Thwack!
Mikael forcefully closed the last book that he had to read and then—
“Fucking fffiiiinalllly,” murmured Mikael while leaning backward on his chair, his eyelids so heavy at this mont that his eyes nearly closed by themselves.
It was only through his steel-like determination that he didn’t simply collapse earlier from his bone-deep fatigue. He had forced himself to finish the to he was reading, but now that he didn’t have any reason to push himself further…
Thud.
His head loudly collided with the table covered with nurous thick tos, but he didn’t care, neither about the tos nor the uncomfortable fall on the table.
At this mont Mikael was already far gone, having already fallen asleep, his bone-deep exhaustion having caught up to him and making him fall asleep the mont he could finally afford a little rest.
This well-needed rest continued for nearly an entire day before, slowly but surely, he began to rouse awake.
Rustle.
A slight shift in Mikael’s movent could be seen and heard as he roused awake, a lazy erald eye half-opened as he gave his surroundings a quick scan.
‘Oooh… forgot I was at the Scripture Pavilion.’ He moved one of his arms beneath his head to create himself a more comfortable headrest, his half-awake eyes scanning the surrounding bookshelves, ‘I should probably get up… right?’
He lazily thought to himself, but even though he knew he should get up, he was suddenly hit by a powerful wave of laziness and simply didn’t want to, sohow finding even this hard wooden table ‘comfortable.’
He stayed in this half-awake position for a mont before, with a sigh that made it sound like he was undertaking a herculean task, he slowly lifted his head and after what felt like a monuntal internal struggle finally accomplished the enormous feat of rising from his seat.
“Nnnnghh...” Mikael groaned as he stretched his arms overhead, joints cracking softly after what truly felt like the longest sleep he’d ever had.
And yet, the mont he finished stretching, he imdiately felt more refreshed—though of course, this was sothing entirely psychological, as his body didn’t need to stretch at all and, in truth, the action changed nothing… but he had done it simply because he wanted to.
On that note, and with a Mikael now nearly fully awake, he gave a small glance to the tables covered in thick tos, decided to quickly reshelve them—which he promptly did—before, without further ado, climbing down the spiral staircase that led to the lower floors of the beautiful building.
Step, step, step.
His footsteps echoed through the seemingly perpetually empty building as he descended the stairs, and soon enough he reached the first floor before passing through the threshold of the Scripture Pavilion.
Instantly, he was greeted by the cool darkness of the night and the pale rays cast by the beautiful moon hanging in the darkened sky. For a mont, his steps slowed as he took in her beauty, his thoughts beginning to drift,
‘It could be a good ti to train in my Moonpiercer Sword Art…’ he thought to himself, sensing the quiet pull of the moon’s presence before shaking his head, ‘No, it isn’t the ti, not even close—I still have a couple of things to do before I can start training it, and I need to follow the List I created!’
On that note he began walking under the moonlight, and though he could have easily taken flight to reach his destination much faster, he found this slow, peaceful stroll beneath the moon to be oddly relaxing.
So he decided to enjoy himself—at least for a while, after nearly two months of extrely ntally exhausting work, he figured he could afford this small mont of relaxation.
His tranquil walk under the moon continued until—
“Mikael!”
“Hum?” an inquisitive sound escaped his mouth as he turned toward the source of the voice, finding his ‘ever-reliable Senior Sister’ Lian’er approaching him.
Rays of moonlight fell upon her, silver light reflecting off her figure and giving her usually long, silky brown hair and shining hazel eyes a faint silver hue, her hair now glimring with a beautiful sheen as she walked toward him.
With the moon seemingly guiding her steps, and the silverish tint she gained combined with her already extrely beautiful composure, she took on a truly ethereal, fairy-like appearance—at this mont, she looked like a fairy untouched by the mortal world.
‘This!’ For a mont, Mikael was speechless, not knowing what to say in the face of such an unexpected and breathtaking display.
‘Taking advantage’ of his distraction, Lian’er closed the distance between them with quick steps before stopping not far from him, throwing him a hesitant, almost shy glance?
Then, she lowered her gaze toward the ground as her fingers nervously twirled at the hem of her taoist robes, “H-hum, Jun-nior Brother…”
Her voice faltered toward the end, and a deep blush blood across her face as she shifted to twirling a strand of her now brown-silver hair, casting him another bashful glance.
