She awoke to the gentle rays of sunlight filtering through the curtains. Groggy, she blinked as she got used to the room. Yǔlín's bedroom. Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered how she got here.
She propped up on an elbow, her fingers holding onto the smooth sheets. Flashbacks flooded her mind — Yǔlín's hauntingly good looks, his fingers grazing against her cheek, his warmth holding her as she drifted to sleep. Her face reddened as she looked over at the vacant space beside her. Was he still by her side?
The door creaked and opened and Yǔlín entered, his face calm but inscrutable. He was already dressed, his mask securely in its place. He hesitated at seeing her up and about, his gold eyes glinting.
"Oh, you're awake," he stated suavely, closing the door after him.
Su Shu swallowed hard as her own throat grew suddenly dry. "I. How did I get here?"
Yǔlín's gaze swept over her, his expression cold. "You dozed on me last night."
Blushing warmed her cheeks and she averted her face. "Sorry. I didn't mean to—"
"Do you still have to wear that mask after I've already seen your face?" she asked before she could catch herself.
Yǔlín remained still, his gaze narrowing. The room seemed suddenly cooler, darker. Then, wordlessly, he reached up and took off the mask.
Su Shu's breath caught in her throat. He had a smooth face, flawlessly sculpted — a cold, haunting kind of beauty that gave her the shivers. He had a sharp chin and full, curved lips that smiled in a small, mocking grin. But his eyes captured her — gold and piercing, and full of a thousand unrevealed secrets.
"You don't believe me," he said, taking a step closer to her. "Does this face resemble the monster you've imagined me as?"
Her heart thudded as Su Shu stepped in close to her, his hot breath on her skin. His smell — cold steel and sandalwood — overwhelmed her senses.
"Why do you keep it secret, prince Yǔlín?" she whispered softly, "why keep it a secret when. when nothing is to be kept secret?"
Yǔlín's mouth curved into a smirk. "Nothing to conceal?" He stroked a lock of her hair behind her ear, his touch causing a shiver to travel up her spine. "Be cautious about making wishes, Su Shu. Not all that is gorgeous is benign."
Su Shu's face pressed into the wall, and Yǔlín's palm rested against the wall beside her head. The fingers of his opposite hand tilted up her chin, and she did not look away.
"Do you actually mean the thank you?" he queried, his tone a low and dangerous whisper.
Su swallowed hard as her pulse throbbed. "Yes. I do."
"Good," he replied, his thumb caressing her lower lip. "Because someday I might request a reciprocal bargain."
She gulped for air and pushed her gaze away. "Prince Yǔlín."
His face relaxed for an instant, and he took a step back, slipping his mask on once more. The perilous, alluring prince vanished, replaced by cold and calculating Yǔlín again.
"Rest now," he replied and walked away. "You'll be needing it."
She watched him walk away from her, her heart pounding in her chest, her knees shaking. What was going on with her? Why did her heart throb whenever he was close? And why did his eyes seem so… empty?
Meanwhile, in another part of the palace, Wuji alone sat in his quarters with his fists clenched. The words of the queen haunted his mind — her insincerely expressed concern about Yǔlín, her veiled encouragements that someone might frame him.
Dark clouds were gathering in the distance. And as fate heralded its arrival with a tightening of its threads, Su Shu and Yǔlín were being inexorably bound closer together — whether they liked it or not.