"You want to die?" she asked with a grim expression but there were no any killing intent in her eyes. They were filled with affection deep longing and love.
"There she is," Luo He laughed softly.
"I was wondering whether you died or something." Luo He said with casual indifference.
Jin Mulan glared at him fiercely but eventually relaxed again despite herself settling quietly against his chest while Luo He continued absentmindedly combing his fingers through the crimson hair she treasured so much.
Then from the adjoining chamber came a faint muffled sound through the wall. Both of them froze briefly. Another sound followed shortly after. Luo He blinked once toward the shared wall.
"Your mother recovered remarkably fast." Luo He said with a mocking tone. Jin Mulan's face exploded red instantly.
"Don't listen!" She said with a flush voice. "I'm really trying not to," Luo He replied innocently.
"Your parents are simply very passionate strategists." Luo He said. She smacked his chest immediately. "You are a horrible person." Jin Mulan said. "Am I ," he adked calmly.
"Your mother is terrifying. Your father is simply surviving." Another faint sound came through the wall followed by what sounded suspiciously like Jin Quan laughing helplessly. Luo He tilted his head slightly while listening.
"Mhm. Definitely surviving." Jin Mulan immediately buried her burning face into his shoulder in humiliation while Luo He quietly laughed above her head.
"You know," he continued thoughtfully. "Your mother truly meant it when she said she'd be on top from now on." Luo He casually remarked like mentioning a fun fact.
"You are not allowed to talk anymore." Jin Mulan kept her index finger on top of his mouth. "But I'm learning important things about your family."
Jin Mulan suddenly grabbed the front of his robe and kissed him deeply harder than before as though trying to silence every teasing remark before it could leave his mouth again.
When she finally pulled back her forehead rested lightly against his while her breathing remained uneven from both embarrassment and stubbornness.
"You," she murmured softly narrowing her eyes at him. "Are only allowed to focus on your wife." Luo He laughed quietly at the possessiveness in her voice.
"Yes Mistresses !" Luo He answered in an obedient and submissive voice.
She ignored the teasing entirely this time.
Instead she took both of his hands firmly and guided them back around her waist where she wanted them refusing to let him escape even slightly. The lantern light flickered softly across her crimson hair as she leaned closer again.
Her long sleeves slide lightly against his arms. Then her lips lowered near his ear.
"What do you say," she whispered in a smooth dangerously seductive tone. "To making enough sounds of our own so to drown out the noise?"
"Will that stop you from listening to the room next door?" She asked in her smooth voice that no sane man could resist. Luo He paused for exactly one second.
Then burst into helpless laughter. Jin Mulan immediately glared at him. "You just ruined the mood." She said in an angry voice. She was not truly angry.
She thought this will make him try even harder and expected Luo He to be coming after her beginning not to pull back. But our man had different plans.
"No." Luo He replied while still laughing softly. "Your parents ruined the mood first. I'm simply adapting to battlefield conditions."
She pinched his side sharply. "You really are impossible," she muttered. "That's what she said," Luo He replied immediately with a laugh.
Jin Mulan's eyes narrowed at once. The atmosphere changed instantly. "Who," she asked slowly. "Is she?" Luo He blinked once. Jin Mulan leaned back slightly just enough to stare directly into his eyes her expression turning dangerously calm.
"Have you been seeing someone you haven't told me about?" Luo He immediately recognized that tone. The soft voice. The cold stare. The very specific calmness that usually appeared moments before problems started.
Jin Mulan crossed her arms lightly across her chest while still sitting on his lap. "Careful," she warned quietly. "Don't become the type of man who pushes my patience too far."
Her crimson hair shifted over her shoulders as she tilted her head slightly.
"I should know if you're sleeping beside anyone other than me," she continued. "I think I've made that very clear. Haven't I honey?"
Luo He stared at her for a second. Then sighed dramatically like a man suffering under unbearable injustice. "Mulan baby," he said helplessly. "I was talking about your mother."
Silence. Jin Mulan blinked once. Luo He grinned afterward. "She said the exact same thing once earlier today." The dangerous tension shattered instantly.
Jin Mulan looked horrified. "Why would you tell me that?" She asked.
"Because it was funny." Luo He said.
"That is not funny." She said. "It absolutely is." Luo He argued. She immediately covered part of her face with one hand in embarrassment.
Luo He laughed quietly at her reaction.
"You truly inherited more from her than you realize." He said. Jin Mulan glared at him through her fingers. "If you continue talking along that path, I'm leaving." she said out of embarrassment.
"No you're not." Luo He said confidently.
"I might." She insisted. "You climbed onto my lap voluntarily." Luo He reminded her smugly while pulling her closer again.
"That severely weakens your argument."
That earned him another glare though this one only lasted a few moments before slowly softening again despite herself.
Eventually she relaxed against him once more resting quietly within his embrace while his fingers absentmindedly combed through her long crimson hair.
Little by little the teasing faded. The conversation slowed. And the burdens surrounding them seemed farther away for a while. War plans. Politics. The Duke.
Bloodlines. Enemies waiting beyond kingdom borders.
For a brief moment beneath the warm lantern glow of their chamber none of it mattered. There was only the quiet sound of rain that had stopped outside the mansion walls and the warmth they found in each other's company before another difficult day inevitably arrived.
Unfortunately for the two of them the peaceful moment did not last long. At first it was only another muffled sound from the adjoining chamber. Then came clearer voices.
Then silence. Luo He and Jin Mulan both froze at exactly the same time. A few seconds later something from the next room made Luo He slowly close his eyes in defeat.
"…No." Luo He muttered. Jin Mulan's face turned bright red instantly. Another voice carried through the wall far more clearly this time.
Making it painfully obvious that whatever was happening next door had moved well beyond ordinary love making and directly entered into territory neither of them wished to mentally process.
Luo He immediately stood up. "Damn," he muttered. "We're leaving." Luo He said. Jin Mulan buried her burning face into her hands. "Agreed. But where?" She asked.
"Anywhere but here," Luo He declared dramatically while lifting her into his arms as he rose from the chair. "Anywhere that is not next to your parents room right now."
Despite her embarrassment Jin Mulan still instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck while glaring at him.
"You are never bringing this up again. Are you." She asked with utter shame.
"Oh I absolutely am." Luo He said.
"You're horrible." She said and unlike before she really ment it. "I don't mind people having strange fantasies." Luo He continued while walking toward the door with complete seriousness.
"But once I know about them, I can never look at them the same way again." Luo He said. "Stop talking! Or I will kiss you so deep and will not stop until you collapse from not being able to breathe."
"I'm traumatized my love." Luo He said dramaticly. "You are smiling." she said.
"I smile during suffering too." He said.
"I won't hold this against you" Luo He reassured with a thumbs up Jin Mulan groaned in humiliation while hiding her face against his shoulder as he carried her out of the chamber.
The hallway outside felt blissfully quiet compared to the adjoining room. Luo He finally set her back onto her feet once they were safely away from the shared wall.
The two exchanged one long look. Then simultaneously decided not to discuss what they had just heard. Ever. Without another word they quickly headed deeper into the mansion.
Together they head toward Luo He's laboratory instead both pretending with absolute determination that nothing unusual had happened that night at all.