Maybe it was because of the dying flames of the candle that was reflected of the tears that were barely hanging onto the edges of Xi Chen's eyes. Or the way the shadows of the swaying willow caressed his moonlit skin. Or the quiet susurrus of autumn forming a protective cocoon around them. It might just be the combination of all of those things that made Ye An lean in as her eyes softly fluttered shut.

Both of them stayed like that for a while. Dry lips on broken lips. 

Xi Chen's eyes were wide open from surprise during those few seconds that felt like an eternity. Until Ye An's unwelcomed sensibilities washed over her like ice-cold water. She quickly pulled back, her eyes blinking wildly. "Uh.."

However, before Ye An could pull back from him completely, Xi Chen unraveled his body and let his fingers run through her dark unpinned hair. He held her head steady before placing the gentlest kiss on her lips. This time, Xi Chen was the one who had his eyes closed while Ye An's eyes widened. But she was quickly entranced into closing her eyes by Xi Chen's gentle persuasion.

Unlike the previous kiss which was more of a peck, the kiss this time was deeper and longer. Xi Chen took his time nibbling at Ye An's lips as Ye An tasted blood from Xi Chen's broken lips when her tongue ran across the wound.

With one hand still in Ye An's long dark hair, Xi Chen laid her down gently on the wooden floor without breaking their kiss. Then, he had both his arms on either side of Ye An, trapping her in his embrace as he deepened the kiss between them.

They didn't know how much time had passed until both of them were out of breath and finally broke the kiss. By now, the flames from the candle had already died out. Xi Chen held his forehead against Ye An's as he said hoarsely. "I think it's better if you leave now. I don't think I could promise to be a gentleman if you stayed."

Ye An had never seen Xi Chen this close before. His usually light eyes were intensely dark which mesmerized her. "Oh. Alright."

Xi Chen swallowed and got off Ye An as she hurriedly left the room. "Have a good night, Lieutenant Yun."

Xi Chen's brows furrowed at the usage of his formal title as the doors closed. Once he was sure that Ye An was out of earshot, he let out a curse harshly before burying his face into his hands.

*******

The next day, Xi Chen made a request to exchange his place with Ah Lin during the entourage back to the capital.

"Huh? You want me to ride in the royal chariot with His Imperial Majesty? Why? Did you make a mistake last night? You did, didn't you? What did you do?" Torrents of questions were directed at Xi Chen as Ah Lin got down from his horse.

"It's not a mistake. At least not on my side. Please don't ask for details and just switch with me." Xi Chen replied quietly.

Ah Lin sighed before he mumbled. "Alright, alright. You know how much I had to deal with to get the others away so that you can have some alone time with His Imperial Majesty? I guess all my efforts have gone to waste."

Xi Chen pretended that he didn't hear him and hoisted himself up Ah Lin's horse. Before he rode off to the front of the convoy, he pulled something out of the folds of his shirt. "Here, some preserved mandarin peels for your motion sickness. There's enough for both you and His Imperial Majesty."

Ah Lin narrowed his eyes. "You only prepared this because of His Imperial Majesty, didn't you? You've never given me any mandarin peels when it's just the both of us. Why don't you give it to him yourself?"

Xi Chen ignored him again. "Alright, I'll be off now. See you back at the palace."

Ah Lin tutted at Xi Chen's back in dissatisfaction before he went searching for the royal chariot.

*******

When Ah Lin was nearing the royal chariot, he saw Prince Adlai hovering around the edge of the open courtyard near the royal chariot. At first, Ah Lin thought that he was there to talk to Ye An. But the teenager was just pacing back and forth.

Since there was still some time before departure, Ah Lin decided to walk towards the foreign prince. As he came closer to Prince Adlai, he saw that he was holding a small dagger in his hands. The prince was twirling the weapon expertly as he got lost in his own thoughts. Ah Lin couldn't help but be suspicious of Prince Adlai's actions.

"Adlai!" Ah Lin called out.

Prince Adlai nearly stabbed himself with his own dagger as he jumped in surprise.

"Whoa, whoa. Be careful. What are you doing here? Isn't your chariot at the far back?" Ah Lin decided to test the waters.

"Ah. Um."

Ah Lin noticed Prince Adlai's wavering eyes as he looked for an answer. "I was just getting some air before the journey back. I'm going to miss the fresh air here."

Some people might consider Ah Lin to be slow in taking cues but he was actually pretty observant and sharp. Not only that, he had a very accurate gut instinct. And right now, his instinct was ringing alarm bells at Prince Adlai's lie. But his gut was also telling him that he shouldn't expose the foreign prince. At least not right now.

So he made a joke as he grinned at Prince Adlai. "Are you saying that Chang smells bad? I'll tell on you."

"Ah. No. No. That's not it."

Now, the most important thing is to distance Prince Adlai from the royal chariot. "I'll definitely tell him." Ah Lin kept up the act of teasing Prince Adlai as he distracted the foreign prince away from the royal chariot.

"Alright. Alright. I'll go back to my chariot!" Prince Adlai huffed as he left Ah Lin looking at his back thoughtfully. He watched the young prince until he entered the chariot that he was sharing with Sze Chang before pulling his gaze away.

