The young man carried Sang Luo down a secluded and quiet palace path.
The irrelevant clamor slowly receded until it vanished completely. Colorful flowers and lush greenery intertwined, resembling a ticulously tended floral grove. Sunlight trickled through the gaps in the leaves and branches, casting dappled, fragnted shadows on the ground as the rich fragrance of flowers filled the air.
The pair passed through a large rose garden enclosed by a wooden fence and arrived at a white palace. It wasn’t particularly large—a small traveling palace for temporary residence.
There were no servants or attendants inside the palace. It was kept very clean, without a speck of dust in the corners.
The young man was clearly the master of this palace. He brought out a fine spread of food to welco his guest.
Smoked haddock, marinated oysters, grilled mackerel fillets, chicken pot pies... There was also a pot of freshly ward floral tea and a platter of peeled and sliced fruit.
Sang Luo stared at the table laden with delicacies, feeling rather flattered. Her mouth wouldn’t stop watering. Goodness knows, in the half-month she’d spent at the Holy Hall, she had hardly eaten anything decent besides the al on her first day. She’d been gnawing on dried at every day until her mouth felt utterly bland.
She tried a slice of the fish. It was perfectly cooked. The outside was fragrant from being smoked with special spices, while the at inside was juicy, tender, and delicious.
As Sang Luo ate at a leisurely pace, she glanced at the young man across from her.
She couldn’t see his expression, nor could she fathom his thoughts.
’Is he planning to hand over? Does he feel guilty, so he’s treating to a last al?’
The at in her mouth suddenly beca difficult to swallow.
Holding her silver fork, she hesitated, unsure if she should continue eating.
The young man seed to read her mind. The corner of his well-defined lips curved slightly. "Don’t worry, I won’t hand you over."
Sang Luo forced down the mouthful of fish. "Really?"
"If I truly intended to hand you over, I would have done it when the guards were chasing us. There would be no need to bring this trouble upon myself." The young man picked up his knife and fork, cutting a piece of steak. The sight of his slender, well-defined hands performing such a simple action was surprisingly captivating.
’That’s true.’
Sang Luo relaxed a little and resud eating.
’Her suspicion about the young man only grew. How could a re guard have the courage to hide a criminal, let alone possess his own private palace? It seed she had been wrong from the start. This person wasn’t a patrol guard; he had to be soone important within the Holy Hall.’
’She’d run into him so many tis, always at a critical mont. It must be fate.’
"What’s your na?" They had t several tis, yet she still didn’t know his na.
"Minos."
"Is that your full na?"
"You may also call Minos Iyar Limiteles, noble female."
"...I think I’ll just call you Minos." Sang Luo blinked playfully. The na sounded vaguely familiar, as if she’d heard it sowhere before. But the nas of the Western Continent Beastn were too long, and she could never rember them.
"Mm." The young man nodded, unconcerned. He poured her a cup of hot floral tea. "Please try it, noble female. Is it to your liking? I also have lemon tea and sweet red tea."
Sang Luo lifted the warm cup and took a sip. The tea had a light, sweet floral fragrance that wasn’t cloying. She liked it a lot. "My na is..."
She was debating whether to give him her real na.
Minos finished for her, "Sang Luo."
"You... How do you know?" Sang Luo’s shimring, almond-shaped eyes widened in surprise.
She had never told anyone here her real na. It was a terrifying feeling—to be in a strange new place, knowing nothing, and suddenly have your identity exposed.
"The Saint Heir’s future bride. There isn’t a soul in the Holy Hall who doesn’t know."
"..." Sang Luo shook her head quickly. "You flatter ! I’m just a candidate. The Saint Heir would never be interested in a female from another clan."
"No one knows the Saint Heir’s intentions but the Saint Heir himself."
"It’s a well-known fact. The Saint Heir is a Supre God Angel; he will only choose a mate from within the Angel Clan."
"Generally, Pure-blood Angels rarely choose mates from other clans. However, the Pure-blood Angel lineage is dwindling, and most of the Angel Clan now consists of Mixed Blood Angels."
Sang Luo couldn’t argue with that, but she didn’t take it to heart. She just assud the young man was trying to comfort her.
Minos watched her devour her food with gusto, as if she hadn’t eaten anything so delicious in a long ti. He pushed a plate of sliced at closer to her, then paused for a mont before asking gently, "Why are you always trying to run away, noble female? Is it so bad to stay at the Holy Hall? It has the best environnt for child-rearing, and you would receive the most attentive care."
Sang Luo shook her head. "It’s not good at all! The Holy Hall kidnapped and brought here without a single word of explanation. They imprisoned and, because they were afraid I’d escape, assigned two hulking males to guard ."
"I could tolerate being locked up, but then they sent a jealous female to ’serve’ , and she even withheld my food. The als they brought later were all spoiled. In all the ti I’ve been at the Holy Hall, I’ve only had a full al on the very first day."
"If you want a horse to run, you have to feed it good grass. If the Saint Heir really intended to have children with , he wouldn’t let go hungry. It just shows how unreliable he is. That’s why I don’t want to stay here."
The young man remained silent for a long while. Only after she had vented all her complaints did he say in a low voice, "I apologize. That is indeed a failure on the part of the Holy Hall."
"What do you have to apologize for?" Sang Luo took another large bite of bread and jam. Her cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s, muffling her words. "You’re the kindest person I’ve t since I ca to the Holy Hall."
"Then do you like the Saint Heir?"
"I don’t!" Sang Luo swallowed her mouthful of bread and said decisively, "I’ve never even t him, so how could I possibly like him? They’ve kept here for so long, and I haven’t even caught a single glimpse of the Saint Heir... Hmph. Maybe he’s so hideous he doesn’t dare show his face, afraid his bride will run away before the wedding."
She looked at Minos again and said, dead serious, "I’d rather have a child with you than with that Saint Heir."
"And what do you think of , noble female?" he asked in earnest.
’Sang Luo had always been curious about the strip of White Silk covering his eyes. Could he be blind?’
’But that didn’t seem right.’
’His movents were no different from a sighted person’s, and he had even managed to catch her as she fell... Then again, so Beastn had unique Talent Abilities that allowed them to perceive the world without needing their eyes.’
"Well, I don’t know what you look like," she said. Her most important criterion when choosing a Beast Husband was a handso face.
Sang Luo scooted her stool closer, inch by inch, and carefully studied his face. His mouth, nose, ears... every visible feature was like the Creator’s most perfect masterpiece, utterly flawless. ’He must be handso,’ she thought, ’but I’m not a fan of disabilities.’
Minos felt her warm breath tickle his neck. "You can remove the silk," he said.
"Really? You’re not blind?"
He chuckled. "I’m not."
"Then... are your eyes injured? Or your face?"
’She didn’t like prying into people’s painful pasts.’
"No. I just often see many tedious things, so I decided to cover my eyes."
Sang Luo blinked her shimring eyes in confusion. She was all talk and hadn’t actually intended to act so rashly. But to her surprise, the young man took her hand and used it to remove the silk from his eyes.
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