Waking up the next morning, Baek Hong could still vividly remember the events that transpired yesterday. She streched and yawned as she got out of bed.
"The Patriarch requests your audience in the garden." A voice appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
"Linyue?"
"Yes young miss?"
"Where... Never mind. I'll be right there."
***
The garden was mother's favorite place to spend time with me.
The path through the garden was surrounded by all kinds of flowers, from bright red to black. The scent of flowers could lead a person here even if they had never been here before.
'The flowers smell sweeter today.'
After reaching the center of the garden I saw my dad laughing happily along with a man I had never seen before. He exuded a presence nearly as great as fathers. He had nine tails that couldn't be hidden by his robe and ears resembling a fox.
"Hahaha... It's a shame we had to meet like this. It's been too long."
"Ah, little cub, come here." Father had waved me over.
I approached him to see a tiny pair of ears poking out from behind the unidentified man's robe.
"This is my old friend Song Mengyao and his daughter Zhenzhen."
"Nice to meet you little lady." Song Mengyao had said.
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Baek Hong." I replied with a bow.
"So I've heard." He said with a smile on his face. "This is my daughter, do you think you could show her around?" Ha asked, stepping to the side to reveal his daughter.
'She's so cute.'
"She's so cute."
"Right?" Her father chuckled before pushing her towards me. "Ill come find you when I'm done."
He sent her off with a wave.
***
This was my first time seeing anyone around my age, I was excited to finally have a friend to play with. I ran up to her and grabbed her hand.
"Lets go, I'll show you around." I couldn't help but smile. I turned around and waved father goodbye before running off with Zhenzhen.
We walked hand in hand around the entire manor.
Only stopping to grab some snacks in the kitchen before the end of the tour. The last place we arrived at was my room.
We had to wait for the adults to stop talking before we could go back anyway.
I led Zhenzhen to my bed to sit down.
We were still hand in hand while sitting next to each other on the bed. I was so excited that I finally had someone around my age to talk to.
"How old are you? Can I call you Zhenzhen? What do you like to do? Do you want to be friends? Why are you here?"
I continued my rapid-fire questions almost without end until I was interrupted by a quiet voice.
"F..friends?" She whispered softly.
These were the fist words she had said the entire time we were together. She'd usually just nod her head in response to the questions I asked her.
"Yeah, I don't have any friends, you'll be my first." I replied enthusiastically with a smile on my face. I was even happier to make a friend than I was killing those people yesterday.
I looked into her eyes that were unlike anything I had seen before. One eye resembled the sky on a sunny day while the other was green like a jade. I was awaiting a positive response as I gazed into her unique eyes.
"M..me t..too. You'll be my f..first friend too." she said trying to avoiding my gaze by looking at the floor.
Even though I couldn't see her face clearly, I could tell she had a smile on her face. I was confused though, as even with a smile on her face, she had tears streaming down her rosy cheeks.
"Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?" I had never had anybody to talk to except for father and mother so I was worried I might have said something to hurt her. I couldn't hide the worry on my face.
Was I going to lose my first friend so early?
Before my mind had the chance to come up with different scenarios, I was pulled back to reality with the sound of her voice.
"No... I'm happy but... don't y..you think.. m..my eyes a..are weird? I'm a..always bullied because m..my eyes are different f..from everyone else's." Her words were quiet and almost unhearable through her soft sobs and occasional sniffles.
I couldn't stop myself from letting go of her hand to give her a hug. Seeing her in pain made me feel worse.
"I think they're cute and I'll kill anyone who makes fun of your eyes again. I'll protect you forever, I promise."
She hugged me even tighter. "Y..you p..promise?
"Yes, I promise."
"F..forever?"
"Forever."
***
She continued to cry for a few minutes before falling asleep in my arms. Listening to what she said made me sad too. Why would anyone bully someone as cute as she was? Were they blind?
I had to do everything I could for my first friend. The worry I felt when she started crying was a worse feeling than the inner demon I almost succumbed to. I was determined to protect her and keep her safe.
I would kill anyone who tried to hurt her.
