She glanced around the residence, her gaze lingering on the quiet corridors and carved wooden beams as though committing them to memory.
"Is this your manor?" she asked.
"It is." He inclined his head slightly. "There are only a few servants here. No women reside in the inner quarters. It may not be… convenient for you."
The words were meant as caution.
Yet she smiled…..simply, almost with delight at something unseen. Ling Shan narrowed his eyes at her, puzzled by that unguarded ease.
"I would rather stay here."
The answer came too swiftly to be mere courtesy. She stepped a little closer, the faint scent of morning clinging to her sleeves.
"I trust you," she added, then, with disarming candor, "Besides… you are exceedingly handsome."
The sentence was light, but it struck with unexpected weight. Within Ling Shan's composed exterior, a flicker of confusion stirred. Embarrassment, perhaps…yet he had long grown accustomed to such praise. And still, from her lips, it sounded different.
(This Bai Jing… she is nothing like the one in my memory. Not the woman who stood unmoving within the ring of blood. Not those resolute eyes.)
The eyes before him now held a glimmer like scattered starlight….mischief soft as silk, warmth unguarded and unashamed.
She tilted her head slightly and lowered her voice as though sharing a secret.
"And if I were to go elsewhere… and you vanished again, how would I ever find you?"
Ling Shan frowned faintly.
"I did not vanish." He lowered his gaze, uncertain how to face this version of her. "Last night, you lost consciousness. Do you remember?"
"That was only temporary." She laughed again, light and unburdened. "I have only just taken on a mortal body. It seems I am not yet accustomed to it."
Her laughter, soft as it was, seemed to draw a thread of light through the once-chill corridor.
"You look different when you are not frowning," she said. "Less frightening."
"Am I frightening?"
"Yes." She answered without hesitation, then softened her tone. "But not to me. You are… well…"
Her words trailed off in an almost shy vagueness.
(Moments ago she called me handsome…)
The dawn brightened, pale gold slipping through the lattice windows and settling upon her face. There was no trace of malice there, no shadow of calculation. Only trust. And that trust unsettled him more than suspicion ever could. Beneath the same name, two souls seemed to be awakening. And the woman standing before him in this fragile hour of morning…What, truly, was she?
"Is this your residence?"
"It is." He gave a slight nod. "There are only a few servants in the manor. No women dwell in the inner quarters. It may not be… appropriate for you."
The words were meant as a warning.
Yet she smiled….an easy, untroubled smile, as though something about the arrangement pleased her. Ling Shan narrowed his gaze at her, suspicion flickering faintly in his eyes.
"I would rather stay here."
The reply came too swiftly to be mere politeness. She stepped a little closer.
"I trust you! Because you are extraordinarily handsome."
The words were light, almost playful, yet heavy enough to make the listener's heart falter. Within Ling Shan's composed exterior, Akin stirred in quiet confusion. Embarrassed? Perhaps. And yet, he had long grown accustomed to praise of that sort.
Still, from her lips, it felt different.
(This Bai Jing… she is nothing like the one in my memory. Not the woman who stood unmoving within the circle of blood. Not those resolute, unyielding eyes.)
The eyes before him now shimmered like polished jade….bright with mischief, warmed by an unguarded tenderness.
She tilted her head slightly and lowered her voice, as though sharing a secret meant only for him.
"And besides… if I were to stay elsewhere and you vanished again, how would I ever find you?"
Ling Shan's brows drew together faintly.
"I did not vanish." He lowered his gaze, uncertain how to face this version of her. "Last night, you lost consciousness. Do you remember?"
"That was only temporary." She laughed again, light as a silver bell. "I have only just taken on a mortal body. I suppose I am not yet used to it."
Her laughter, soft as it was, threaded warmth through the once-chill corridor, as though a hidden lantern had been quietly lit.
"You look different when you are not frowning," she observed. "Less frightening."
"Am I frightening?"
"Yes." She answered without hesitation, then softened her tone. "But not to me. You are just… well…"
The simple words left him strangely at a loss.
(A moment ago, she called me handsome…)
The light of dawn slowly gathered strength, slipping through the carved wooden lattice and resting gently upon her face. There was no shadow of resentment there, no trace of cunning. Only trust. And it was precisely that trust which unsettled him all the more. Beneath the same name, two souls seemed to be awakening.