"Your Imperial Majesty, I'm switching with Xi Chen for today." Ah Lin's bright voice reverberated through the insides of the chariot as he entered without knocking.

"Oh." Ye An let go of the small of her robes that she was fidgeting with. After last night, she didn't know how to face Xi Chen if they were to be enclosed in such a small space together for hours. Learning that Ah Lin would be the one accompanying her eased her mind if only a little. "Well, come on in."

He noticed the way the tension in Ye An eased when she realized that he was the one who would be riding back to the capital with her instead of Xi Chen. Ah Lin's eyes thinned in intrigued suspicion once again. Something definitely happened between them.

As he settled down on one of the benches in the coach, Ah Lin knocked at the wall to signal the coachman and the grand eunuch that they were ready to be transported back to the palace.

As the convoy started their journey back, Ah Lin could no longer keep his curiosity contained. "Alright, what did you two do last night?"

Ah Lin had always made Ye An feel at ease with his easygoing and unpretentious nature, but she currently wished that he was more reverent towards her. Then, he wouldn't be asking her such a question. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, please don't try to dodge it, Your Imperial Majesty. Xi Chen never takes his eyes off you if he could help it. But he wanted to be on horseback today instead of being in the royal chariot with you? Something is definitely up." If it was possible for Ah Lin's eyes to be narrower, they would have done so.

Ye An licked her lips guiltily and looked out the window to avoid eye contact with Ah Lin. After a while, she realized that she was subconsciously searching for Xi Chen's figure among the men on horseback. Ye An quickly closed the curtain to clear her head.

Ah Lin's eyes were still boring into Ye An in suspicion. Feeling uncomfortable with Ah Lin's relentless attention, she finally spoke. "It's nothing. Just.. A misunderstanding.. I think.."

"You think?" Ah Lin was more curious at this point. His eyes brighten, eager for Ye An to continue.

But Ye An was having none of that. "How's Lieutenant Yun?" Ye An asked thinking about his condition before whatever happened between them happened.

"Hmm.. Why are you using his official title again? I heard you call him Xi Chen before." Ah Lin's eyes narrowed again.

Ye An cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably.

Thinking that he might get an earful from Xi Chen if word reached his ears about him interrogating the emperor, Ah Lin decided to drop it. For now. He sighed "Fine, I won't ask about it anymore."

Ye An gave out a sigh as well. Hers was a sigh of relief.

"Oh, here. Xi Chen wanted us to share this so we won't drown in our own vomit on the way back." He pulled the neatly wrapped preserved mandarin peels out for Ye An.

"Oh."

Ah Lin noticed the blush on Ye An's face. Well, this is interesting. I guess my efforts did pay off after all.

*******

"Ughh.. I feel like death.." Ah Lin complained as they arrived at the East Palace. "Your Imperial Majesty, please forgive me for not escorting you back. I need to make sure that I don't get my vomit all over the place."

Ye An chuckled. "Yes, make sure you don't do that."

Ah Lin quickly scrambled out of the chariot, right into Xi Chen. "Oh! Xi Chen! You're here! Then, you could escort His Imperial Majesty back! I need to.. EUgh.. find.. ugh.. a bucket!" Ah Lin ended the conversation quickly as he held a hand over his gagging mouth and ran full speed in search of a safe place to unload the contents of his stomach.

"Well, I think he got it worse than me." Ye An commented as she stepped out of the chariot.

"Didn't he take the preserved mandarin peels I gave him?" Xi Chen raised an eyebrow towards Ah Lin's disappearing figure.

"I don't know why but he was adamant not to take them for some reason." Ye An shrugged.

"I told him that they were for the both of you." Xi Chen shook his head at the direction that Ah Lin had disappeared to before turning back to look at Ye An. "Your Imperial Majesty, shall we?"

"Oh. Um, sure." Ye An stuttered as she realized that they were alone again.

Xi Chen followed behind Ye An to escort her back to the emperor's residence. Their walk was uncomfortably silent. When they arrived at Ye An's doorstep, Ye An finally pierced through the stifling stillness with her back still towards Xi Chen. "If you think I stepped over the line last night, I'm sorry."

Xi Chen blinked. Why was she apologizing? If there was a need for an apology between them it probably should come from him.

Ye An continued with her back still on Xi Chen. "I didn't know what came over me last night."

Xi Chen gently turned Ye An around by her shoulders so that she was finally facing him. He picked up the courage to gingerly hold her hand by the tips of a few of her fingers. "Are you saying that you think it was a mistake?"

Ye An finally looked at Xi Chen right in his eyes and saw the earnestness in them which also made her honest. In her words and in her actions. "No. It wasn't a mistake." She replied as she grabbed Xi Chen's large hand that was holding onto hers and squeezed it. "At least not on my side."

Xi Chen's face softened as he returned the squeeze. "It wasn't a mistake on my side either."

Footsteps came running towards them all of a sudden. Ye An and Xi Chen immediately let go of each other's hands in sync. "Your Imperial Majesty! Her Majesty the Empress Mother had fainted!" 

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