That look, It was caught by Li Yu Rong. He watched the boy as he walked further and further away for a brief moment before turning his attention back to Asya. "That boy," he asked slowly as he tried to recall where he had seen that face, "who is he and how did you meet him?"
Feeling a little cautious around him after he suddenly kissed her as he did, Nastasia made sure to subtly keep a good distance between them. As she did so, she casually said. "He was leaning on the wall of a house on a street with lots of houses. Paoxiao got lost, we asked him to help us. His name is Liu Yating."
Liu... Yating...?
Though Li Yu Rong's lips slowly curved up his eyes were very cold. The air around him also become frigid. One of the hands at his side clenched into a fist so tightly the veins on his hand and bit up his arm began to pop out. Stunned, Nastasia quickly grabbed his wrist to encourage him to stop, completely forgetting her thoughts of keeping a distance between them.
"What wrong?" She asked, deeply concerned over his sudden change. Her small hands rubbed over his clenched fist, trying to uncurl the fingers and straighten them out. "Don't, your hand is going to get hurt."
Turning gentle over her concern, he uncurled his fist. Li Yu Rong watched as she traced over the deep nail marks on his palm with a frown marring her delicate face. His heart was pricked as it squeezed with emotion. To help contain that feeling before it overflowed he gathered Asya up into his arms and hugged her to him; tight. As he hugged her, he walked them through the gate and away from curious eyes.
The feeling of her warmth in his arms was a balm to the raw wounds that had suddenly resurfaced. He curled forward a bit as he rubbed his cheek against the crown of her head, breathing in deep the light scent of her body. She smelt softly of fragrant plum blossoms. As he breathed out, all the tense muscles in his body relaxed.
Although he could never get his fill, he released her once his emotions stabilized. He dragged his fingers through red and black strands of hair before taking his had to remove the black wig from her head. The spirits had gathered as he entered through the gate, waiting to hear any orders fall from his lips. As he threw the wig to the side, he ordered, "return that to her room. Also, one of you head over to the Jiang estate and collect the mask she lost."
A spirit materialized to catch the wig before fading off to do as he bid.
Asya's clear sky blue eyes were looking him up and down as if trying to delineate from any part of him the reason for his sudden strangeness. Concern was still clearly written across her face as she seemed to debate with herself on what to say to him.
Again his fingers reached out and brushed across her cheek, reveling in warm softness of her flesh. "I'm fine," he told her lightly, "let's go have Lu Se Ying take care of your cheek before it gets any worse." She really made it difficult for him to not want to touch her. Her every action pulled him into the want of losing himself in her.
Unfortunately, those wants and desires had to largely remain unanswered. 'Ah, but soon,' he thought to himself as he escorted her back to her room, 'I'll be able to do all I want to her and more.' This thought, it brought a devilish grin to rise across his lips as his eyes were aglow with a predatory light.
This look, it brought a sense of dread and caution to rise up in Nastasia. She didn't know why, as he often had that devilish grin, but coupled with those eyes, it made her feel a need to put a bit more distance between them. It was as if, should she remain careless, she would be devoured to the bones before she could even see the meat leaving.
After Li Yu Rong saw her to her room, Lu Se Ying appeared. He checked over her wound before smearing a strong smelling salve across it. It tingled and smelled and was quite unpleasant, but with Li Yu Rong standing nearby, she didn't dare to reject it.
After everything had been seen to, Li Yu Rong left with Lu Se Ying once he got Nastasia's promise to remain in her room and rest. Although she gave this promise, as there really wasn't anything wrong with her, she very quickly pulled out her ink brush and papers.
Sitting at a drum-shaped table with drum-shaped stools that had recently been brought into her room, she began to drag her ink-filled brush against a fresh sheet of paper. While she didn't get to discuss with Jiang Ya Lin on how to go about hiring out employees for her shop, she could at least write out her plans and work out designs.
Though she worked diligently, Nastasia made sure to take breaks here and there to rest. She didn't want her eyes to appear tired should Li Yu Rong come back later. Once night fell, during one of her breaks, she drifted off to sleep while comfortably nestled in her bed with a book borrowed from the study.
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Li Yu Rong was currently looking over some reports that had been handed to him earlier. His eyes may have been looking over them, but his mind didn't take in a single word written on the page. Too preoccupied with the familiar-face he had seen not too long ago. Eventually, day descended into night as he aimlessly sat here like this.
As he was lost in those thoughts, thinking of the possibilities, Hui Se Ying materialized into the room. There was a bit of hesitance to speak written clearly across his face, but it didn't stall him in speaking. "I've contacted our agents in the capital. It would seem that Liu Yating is the current emperor's son. His mother was an orphan living on the streets; she died after giving birth to him. Having no mother to protect him on top of not having the power of a maternal family, he was heavily mistreated, even by the servants."
Hui Se Ying took a breath and then continued. "Upon further investigation, it was found that the empress has moved the young prince to a countryside villa to recover after it was said that his body was weakened from a cold. This was half a year ago, the whole truth of the matter would require further investigating. Do you wish for me to ask it of them, master?" He finished.
Liu Yating... how many people out there could have the surname Liu? There was only one family. The imperial family. A sardonic grin transformed his lips into something tragically heartbreaking as his eyes shined with a bit of helplessness.
"No need," Li Yu Rong said, his voice a tad hoarse. "Even without further investigating I can understand what happened. In the imperial palace, without a proper strength to back you, your either suppressed to death or cast aside and left for dead."
Nodding, Hui Se Ying then said. "The spirit you sent to investigate the boy's whereabouts has also returned. Though currently, by using the silver given to him by the young miss, he's gotten himself a few days at an inn... he's usually sleeping on the streets. He's never begged the passerby for money, instead, he takes on odd jobs here and there, surprisingly staying far away from the more seedy types of work." Glancing over at his master to try and gauge his reaction, but on finding his look to be like trying to find emotion from a stone, he still decided to ask. "You want I should send someone to help him out?"
"It won't be necessary." Li Yu Rong rejected. That boy had a proud and upright appearance. He wouldn't accept charity even if it were well meaning. The best form of help would be to put him to work. At that thought, Asya came to mind. Recalling that he had given her quite a bit of money, he decided that when next she brought up wanting to visit the town, he would let slip to be a little more generous when paying the guide; Liu Yating.
"Have someone keep an eye on him all the same. Although he's been abandoned all the way out here, he's still an heir for the throne. Should something happen beyond his control, we'll help him out."
"Understood master." That said, Hui Se Ying vanished to carry out his orders.
An Heir for the throne... even if you don't want it, even if you were abandoned without a single hope of obtaining it, just the fact that you existed would prevent others from living peacefully. Trapped in the melancholy of the past, Li Yu Rong's chest was feeling stuffy. Long having been unable to continue looking through documents and writing out responses, he forwent his persistence to try.
Instead, he stood from his desk and left the study. His heart was unsettled. He was feeling cold. His feet carried him down the path leading to Asya's room. Suddenly having a longing to see her, Li Yu Rong was aching to have her warmth beside him.