Yin Na looked at Huo Jin, who was seated at the porch of the lake house from behind a pillar. "What is he thinking about?" She wondered. She fidgeted with her fingers as she took a step forward. Looking around and getting confird that there was no one, she kept walking to him.
However, she halted midway. She stepped backward and turned behind. Huo Jin heard the footsteps and tilted his head to the right. "Yin Na," he murmured. Before he could call out her na, she walked away.
"Did she want sothing?" Huo Jin mumbled. He looked at the notebook in his hand, in which he had painted the view of the lake's right side. He found this place a calr one than the rest part of the residence. He was a little off today. He was feeling detached and sad. He flipped the pages of the notebook he was holding after putting the brush down on the case.
He painted Xinyue's portrait for the first ti when he turned 16. They both were on a lakeside. He still vividly rembered the day. Xinyue was seated under a tree beside the lake.
"Do you really think you can draw ? I will ask for punishnt from my father if you don't draw my face well," Xinyue warned him.
"You are doubting the skills of an artist," Huo Jin reminded her. "Now, don't move. Sit calmly," he urged her and dipped the brush in the black ink.
"But it gets boring. At least, talk to while painting," Xinyue said. Huo Jin did not answer as he was busy painting. Xinyue huffed and said, "I will soon get married. What will you do then?" Her sudden question made him stop. He lifted his head and gazed into her eyes.
"You are 14. Why would you get married at such a young age?" He queried her and again started to draw.
"Don't you know?" She questioned him back. "I am a woman, who usually gets married early. Also, when I went out yesterday, I saw young teenage girls of the sa age as mine talking about their marriages." A smile ford on her lips while talking about this.
"So will beco official wives of the princes while so will stay as concubines. I don't want to be a concubine but an official wife of a Prince," Xinyue expressed her desire. Huo Jin dipped the brush a little in the water.
"Why a Prince? It's common among princes to have multiple wives. Find soone from a noble family," Huo Jin advised her.
"Because a Prince has a greater power than the rest of the people," Xinyue answered. "I wish to marry in the Han Family. They are the strongest among all," she stated with a bright smile.
"Why is Power important to you? Being powerless is better sotis," Huo Jin answered. His gaze was still fixed at the white sheet of the notebook on which he was painting.
"It is important. Father says that I can control people with power. I can make them do anything I want," Xinyue replied.
Huo Jin lifted his eyes finally and said, "It might ruin you. Power makes you blind and you forget humanity."
"It is better to get blind than to live without any power," Xinyue reasoned.
"Xinyue, what about happiness? Marry a Prince, who will keep you happy," Huo Jin diverted the topic. He, as a slave, knew how much it sucked to see a powerful person rule over him.
"Of course, my Prince will keep happy," Xinyue replied. "I won't share him with any woman. I will love him wholeheartedly," she asserted and smiled.
"Pray for . Your prayers are effective. Will you?" She asked him.
Huo Jin nodded his head. "I pray that you get a great Prince as your husband," He said and smiled. He looked back at the sheet in which he had drawn her half. His eyes turned misty. His hand trembled for a while.
"Don't anger father once I will be married off. I cannot save you every ti," Xinyue said with concern.
"Are you worried for ?" He asked.
"Hmm. You have been with for a long ti. You are a slave but still a friend to . I could not get to et any girl or boy from outside. So, you are the only one," Xinyue affird.
"I wish there would not be any slave category, then at least I could be in the list of those n," Huo Jin expressed.
Xinyue glanced at him in bewildernt. "I would not have seen you as a man even then," she imdiately said. Huo Jin smiled and looked at her.
"I know. I am joking. Even, I don't like you," Huo Jin replied and huffed.
Huo Jin ca out of his thoughts and found teardrops on the sheet. When did he start to cry? "Oh, no! It will ruin at this rate," Huo Jin mumbled and quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. Luckily, the page had turned wet at the bottom edge.
He rubbed his eyes with his fingers. "I should have prayed when she got married. She would have been alive today," he murmured and put his art notebook beside him. He recalled how unhappy he was when Xinyue agreed to marry Jian Guozhi. It was the worst day of his life. He took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"Huo Jin, would you like to have so oranges?" Suddenly a voice fell into his ears. Imdiately, he opened his eyes and saw Yin Na in front of him with a bowl of oranges.
"Were you crying? Your eyes are red," Yin Na said as she walked to him.
"No," Huo Jin waved his hands in the air and quickly averted his gaze from her. "So dust fell into my eyes. I rubbed them as I felt irritation and they ended up being red," he lied to her.
"May I sit?" Yin Na asked him.
"Of Course!" He told her and Yin Na sat beside him, keeping so distance between them. She put the bowl with oranges between them on the wooden floor.
"Huo Jin, you don't need to lie. If you are sad or hurt, you should express it.. Keeping it inside will only hurt you," Yin Na advised him and picked an orange.
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