Jing Yi continued to lie in the darkness, unable to fall asleep again. His thoughts were circling around what he had seen just now and what he might still see in the future.
He hadn't absorbed much of the spiritual energy of the Fractured Crystal Leaf before he noticed that something was wrong. After that, he had immediately stopped. So it couldn't be much energy that he had taken in. In turn, there shouldn't be many things he would remember because of that, either, right?
Furthermore, he might have remembered something concerning that man just now but the memory before that had been about something entirely different. He definitely wouldn't be so unlucky so as to only remember him. In fact, it was probably highly unlikely to remember much concerning that person.
Just think about it: The spiritual energy of the herb was stored in the leaves. If what senior martial brother Yu said was true and one would remember one's whole life after taking the spiritual energy in, then there would be seven parts to remember about that life with each leaf accounting for one of them. Two of the leaves had been missing in the first place so there were two parts he would never remember.
The other five parts of his life … They couldn't solely consist of memories of that man, could they? He certainly had had parents and friends in that life, too. They should make up a big part of his memories.
After thinking it through, Jing Yi felt much calmer and closed his eyes again. Ah, it would be better if he got over with it as soon as possible. He should try to exhaust the absorbed spiritual energy as early as possible.
Then he could concentrate on helping senior martial brother Yu or cultivate to become stronger and then help him. Wouldn't Qiu Ling be really proud of him if he returned stronger than before? Then he could also show him that he didn't need to be too nervous. See? He could persist on his own …
While thinking about his fiance Jing Yi finally fell asleep again. It was a pity that he neither understood the effects of the Fractured Crystal Leaf thoroughly nor had any idea how crown prince Jing He's life had been which rendered all his assumptions null and void.
The first memories the Fractured Crystal Leaf evoked were those laden with emotions, the most memorable moments of that past life because those were the ones linked the closest with the soul.
And the life of crown prince Jing He … There weren't many people in it. Disregarding his parents and uncle, who else was there besides a certain shameless dragon king that had pestered him for a decade before finally getting his wish? Naturally, his most memorable moments were to a large degree connected to that person. Thus, it was rather a question of when he saw which one of those memories with Qiu Ling and not if he saw them at all.
This time he got lucky though. When he opened his eyes it wasn't his past life's lover that awaited him but the face of a beautiful woman.
Jing Yi was stunned. Just who was she? He had never before seen such a person. She was beautiful and dressed very elegantly in an apricot-colored dress. Her eyes were filled with laughter and love when she looked back at him.
"So, what is it you're worried about?" She gently grasped his arm, making Jing Yi feel a special kind of warmth.
Mn, this was very much like how his mother had always treated him …
Unfortunately, his past self lowered his gaze and didn't continue to look at her. "I …" He sounded hesitant and Jing Yi could feel just how hesitant he really was. There was a dull pain in his chest and it seemed to grow worse the longer he kept quiet.
The woman next to him didn't say anything either and just accompanied him silently, waiting for him to speak first.
"He … He hasn't come by for three days now."
"Mn." The woman murmured an assent.
"I … I'm afraid …" He looked up at her, his brows drawing together slightly. "Do you think he tired of me?"
The woman stopped walking and looked back at him. She didn't answer his question though. "Do you think he tired of you?"
"I …" He looked away once more and stepped to the railing to look down into the pond on the other side. "He said he loved me." His heart gave another painful thump.
He remembered it. Those times when he had taken his hands or hugged him close to kiss his hands or maybe his cheeks bereft of any decorum whatsoever. He had thought that … he should hate it but the truth was he had always looked forward to seeing him again. He had longed for him.
How had … it turned out like this?
"You doubt it?" The woman stepped forward and leaned against the railing next to him.
He didn't answer. He didn't want to doubt but … three days. It had been three days since then. It wasn't that long but considering that he had come by every day before that … Maybe he really had stopped loving him. Or maybe he never loved him in the first place …
His eyes stung and he hurriedly looked away. He didn't want her to see him like this. Wouldn't she worry then? No, he couldn't let anyone see. He couldn't. He …
A hand gently grabbed his shoulder. "Maybe he's just busy. He is the king of his realm, after all. There are bound to be times when he is tied down by his duties. Isn't your father the same?"
But shouldn't that have been the case before, too? That thought echoed through his heart, heightening the doubts even more. For so long that person had run over to his side nearly every day, hardly ever missing even one. Even if he did, he had always come by the next day for sure, apologizing over and over again and insisting on staying with him as long as he could. Was he really supposed to believe that he had suddenly encountered something that could prevent him from doing so?
Or … had something really bad happened? Was there a war coming, maybe? Or …
His breath hitched imagining all the things that could have happened to him. He really regretted it now. He regretted never having told him directly how much he loved him. Sure, he had hinted at it but … Why had he never been more open about it? What was wrong about it? Their status matched, their appearance matched, their hearts … they matched even more so.
As if the woman next to him had heard his thoughts, she spoke up again. "Well, it could also be that he felt … disconcerted by your reaction."