And weddings?” she whispered before she could stop herself.
Mingxi inhaled sharply.
Poppy clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, gods… forget I said that.”
“No,” he said instantly, voice too soft, too raw. “Don’t hide your thoughts from me.”
She blinked at him.
His fox ears flickered faintly above his head.
“My family is making assumptions they shouldn’t. And I… don’t want you to feel pushed.”
She looked at him then—really looked, noticing the way he sat with his knees turned toward her, the way his tail tips curled unconsciously around her ankles, the way he always positioned himself between her and danger, and the way he said her name like a promise.
“Can I ask you something?” she whispered.
He nodded.
“What would it mean, in your world, if someone… married into your clan?”
He turned his face away, ears burning red, and then answered, “It would mean devotion. Protection. Partnership. It means choosing each other publicly and privately.”
Her chest tightened. “And you would want that someday?” she asked softly.
He closed his eyes. “I would want it with the right person,” he said.
Then, quieter, he added, “Desperately.”
Her pulse kicked.
Mingxi finally looked at her, voice breaking in the middle. “But not before you’re ready. Not before you choose it freely.”
Her breath caught. A long, fragile silence stretched between them. Then, Lysandra fell out of a tree onto the ground three feet away.
Poppy screamed.
Lysandra held up a finger. “I have had a vision—”
“No,” Mingxi said firmly. “No visions today.”
“It’s important.”
“No.”
Lysandra’s shoulders slumped. The sharp, otherworldly poise drained out of her all at once. “Fine. But it was really romantic.”
Poppy covered her face again.
Back at the main house, Xu Yunlian offered Poppy moon-silk robes “just to try.”
Minghua dragged her into a jewelry drawer, chanting, “Jiàzhuāng shíjiān! Jiàzhuāng shíjiān! Dowry Time!”
Warriors bowed extra formally, as if greeting a future lady of the realm. Elders gave approving nods every time they passed together.
Mingxi visibly suffered.
Mingjun told him, “This is the consequence of having eyes for someone.”
Mingxi snarled back, “Everyone needs to stop reading my eyes!”
Lysandra chuckled. “Impossible. Your eyes scream, ‘I adore her.’”
Mingxi hung his head. “Just stop.”