Then what, truly, was the woman standing before him in this fragile hour of morning?
The breath of dawn remained delicate, as though unwilling to disturb the conversation just beginning to take shape.
Bai Jing studied him for a moment. In her clear, lucid eyes there was no evasion….only a candid, unguarded curiosity.
"Would you tell me something?" she asked softly. "The Bai Jing you knew… what was she like?"
Ling Shan stilled.
The question was not heavy in itself, yet upon leaving her lips it fell like dew upon an old wound.
"Why do you ask?"
She offered a faint smile, though a trace of emptiness lingered within it, impossible to conceal.
"I have only just awakened. Everything feels shrouded in mist. I cannot remember where I once stood, what I once said, what I once… felt." She lowered her gaze briefly before lifting it again. "If you knew me, then the version of me you remember must be clearer than the one I see myself."
Ling Shan fell silent.
The image of a woman in red standing within the circle of a blood-bound array rose in his mind….the calm, distant eyes that seemed to have already accepted their fate.
Yet when he looked at the woman before him now, those images blurred in a manner most strange.
"I…" He paused, choosing his words with care. "I, too, have only recently recovered from my injuries. My memories of before are indistinct. Many things I cannot recall clearly."
It was not entirely a lie.
But neither was it wholly the truth.
Bai Jing regarded him for a moment longer, then let out a soft laugh.
"Then that is well."
"Well?"
"If neither you nor I remember the past, then there is no need to cling to it."
She stepped closer, the morning light brushing the tips of her dark hair like silk.
"Let us create new memories together."
The words were simple, yet they stirred something deep within him.
(To begin anew… unbound by what was once lost. She truly has changed.)
Before he could respond, she tilted her head, her expression turning thoughtfully serious.
"That reminds me…"
"What is it?"
"When will I be wed into this household as its young mistress?"
The question fell into the silent corridor like soundless thunder.
"What!?"
Ling Shan took half a step back before he realized it.
Bai Jing frowned faintly, as though unable to comprehend the cause of his alarm.
"But I am staying here, am I not? Or must one wait for an auspicious date? I am unfamiliar with mortal customs. If there is anything to prepare, you need only tell me."
"Wait." He lifted a hand, as if to halt the course of fate itself. "We… are not married."
The words were clear, deliberate.
She blinked once.
"Not married?"
"Although…" He paused. The word memory nearly slipped past his lips, but he swallowed it back. "Although there may have been certain ties between us in the past, no marriage ceremony ever took place."
She grew still for a moment.
There was no hurt in her expression, no anger…only a pure, unguarded surprise.
"Oh…"
The soft syllable lingered in the air before she lifted her face to him again.
"I thought we were lovers."
Ling Shan felt his breath catch.
"Why would you think so?"
She gave a small shrug, her innocence almost disarming.
"You look at me as though you have known me for a very long time. And I feel that… when I am near you, my heart is not afraid." She placed a hand lightly over her chest. "To me, such a feeling cannot belong to strangers."
Those simple words held no trace of guile. The purer they were, the less prepared he found himself to withstand them.
Ling Shan turned his gaze toward the growing light of dawn.
The morning breeze drifted through the wooden corridor, carrying with it the faint fragrance of plum blossoms. The fragments of a past he could still partially recall stood in quiet contrast to the present before him…the woman who had once offered herself within a blood-bound array, and the woman who now asked, with disarming sincerity, when she might become the young mistress of this household.
Beneath the same name, they were as distant from one another as sky from abyss.
Or perhaps… it was precisely that difference which he could not escape…a trial set before him by fate itself.
"That matter…" he said at last, his voice returning to its usual restrained composure. "Let us not speak of it for now."
Bai Jing looked at him, then smiled lightly, without the slightest offense taken.
"Very well." She turned her face toward the sky, which had begun to soften into pale gold. "Then we shall begin from today."
She faced him once more, her eyes bright. "Even if we were not lovers in the past, at the very least, allow me to be your companion from this day onward… handsome General."
The word companion was gentle. Yet it carried a weight far steadier than the title of young mistress ever could.