Chapter 88
Mingxi hadn’t slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face at the firepool— the reflection of warm foxfire in her eyes, the way her lips parted when she whispered:
“I think… I’d want you to ask.”
He’d died. Then resurrected. Then died again.
He paced the upper hall of the Shen residence, tails flicking like fractal lightning.
Mingjun watched from the doorway, sipping tea.
“You’re making grooves in the floor,” Mingjun said.
“I can’t… breathe,” Mingxi whispered.
“That’s called being in love.”
Mingxi glared. “Shut up.”
“You shut up,” Minghua shouted from somewhere behind a door.
Mingxi nearly jumped out of his skin. “Why are you everywhere?”
“Because this is important,” she roared, bursting out dramatically. “Caelan isn’t here, so I’m your best friend now.”
“No, you’re not,” Mingxi snapped.
“Yea, I am.”
“No—”
Minghua slapped a silk box into his hands. “Propose with that.”
Mingxi froze. “What is it?”
“A foxfire engagement charm,” she said proudly. “Traditional. Old school. Classy. I absolutely stole it from Mingjun’s room.”
Mingjun choked on his tea. “Minghua.”
“What? You weren’t using it.”
“I was saving it—”
“For what?” she shrieked.
Mingjun threw his hands up, defeated, and Mingxi opened the small box. Inside lay a delicate chain of woven moon-silk, fully white until touched. At the center hung a crystal shaped like a fox’s tear—clear, but capable of glowing with the vow-maker’s qi. A fox-spirit’s promise. A proposal.
His pulse hammered painfully.
Minghua leaned on his shoulder. “You love her. She loves you. Stop being a coward.”
“I’m not—”
“You are. You’re a beautiful, broody coward.”
Mingjun sighed. “You should propose.”
Mingxi stared at the charm and then inhaled. “I will.”
Minghua screamed with such force the lanterns flickered.
Poppy sat on the veranda, brushing out her hair as Xu Yunlian brought tea.
“You seem lost in thought, darling,” Yunlian said gently.
Poppy flushed. “I just… this place. Your family. Everything. It’s more than I ever imagined I’d be allowed.”
Xu Yunlian smoothed her hair. “You belong here as long as you wish.”
Poppy’s heart tugged painfully. “Do you think… is it too soon to feel… so much?”
Xu Yunlian smiled softly. “The heart does not follow calendars. It recognizes truth when it finds it.”
Poppy looked down. “I think he’s the safest place I’ve ever known.”
“That is what love feels like,” Yunlian whispered.
Poppy choked on her tea. “I-I didn’t say—”
“You didn’t have to.”