His thumb traced my jawline as if remembering the shape from another lifetime. His voice softened, warmed, deepened with the kind of emotion that made my chest feel too small.
"In the beginning…"
He paused, breath catching.
"In the beginning, Ren… you were the one who saved me."
He held me closer without even realizing it, as if the past tugged his body forward.
"The first day in Forest Euphoria, you stepped off the carriage like someone stepping into a dream. You kicked off your shoes the moment your feet touched the moss."
His lips softened into the smallest smile.
"You said, 'It feels like clouds.'"
I felt my cheeks warm.
"You wandered between the trees," he continued, "following shafts of golden light like they were threads leading you somewhere sacred. I kept a distance at first... a guard's distance."
He laughed quietly under his breath.
"But you didn't like that."
My eyebrows rose.
"Really…?"
"Oh yes."
His voice shifted, amused and tender.
"You turned around, lifted your veil just enough so I could see your pout, and said..."
His tone changed, becoming a gentle mimicry of my past self:
'Why are you walking behind me like you're guarding a wall? Come here.'
My face flushed.
"You were bold," he murmured. "And gentle. And curious. And everything I wasn't allowed to want."
He brushed his knuckles down my jawline.
"You reached out for my hand that first day. You didn't even think twice."
My breath hitched.
"What did you do?" I whispered.
His eyes softened.
"I took it."
FLASHBACK — REN & LIAN ZHEN
The forest breathed around them... leaves shimmering silver in the sunlight, petals drifting as if the trees themselves exhaled blossoms.
Ren, veil lifted halfway, looked over his shoulder with a smile so full of light it almost hurt to look at.
"General Lian… you're too far."
Lian Zhen cleared his throat, armor catching sunlight.
"I am meant to guard you from behind, Your Highness."
Ren clicked his tongue softly.
"You can guard me from beside me as well," he said, tugging lightly on Lian Zhen's sleeve. "Unless you dislike my company?"
Lian Zhen froze.
"I… Your Highness, I would never-"
Ren laughed. A soft, bell-like sound.
"Then walk with me."
So he did.
Step by step.
Side by side.
Close enough for their shoulders to brush.
Ren's fingers slipped into his palm as naturally as wind slipping through leaves.
And Lian Zhen…
He didn't let go.
I felt my throat tighten.
"That was really me?"
"You," he whispered, brushing his forehead to mine, "were braver than sunlight."
His voice turned quieter.
"And you made me warmer than fire."
My heart fluttered violently.
"Tell me more," I murmured, leaning into him.
He pulled me into his chest and continued.
"Days passed," he said, "and you bloomed. The forest suited you more than the palace ever did. You woke with the sunrise, hair tangled with leaves from where you'd rolled in the moss the night before."
He stroked my hair as if remembering how it felt centuries ago.
"You chased butterflies. You braided flowers into the tails of your rabbits. You stole my cloak when you were cold. You fell asleep beneath the peach trees, head on my shoulder, trusting me without hesitation."
His throat bobbed.
"And I… I watched you. I guarded you. I learned you."
His fingers moved to my waist, holding me gently.
"You hummed to the river when you thought I wasn't listening. You danced barefoot in the rain. You climbed trees despite being forbidden, just to see how the world looked from above."
I smiled faintly.
"That sounds like me."
"It was," he whispered. "Every bit of it."
He inhaled slowly.
"And somewhere between one sunrise and the next… we stopped being prince and guard."
FLASHBACK — REN & LIAN ZHEN
It was dusk.
The world was drenched in violet light. Fireflies drifted between them like stars fallen too early.
Ren sat by the lake, knees drawn up, veil forgotten on the grass. His face glowed in the reflection of the water, soft and quiet and breathtaking.
"General…" he said without looking back.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"You always sit so far away."
Lian Zhen stiffened.
"I sit where I should."
Ren turned, eyes shimmering, lips curved in a gentle pout.
"And where you want to sit?"
Silence.
Ren patted the moss beside him.
"Come here."
So he did.
He sat close.
Too close.
Close enough for Ren's shoulder to press into his arm.
Close enough for their breaths to mix.
"Look," Ren whispered, pointing at the fireflies. "They gather here because they feel safe."
"Do you?" Lian Zhen asked before he could stop himself.
Ren blinked.
Then he nodded shyly.
"I feel safe with you."
Lian Zhen's heart stuttered so hard he almost forgot how to breathe.
My fingertips clutched Lian Zhen's cloak.
"Zhen… why didn't you tell me earlier?"
He looked down, brushing his thumb against my lower lip.
"Because loving you was forbidden then. And dangerous now."
"Weeks passed," he murmured. "We grew closer. We spent nights beneath the trees, you sleeping curled against me because you said my heartbeat helped you dream better."
My face warmed.
"You stole my ribbon one morning just to tie your hair with it. I pretended not to notice because you looked… too beautiful."
His voice cracked.
"We never confessed. Neither of us dared. But the way you smiled at me… the way you looked for me first every morning… the way your fingers brushed mine when you thought I wouldn't catch it…"
He swallowed.
"You loved me, Ren. Long before tragedy touched us."
My heart pounded impossibly loud.
"Zhen…"
"And I loved you," he whispered, voice trembling, "in every way a man could love another man… quietly, fiercely, hopelessly."
His hand cupped my cheek tenderly.
"But the world was not gentle."
His eyes darkened... fear and old grief swirling like storms.
"And the tragedy had already started moving toward us… even as we laughed beneath the trees."
END OF THE CHAPTER.