Leng Ling hurried home quickly after leaving the Fu Family Residence. Despite the distance between each residence it only took a few minutes to reach home with her cultivation speed. Leng Bo only closed the holographic image when he saw her entering the gates. He quietly advised his siblings and their friends to let her be. Leng Ling was in no mood for company.
As he expected, Leng Ling headed straight into a quiet part of the woods in her back yard. She was grateful that no one disturbed her in this time. She knew Leng Bo must have notified everyone to leave her be.
She sat next to a small waterfall, holding her hands under the water. The sound of the falling water soothed her, hiding the sound of her own tears.
After a while a sad song left her lips. It wasn't in the human language of this world, nor did she sing in the Beast language. In actuality, she was singing in French. It was just one of many of the languages she spoke in her old life. The tune was heartbreaking to hear and if anyone had known the words she song, their hearts wouldn't have been able to handle the pain of it.
The beasts of her residence watched her quietly from a distance. It wasn't the first time they had heard such a song from her but it had been a long time since they heard it.
A tone rang out quietly from the door bell but Leng Ling and the others were too absorbed to notice it. However, the beasts did notice when Long Junjie passed them as strode quietly towards Leng Ling. Quietly they left the area to offer the couple some privacy.
Long Junjie's heart felt pain as he listened to the unknown words of Leng Ling's song. She didn't notice his approach although she did notice when his warm familiar scent surrounded her. Slowly, very gently, Long Junjie pulled her into his embrace, lifting her from the ground and onto his lap. Her song drifted off as she turned into his chest, tears running down her face.
Neither of them spoke for a long time and the moon had long risen before Leng Ling calmed down. After a while she turned back to stare quietly at the waterfall in the moonlight. She took a deep breath and began to talk. Her voice was soft and hard to hear.
"There is something I haven't mentioned before. Every one from the forest are aware of it but I feel that if we are going to be a couple, then you should know as well.
Before I was born here, I lived a past life in another place. Another world really. Cultivation wasn't really a thing there. It was more about technology. Science. We used electricity to make things work. It's kind of like lightening.
My family were well off and high in society. Unlike the more common families, our marriages weren't based on love very often and were usually arranged by other parents. Usually for some business arrangement or the return of a favour.
Back then my father had arranged a marriage agreement for me with another family in our circle. My fiance was ok looking. He was respectable, well liked in society and popular with other women. But he left me feeling cold. My half-sister on the other hand was obsessed with him and it wasn't long before they started a relationship behind my back. However, my father refused to end the marriage agreement between us or even to transfer it to my half-sister.
One day I was intercepted as I was out and knocked unconscious. I woke up in a basement, chained to a wall. Kidnapping wasn't uncommon. I'd been kidnapped once before as a child. So I didn't panic and planned to wait and see what ransoms err being demanded. To my surprise, my kidnapper this time was my fiance and my half-sister.
At first, other than feeding me on occasion, they left me alone. Sometimes they would visit to tell me how our father and brother were looking for me. Sometimes she would taunt me about the dates my fiance took her on. Soon she came to tell me that they had finally gotten engaged.
After a couple of months went by, he started visiting me on his own. He took enjoyment in forcing himself on me at those times. She would visit me and torture me regularly. Especially when she was in a bad mood. I assume she had found out about the other women he often invited home when she wasn't there. By the time I died I was a scared broken lump of mess. Didn't stop him from forcing himself on me still.
I finally died on their wedding night. She was drunk, and came down to gloat. She broke the wine bottle she was carrying on my head then stabbed both my eyes out with the broken glass. I had been there nearly a year.
For all my strength, I am emotionally fragile. I find it hard to let anyone in. I'm sorry I've kept you at a distance,but I don't think I could survive it if you betrayed me like he did. Like they did."
Long Junjie listened quietly as she talked. His heart broke as he realized just how much she had gone through in her past life and exactly why she reacts the way she does on contact. He offered her quiet comfort with his embrace, neither forcing her nor pressuring her. When she finished, he stayed silent for a few minutes to process it all. When he finally spoke, it was in a reassuring quiet voice.
"I promise you that I won't force you into anything you don't want to do. I won't make you service me in anyway except on your own terms. I also promise you that I won't open a harem, regardless of status. You will be my only wife. There will be no concubines. One life, one love. There will be no others. My children will be your children. There will be no half-siblings for them. I only want to be by your side, loving you as I should be."
"I...I'll try to trust in your promise. I do like you and I don't want to be this way. But with my past life as an example and then seeing what my current birth family is like and how my mother died... I'm scared."
"Then we'll build our trust and our relationship together."
"Do we really have to get married when I'm 16? I'd still be considered a child back in my previous world. Adults who preyed on 16 year olds usually ended up in prison. 18 was the legal age there.
"It's only a ceremony. We can hold off on the rest of it until you're ready. I just want to make sure you have the status that belongs to you."
Leng Ling watched the waterfall still sitting in his lap as she thought it through. Long Junjie, watched her quietly as he waited for her answer. Finally, after a long while, Leng Ling sighed.
"Very well. I'll agree to marry once I turn 16. As for the rest of it, we'll work on it together."