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, “Jiàzhuang shíjian! Jiàzhuang shíjian! 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 eyesscream, ‘I adore her.’”
Mingxi hung his head. “Just stop.”
Chapter 87
At dusk, Mingxi led Poppy to the firepool—one of Huoyáo Jìng’s sacred places. The water glowed from within, reflecting plum blossoms drifting overhead. Poppy sat at the edge, dipping her toes in. The warmth soothed her. He sat close beside her.
Quiet wrapped around them.
She whispered, “Your world is beautiful.”
He whispered back, “So is the way you see it.”
Her heart fluttered. He hesitated and then brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, hand trembling slightly. Poppy leaned into the touch, barely breathing.
