"Wait, are you not going to ask me why I lied to you?"
Kesi only shook her head. She wasn't completely clean with the kid either, and truth to be told, while she felt for Mu Luming's tragedy, she didn't fully trust him. In all of her past memories, it wasn't like she had really ever trusted anyone, much less a mere 7 year old boy.
It was simply a matter of convenience. As much as he didn't act like one and people didn't treat him like one, Mu Luming was the Crown Prince after all. And she was the Crown Prince's nanny. If anything had ever happened to him, she was as good as doomed as well.
"I won't ask about your past, and you won't have to answer. But on the other side, I hope you do that with me as well."
She bent down a bit, so that her head was fully level with his before looking him evenly in the eye.
"But I want to know one thing. And this thing is very important for the both of us to survive." Kesi put her hand over his, barely letting her skin touch his.
As soon as they came into contact, a tingle ran through her, and she felt the now-familiar course of energy run through her again.
Fishing out the mirror Death had left behind during his brief visit, she saw her renewed youth. Her heart was still, no longer pumping wildly as it had when she first saw her own reflection. Now, all she wanted to do was to finish her mission and return back to her former life.
"This is really important to me," she stressed again, lightly gripping him. "Do you know why you can do this?"
He looked at her innocently.
"Have we ever met before?"
He nodded. "I first met you when you had saved me."
Letting out an exasperated sigh, she forced herself to continue prodding for any hint of what might have happened. "Have you met anyone strange before meeting me? Like a certain individual with sunglasses and a large hoodie?"
His expression was blank, and he licked his lips as he struggled for an answer.
"Sunglasses?" He ultimately croaked out.
Kesi wanted to smack herself on her head.
Making two circles with her fingers, she put her hands to her eyes. "Someone like this."
Mu Luming burst into laughter, putting his own hands to his eyes to mock Kesi. Seeing her dagger-like glare, he immediately stopped, clearing his throat. But it didn't even take another second before he broke out laughing once more.
Only when he clutched his stomach in pain did the string of giggles finally stifle.
Annoyed, Kesi twitched the corner of her lips. "Was it really that funny?" She asked herself.
But catching a reflection of herself in the mirror, she could only shake her head. She looked absolutely ridiculous. Gone was her normally calm composure and carefully crafted appearance. Instead, her white hair stuck out at odd angles like a chicken's nest, and a faint rim of charcoal encircled her eyes where her hands had traced the dirt from the room onto her skin.
"But are you sure you haven't met anyone suspicious lately?" She paused. "Or someone that seemed like they didn't quite belong in this world?"
His eyes darted around the room as if he was hard in thought.
"Oh!" He let out a small gasp.
…
Kesi waited for his declaration of enlightenment, but much to her disappointment, he simply stopped talking.
"So?"
"Heh." He only smirked, casually sliding against the wall and crossing his arms together in imitation of an adult. "I'm not telling you."
If she had any less form of self control, Kesi would have strangled the boy right then and there.
"So." She repeated, glaring. This time, her statement was not a question.
My Luming only raised an eyebrow at her. "I want a favor in exchange. We're partners in this, and it's not fair that you can ask me a question, but I can't."
This kid was a literal demon in disguise as an angel, and Kesi rubbed her hands together in anticipation of how she would give him the hardest chores around the palace in the future.
"What type of favor? I don't give them out that easily."
"Hmph. Then I won't either." He pouted his lips, protesting. "You said that you won't ask me any questions as long as I didn't ask you any, and you've asked me three already. This is unfair!"
If this had been any less important of a question or concern, Kesi would have been honestly done with this already. In fact, if this was her previous life, the person in front of her would have died a million ways.
"How about this, I also get a question." His voice was clear, ringing throughout the empty room.
"Fine." Kesi ultimately gave in. She had to know whether Mu Luming had come into contact with Death previously, or if there was another explanation for their special connection. "What is your question?"
Prancing around the room and kicking up balls of dust, Mu Luming went from one end of the room to another. One moment, he stopped to look at the cracking table, and the next, he picked up the chipped tea set.
Impatiently, Kesi tapped her feet against the floor.
"I want to find out by myself everything about you. I want to figure out who you are without you ever needing to tell me." He declared, stopping in front of her. "But in the future, if I ever ask you a question, you must promise to answer me truthfully."
His gaze was warm.
Kesi nodded half-heartedly.
"You have to promise!"
"I promise."
Beaming, he offered out his little pinky, and she wrapped hers around his. Firmly, he pressed his thumb into hers.
Satisfied, his voice turned more serious. "I've met a strange man on the street right before you arrived, a man in a large black cloak to be exact."