In that mont, she truly embodied the image of a maiden about to confess to the one she cherished, and struggling with the shyness that ca with it…
‘Okay, what’s this about?’ he mused, his gaze calmly studying her. ‘It can’t actually be a confession… right?’
Inwardly, he was filled with questions—but outwardly, his expression remained steady, even offering her a gentle smile.
“What is it?”
Lian’er parted her pink lips, seemingly about to say sothing, but her gaze drifted to her surroundings—empty, yes, yet still open and situated in the middle of the Core Court.
A small frown quickly appeared on her visage as she hesitated for a mont, her blush deepening slightly before her expression shifted, a flicker of determination settling across her features.
Then her hand moved like a blur as she, acting like a thief in the night, seized his hand and almost imdiately spun on her heels. Without wasting a second, as if afraid to be seen, she began walking away, dragging him behind her.
“Follow ,” Lian’er said in a voice that tried to sound confident, her grip on his hand tightening as she led him deeper into the Core Court…
Mikael raised an eyebrow, ‘What is this really about?’ he thought sowhat curiously, but he didn’t resist and simply let his adorable Senior Sister drag him away.
And so, in this fashion, an extrely beautiful fairy with a deep blush could be seen leading a handso man by the hand, the two of them bathed in moonlight as they walked together—forming a scene that, to any onlooker, would’ve looked like a pair of lovers enjoying a romantic stroll beneath the moon.
Their path brought them into a ‘wilder’ section of the Core Court, where the vegetation grew denser, the surroundings more untad and lush, until eventually, after pushing aside a few low-hanging branches, scattered leaves, and resilient bushes, they finally arrived at what lay hidden behind it all.
It was an exquisite natural clearing, tranquil and untouched, whose beauty was only enhanced by the gentle silver rays of moonlight streaming down upon it.
This clearing had an ‘aura’ that was pretty similar to the one where Mikael was ditating and where he established the list and then trained with Sangrelia to return to 100%.
Crack.
A twig snapped under Mikael’s foot as he stepped into the clearing, its familiar aura already stirring sothing in the back of his mind. His gaze briefly swept the moonlit space, then shifted to the girl still holding his hand.
“So... mysterious nightti stroll, secret location, no one around,” he said with a faint smirk. “You’re not planning to ambush , are you, Senior Sister~?”
“N-nothing like that!” stamred Hua Lianyu as she suddenly let go of his hand, stepping back in two quick, awkward motions before turning to face him. Her face was flushed deep red, but beneath the embarrassnt, a strange mix of frustration and resolve burned in her expression.
“I wanted to ask you sothing...” she began, hesitating—her index fingers tapping nervously against each other as she struggled for control. Then, after a deep breath, it burst out of her all at once.
“Why did you reveal it to ?!”
Her voice was loud, sharp, and full of sothing unreadable—anger, maybe, or fear, or confusion, Mikael raised an inquisitive brow.
“What do you an?”
“I’m just your Senior Sister! So why? Why reveal your opportunities and secrets to ?!”
‘What is she on about now?’ he wondered, watching as the brown-silver haired beauty continued, her voice climbing with each word.
“After that STUPID Heart Demon Hunt card ga... why did you open up like that? Junior Sisters Alia, Kiara, and Lyra are your taoist companions, I get that—but ?! Why ?!”
“You told everything, without holding anything back! Your Partial Enlightennt, the awakening of your Unrestrained Mind, the attention of an Administrator, even the fact that you saw the Fla Sovereign Sect’s elite team just before they were wiped out!”
“Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?! Do you even realize the kind of trouble that could bring you?! SO WHY?!” Her voice cracked slightly. “Why tell ?! I’m just your Senior Sister...”
It all ca out in a single breathless rush—two months’ worth of bottled-up emotion, now spilled ssily and irreversibly into the moonlit clearing. Her calm façade had been completely stripped away, replaced by a raw mixture of anger, worry, fear, sha, and sothing else she couldn’t even na.
Badum. Badum. Badum.
Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, so loud she almost felt it would leap out entirely. And as the silence settled between them, sha washed over her in full force—for screaming at him like that, for losing control and being so aggressive.
And yet... even with all that, she didn’t look away.
She didn’t avert her gaze, didn’t turn to flee or hide her face. Her eyes remained fixed on Mikael—stubbornly, unflinchingly—because deep down, she wanted… no, she needed to hear the answer.
