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All at once, there was a rush of cold air between them, and the awareness of how alive his presence had been next to her, above her, was all that was left in its wake.

Yue found that she could not move for a long while, though it had really only been seconds. She lay there, spine laid out flat upon a mat of jungle dew, and found that she now had the proximity to think.

Batu's face was gratefully out of her peripheral vision. His existence was no longer pressing into her space. It was everything she had needed to happen, to pull her back from the brink of ruin, but still she mourned for it. Her nose pointed at the sky, and she thought about the likelihood that his apology contained an ounce of veracity.

He wasn’t sorry, and neither was she.

Very methodically, the Empress rolled to one side and pressed herself up on an elbow. She was below and looking up, a dichotomy that Yue seldom experienced, but she found it now paled in comparison to how he had held her moments earlier.

I would sooner thank you, the orchid attempted casually, bracing her feet below her and lifting to stand. A brief shake was all she gave, re-threaded a sprig of wisteria through her decolletage, and nodded her head succinctly. Her chest burned where he had laid his kisses.

You have refocused my attention and reframed my perspective entirely, she smiled, unsure what other expression was appropriate to wear. How talented you are, Wei Jun, the woman said not dishonestly, now hungrily curious to know what would become of their relation now that such boundaries had been crossed, and actions impossible to refute.

So terrible was he at rule-following, but so wonderful at being the only creature to see what medicine she required, and held the bravery to administer it.

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