Days passed by and it's already my second week here at the Fengliang Empire. My entire stay after the fiasco happened when I had to suddenly put up with the role of being an adoptive mother of little Noah. I mean, Little Noah is adorable and I can't find the courage to turn away from a child who kept approaching me innocently. Albeit, I still can't get away from here at the moment.
"I'm sure master is quite taken by you, madam." He was still the servant who was serving me since last week and was also the one who carried the orders to bring me with them to the palace. Thinking about how he nonchalantly carried me back last time without even having the strength to struggle makes me wonder if he was still the same person before. He acts rather peculiarly than the others, I mean not that the place itself is swarming with your non-ordinary people.
I rolled my eyes heavenwards at his absurd statement. "Stop saying nonsense."
A knock came up from the opposite side of the door. "Let him in." The servant opened the door and the guy who had been serving as the emperor's aide appeared in front of me.
"His imperial majesty, the emperor has summoned you to his quarters."
The servant gave me a told-you-so look and gave me a meaningful smile. I glared back at him and composed myself afterwards before facing the aide once again. "Alright..."
I followed behind him and arrived at the emperor's quarters. The aide opened the doors for me to let me in and retreated himself after closing the door right after me.
The room was empty and no one was around. I quietly took in my surroundings, now that I think of it, it's my first time being in the emperor's quarters.
"Did you wait long?" I instinctively turned my head towards the direction of the voice. Li Shen with his ever-perfect figure magically showed up from thin air, black smoke wafting around him as it slowly dissipated. Ah, how convenient, his teleportation skill that is.
"Not at all, I just got here your imperial majesty." Although I have seen this man most of the time already during mealtime, his strong presence is something I really can't get used to.
"Why don't we take a seat." He helped himself to one of the seats by the tea table at the corner of his room while I followed suite.
"How have you been faring lately? Was everything to your satisfaction?" He asked, leaning unto his propped arm on the table, his palm supporting his chin.
Well yeah, like I have the right to complain how comfortable everything is lately with my head still attached to my neck. "I have no complaints, your imperial ma-"
"Well, I do have." He butted in. I knitted my brows in confusion. Did I do anything wrong that I wasn't aware of? Perhaps he heard us talking about his taboo lover?
"Drop the title little miss." Oh. Was it too much? I mean, he gets called by that title every day so what's wrong with me addressing him the same way? We haven't gotten closer to call each other on a first-name basis, not that I know of. Wait, does he want me to call him master? That's a bit, ugh.
"How am I supposed to address you, your impe-" He cut me off once again.
"Call me by my name, Shen." He said with an amusing smile on his face.
I swallowed a lump of saliva as I heard his request. I averted my gaze, away from his dashing face. "H-how can I dare to call the emperor of a great empire by his name." I reasoned out, struggling to come off convincing.
"Anyway, I had something to tell you." I refrained from calling him by his title but didn't use his name too so I could remain neutral. "Would I be able to go back to the spiritual abyss? It's been two weeks and I'm afraid I may not be able to get my own spirit familiar if I don't go anytime soon." I know that I'm being shameless right now, considering I'm still alive and kicking but if he had plans to kill me, he would've done so already right from the start. And because he hadn't done anything, perhaps I have something he can't take ahold of so he had to let me off the hook. Making it an advantage to gain opportunities should be the right course to take for now to get out of here.
He gave me a thorough look as if assessing my ulterior motives. I gave him a smile to mask off my intentions.
"I'll let you, in one condition."
"What is it?" I asked eagerly in anticipation.
"Address me by my given name." My mouth fell agape at his condition, I was simply dumbfounded. Is he being serious?
"Alright, no spirit abyss for you."
"No, no, no! Fine, I'll take it." I took a few deep breaths and looked at him with sheer determination. "Shen." I called out.
He snorted and even laughed at my face when he couldn't help containing it anymore. Seriously!
This is why that servant earlier was just spouting nonsense. That reaction tells me everything. Those eyes aren't the eyes of someone who has taken a liking to a person, instead, he looked highly amused of me! As if I was his entertainment, ugh. It's not like I have no experience with men.
"Anyway, I'll let you go next week. You have to tell Noah himself why'd you have to leave though." He got up from his seat and stood next to me. "But before that, I need you to close your eyes for a moment."
I gave him a doubtful look but still complied. There's a limit on how many times I can pull off my presumptuous behavior.
When I closed my eyes, I felt a warm sensation engulfing my entire body and quickly dissipated after a few seconds. When I opened my eyes, the feeling had already left and Li Shen had distanced himself from me. "What was that?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Hmm, let's say it's a charm?" He responded as he let out a laugh.
A charm? What would I need it for? And why would an emperor of a mighty continent give me such a thing? I just wish for this to end so I can go back home already.
"Don't think too much about it." He said and opened the doors. "Shall we head for dinner?"
I shook my head to get rid of my worries and got up from my seat. I shouldn't make a big deal out of it. I mean, I don't think he would do anything bizarre against me, now that I'm already helpless within his domain.