‘Why did you do it?’ she asked herself again, for what felt like the thousandth ti since that damnable mont two months ago. ‘Why reveal secrets that could potentially have you killed to … I’m only your Senior Sister…’
Swish.
A soft wind stirred the clearing, sending a few scattered leaves drifting between them.
‘I see this is what it was about, my honesty that day when I recounted my “voyage” outside the sect and…it seems that it had been eating at her, huh?’ Mikael thought, taking in her disheveled appearance, her trembling shoulders, and the look in her eyes.
Step, step.
Mikael took two step forward each resounding in Lian’er ears like thunder as she watched him approach, until he was there, his form towering above her slightly smaller one, and then—
He slightly leaned forward up to a point where they were only tens of centiters away from each other, their breaths almost mingling before he smiled.
Not the kind of polite smile you gave to a stranger, neither the one you give to a friend but the kind given to sobody special, a smile that was a mix between gentleness, warmth, flirtation and sothing else, sothing indescribable.
Skip.
Her heart skipped a beat as she attentively watched him which is why she perfectly heard his next words.
“Why, you ask?”
He chuckled, “Why not? I trust you after all.”
The words were said in a casual tone, like it was nothing but they resounded in Hua Lianyu's head like an explosion.
For a mont she froze, her brain crashing, she needed a couple of seconds before her mind caught with what he said and finally processed it.
Then—
“AHH!”
A sharp yelp tore out of her as she stumbled backward, her face already crimson.
“W-what—I—I…” she stamred incoherently, her body shaking, her eyes wide and shimring, the blush on her face deepening by the second until her entire expression was dyed in red.
She took another step back, clutching her robes as if to steady herself, eyes trembling, voice cracking.
“I-I need to go!” she blurted out—and before he could respond, she turned on her heels and vanished like a gust of wind, leaving only stirred leaves and silence behind.
Within monts, Hua Lianyu had already put a long distance between them. Only after confirming he hadn’t followed her did she finally stop, crouching beside an isolated stream hidden within the Core Court’s.
“ARGHHHH! Why did I blurt out everything like that? And my escape, I’m so stupid!”
Her voice tore out in frustration as she clutched at her head, a picture of apparent despair—but that impression would’ve shattered imdiately if one had seen the wide smile she struggled to hide behind her trembling fingers.
Splash.
Still caught in her chaotic thoughts, she lost her footing and stumbled, one leg sinking knee-deep into the cold water. Her soaked shoe and dampened robes drew a flicker of irritation across her beautiful features, and she instinctively prepared to channel Qi to dry herself—only to pause.
Instead, a different impulse took hold.
She extended her long, pale leg, the waterline shimring against her smooth skin as her slender fingers slowly slipped off her shoe and lifted the edge of her Taoist robe, baring the rest of her calf to the chill of the stream.
She then did the sa with her other leg, sliding it gently into the water until both were subrged up to the knees.
Then, with a small motion, she let herself drop backward onto the soft grass, her rounded hips settling with a quiet bounce as she reclined with her legs still imrsed in the flowing stream, eyes turned skyward.
“Hehe… he said he trusts …” she whispered, voice dreamy, eyes shining under the moonlight. In that mont, she radiated joy, a joy so intense and so pure that it seed to illuminate the night.
“He trusts … I’m his beloved Senior Sister… he definitely has feelings for … hehe…”
She giggled to herself but this ti it was noticeably less innocent, her smile was now far wider than earlier, far less pure and far more intense…
In this way, with the moon as the only witness Lian’er gradually co to term with her own feeling for her Junior Brother~
Unknown to Mikael, today was the day everything changed for Lian’er in an irrevocable and unpredictable way, though this was sothing he would only co to realize later… far later.
💬Got Thoughts? I read every comnt, and your words genuinely shape Mikael’s path.
———
A/N:
This was one of my favorite chapters to write, writing the dynamic between Mikael and Lian’er is really fun to write.
Poor Mikael got ambushed by his ‘Senior Sister’ while coming out of this Scripture Pavillion and then we have her outburst…he simply wasn’t ready.
At the sa ti Hua Lianyu feeling are developing in a totally sane and normal direction…belive !
Anyway I won’t write much more as I am pretty tired and pretty sure what I am currently writing is ssy so I won’t make you suffer any longer.
———
📚 Chapters ahead await on Patreon: /SDASLUMMY
⭐ A single rating or follow helps more than you’d expect.
Glad you’re walking this path with .
— End of Chapter —
Reviews
All reviews (0)