Sometimes, the things one is most convinced of are the ones that will not hold true.
At first, everything seemed to be perfect. Xin Lan did indeed not make a secret out of his engagement with Hua Lin Yu anymore. If somebody came onto him, he would either pull the youth to his side and introduce him, showing off just how happy he was with him, or, if Hua Lin Yu wasn't at his side for once, he would just tell them about it.
In his eyes, there was no need not to do this. After all, Hua Lin Yu was at least a human cultivator. With his aptitude and the time he had now spent in the dragon realm, having access to even purer spiritual energy, it was only a question of time until he would be able to ascend to the status of a deity. In fact, with just a few years of living here, there was no doubt he would manage to do so.
Then, the two of them would be able to live together in the long term. By now, he was quite happy about that. Even though he had cursed his bad luck at first, his opinion had already changed completely.
It was nice not to be alone. It was nice to be able to hug somebody to sleep when it got dark and feel their warmth throughout the night. It was especially nice to be able to share your worries with somebody, to pour out your heart to them when you didn't feel well, and get some comfort in return. He also enjoyed taking care of Hua Lin Yu when there was something he needed.
The longer things went on like this, the more he understood that he had actually been craving this. Yes, this was the life he wanted. Since he would never be able to have it with Jinde, it was time to let go.
And … as strange as it was, he felt that maybe, he could have this life with Hua Lin Yu. They were already sworn together by an oath. This little human was also head over heels for him so he felt that maybe they could indeed stay together until the day Hua Lin Yu died. After that … well, he did not want to think about that. If he took care of him well, there really wasn't any reason Hua Lin Yu should die, right? Yes, he would just make sure that this lover of his had a long life that they could enjoy together.
Just thinking about the future they would have put a smile on Xin Lan's lips. In fact, since the first year of staying together in the dragon realm had passed, he had been slowly starting to plan how their life would be.
He tried to come up with a timeline of when to return to the human realm to talk with Hua Lin Yu's parents and see if they were now willing to let them get married and what they would do afterward.
He would not mind just going to his estate at that time and living there with him. In fact, it would be nice being just with each other, without anybody else around. Here in the dragon king's palace, Hua Lin Yu would always be with other people.
He had seen him gossip with Fu Min for hours, and even accompany him to watch Fu Heng work out, go to visit An Bai and have him explain things to him whenever that demon wasn't around, and exchanging cultivation tips with Nie Huang.
Sometimes, he felt that his fiance was actually spending more time with other people than he was spending with him. It made him pretty jealous and he couldn't wait for this period to finally be over. Since he had found somebody that he liked and could imagine spending the next part of his life with, he wanted that person to himself.
That thought had festered since the first year passed. Thus, when three years had already gone by in the dragon realm, Xin Lan finally decided to take the next step. There was no special occasion, no lead-up, he just woke up one morning and felt that it was time.
Yes, he did not want to wait any longer. He finally wanted to be alone with him and not be bothered by others. He wanted to spend his time with just him, to really get to know him, and explore the world. He was ready. It had taken him some time but now, he really was ready.
Thinking about it, it was quite curious. Hua Lin Yu's father had asked them to go and travel first so they could get to know each other. He had wanted to make sure that his son didn't rush anything that he'd regret later on.
Now, a few years had passed and Xin Lan had to realize that it wasn't just Hua Lin Yu that had needed some time. He, too, hadn't been ready to get married back then. Now, he was though. After taking these three years, he was sure that he would not regret it. He wanted to marry him so he would do so.
Xin Lan got up from where he had been reclining in the courtyard and actually took the time to brush over his sleeves to make sure he looked presentable. He even opened his spatial ring, looked through everything in there, and then took out a piece of jewelry that he had prepared some time ago.
He smiled to himself and then left the room, going over to where Hua Lin Yu was currently chatting with Nie Huang, pondering some issue regarding the bottle-neck she had recently reached. He went over, leaned down, and swooped Hua Lin Yu up into his arms. "You're still here, happily chatting. Didn���t you miss your fiance at all?"
Hua Lin Yu smiled and then turned around, hugging Xin Lan's neck. "What are you even saying? I was just discussing some things so it took a while longer. Anyway, you weren't far away."
Xin Lan gave a hum and pulled back. "Then, are you ready to come back over there? There's something I want to talk about."
Hua Lin Yu looked at him, his expression turning a little lost when he saw how serious Xin Lan was. He turned to Nie Huang, wondering what he should say but she just waved.
"It's alright, just go. You've already helped me a lot. I'm sure I'll be able to figure the rest out on my own."
Hua Lin Yu nodded but he was suddenly nervous and wished she would have reacted differently. Still, since she had already told him that he should go and since Xin Lan was the one asking he had no reason to refuse. Thus, he got up and followed him back to their own rooms, a sinking feeling in his stomach.