Without realizing it, I had fallen asleep too. Me and Zhenzhen had fallen asleep in eachothers arms.
***
I woke up to Zhenzhen's dad staring at us with a warm smile on his face. When he saw that I woke up he put a finger over his lips.
"I'm glad you were able to get along with my daughter. Please take care of her while I'm gone." His mouth didn't move and he didn't speak but I still heard his voice in my head. He had disappeared after 'saying' that to me. He looked sad for a second right before he left though.
I layed in bed thinking about what her dad had said. I didn't move for fear of waking Zhenzhen up.
In her warm embrace, I once again drifted off to sleep.
***
The next morning I woke up with Zhenzhen still sleeping in my arms. My maid, Hwa Linyue, spoke without appearing as soon as I was awake.
"The patriarch is waiting for you and the little lady in his study."
"Alright."
I was sad that I had to wake Zhenzhen up as I was so comfortable.
I blew into the ears on her head lightly to wake her up. Almost immediately, she shot up with an 'eeek' sound and started to look around. She had looked around my room before her eyes landed on me.
"Good morning." I greeted with a smile.
She looked at the ground before replying. "G..good m.."
I had reached over and lifted her chin with one of my fingers. "Why don't you look at me when you talk?"
We locked eyes before she responded again. "Good m..morning."
"Thats more like it." I smiled. "Fath... my father is waiting for us in his study. Let's go." I found myself smiling everytime I talked to her. Is this what having a friend was like?
"Alright."
She was now looking me in the eyes as she spoke, she looked a little nervous to speak while making eye contact but I thought it was adorable.
As I started to walk away I felt a little tug on my sleeve. Zhenzhen had grabbed my sleeve and looked at the ground once again.
'She probably didn't want to walk alone, that's why she had grabbed my sleeve.' Is the conclusion I came to.
'Cute'
"Cute."
Her cheeks turned a little red after hearing that. Seeing her red face was amusing, I wanted to tease her some more.
*ahem*
I had to take my mind off of that for now.
I had reached my hand out to her, "shall we?"
Still looking at the ground, she nodded and took my hand.
I took my time walking to my fathers study. Who knew if Zhenzhen was going to leave after we arrived, I had to enjoy my only friends company while she was still here.
After arriving at father's study I took one last look at Zhenzhens face before opening the door.
"You're both here."
"I have some important news. Mengyao has gone into seclusion to breakthrough so Zhenzhen will be staying with us in the meantime. I'll arrange a room for her to stay in until her father is finished."
"H..how l..long will it t..take?" Zhenzhen asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Hmm. At his realm it shouldn't take more than a decade."
Zhenzhen had dropped to her knees and started crying.
I had a pain in my heart when I saw this, I immediately knelt beside her and squeezed her.
Needless to say, I didn't use all my strength.
I tried my best to calm her down by patting her back but it didn't work.
"Don't be sad. You can stay with me, I'll keep you safe and make sure your never alone."
After I had said this she had wrapped her arms around me and started crying harder.
I was confused and didn't know what to do.
Did I make things worse? Why was she crying harder? What do I do?
I started to panic and looked to father for advice. He had nothing to say though.
My brain started to hurt as I was thinking of things I could do to make her stop crying.
The only thing I could do was to keep her company. I didn't know how to comfort people nor did I know how to solve the problem in the first place.
Zhenzhen was probably sad that her father had left without a word and she was in an unfamiliar place.
I was the only person she knew, so maybe I could somehow make things better.
"Y..you can stay in my room with me from now on. I..I'll keep you company so you're never alone. I'm your friend remember? Don't cry. Okay?"
My desperate attempts at calming her down had seemed to work a little as she wasn't crying as hard anymore.
"She'll stay in my room with me now, is that okay?"
My father started laughing and agreed.
I held on to Zhenzhen as she had once again cried herself to sleep.
I carried her back to my room, she was still holding onto me like I would disappear the moment she let go. I layed together on the bed with her stroking the ears on the top of her head.
I couldn't bear to see her cry anymore, I resolved myself to do anything it took to make her happy.