Chapter 20 - Apology

It has been five months ever since then. Having found out that the empire launched a large-scale attack on both the north and the west, the Red Spiderlily withrew the people pursuing Lan Wei Qi and focused on the battle.

No one was safe.

"The prince! Protect the prince!"

"I- I am fine," Long Wu Xian said as he used his sword to get up from the ground. "I can still fight."

"No! Wu Xian, step back!" Bai Fen ordered him.

"But shifu-"

"Step back! Drag him back to the camp!"

"Yes!"

---

"Commander! They are using the women and children as human shields!"

"Cease the arrows!"

"Cease your powers!"

"Prioritize their safety over everything else!"

"Charge!"

---

Two messengers, one from the north and one from the west, knelt on one knee in front of the emperor. Both delivered news from the frontlines and both with bad situations.

"Y- Your majesty... one more..." one of the messengers spoke up. "The prince... the prince was wounded and- and he has lost so much blood. He fell into a coma."

The entire court room fell silent. No one knew what words would comfort each other.

---

In the study room, Wang Yukhei sat with a grim expression on his face. Qiqi sat in front of him without a trace of change on her face.

"You are needed in the battlefield," Qiqi casually commented.

"It might be a ploy. They might be trying to draw me out and take the chance to take her holiness back," Wang Yukhei said as he frustratedly ran a hand through his face. "I can't leave the Lan manor."

"They still have me if you leave."

"No."

"I'm here."

"No!" He slammed his hands on the desk, but Lan Wei did not react. She did not even blink. She did not move her sight from staring blankly at him. "Never speak of this again."

Wang Yukhei left the room to cool down his head.

"Qiqi? What happened?" Zhou Zhiequong heard the commotion and came to see. Worry was evident on her face. [ Yukhei never raises his voice nor does he acts out in anger. ]

"It seems I have angered him," Qiqi simply stated. "I do not know why. I was simply stating a fact."

"What did you say to him?"

Qiqi relayed their conversation and Zhou Zhiequong fell into deep thought. [ Qiqi's lacks understanding of her own emotions, especially other people's. There is a shadow in her mind. One can only imagine how much she has gone through. ]

"Qiqi, Yukhei reacted like that because he is worried for your safety," she explained.

"But I can fight. Clearly, I'm the safest one," a small frown appeared on her lovely face.

"Knowing how to fight doesn't guarantee that you are safe. We know that much. That's how..." Zhou Zhiequong paused. "It was exactly that kind of thinking led Qi'er's separation with us. Because of her powers and her great swordsmanship, we became too complacent. We did not anticipate the viciousness and trickery of our enemies. In the end, Qi'er was taken."

"Then... Master Wang was worried? For me?" Qiqi asked as she fidgeted with her hands. Her voice became smaller with each word. "Really...? I thought my sister was the only one who worries for me..."

"Of course not," Zhou Zhiequong said as she held her hand. "A lot of people worry for you. I worry for you. There are also Wangji, Little Wei, Luo'er, Cheng-ge, the emperor, the princes, and the little children you played with. We all worry for you."

"I see.." Qiqi slowly nodded and stood up. "I understand."

"Where are you going?" Zhou Zhiequong was confused.

"To apologize," she said before she left.

Qiqi searched the entire Lan manor for Wang Yukhei and found him standing in front of the courtyard that Lan Wei Qi used before. Now she refuses to part from Qiqi and stays in the guest room. The courtyard remains empty.

Wang Yukhei was lost in his thoughts. He, together Lan Wei Qi and Long Wu Xian, would spend their leisure here. People would always hear two children arguing and one trying to break their fight. Now those days are over. Lan Wei Qi has forgotten everything and Long Wu Xian is in fatal condition because of the war. It seems he was the only one left to reminisce those times together

Qiqi silently approached him, but he did not even realize she had come. She stood there, hoping he would notice her presence but he remained lost in time. Finally, she took the initiative and pulled on his sleeve. Wang Yukhei was snapped out of his thoughts and looked down.

"M- Master Wang... please don't be angry anymore. It's my fault. I was wrong..." she pleaded.

To Wang Yukhei, it felt surreal. Qiqi seldom showed her emotions and they usually only resurface in front of children. This was one of the rarer emotions that she would show. In fact, she has never shown this one before.

He smiled and patted her head. "It's fine. It's my fault too. I overreacted."

Wang Yukhei then realized that she was not wearing her coat and her scarf. In fact, she had also been barefoot that whole time!

"Ah!" Qiqi let out a small squeak as she was carried in his arms. Wang Yukhei felt how cold her body was. In fact, her feet were already numb which prevented her from sensing his location.

"Stay close. You're freezing."

She silently nodded and practically shrunk in his arms, like she was trying to turn into a ball to absorb the heat of his body. In fact, his body temperature was warm all throughout the seasons because of his element of fire.

"Master Wang?"

"Yes?"

"If you leave, would you end up like Prince Wu Xian too?" Qiqi asked.

"No."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I fight better than that idiot," Wang Yukhei chuckled.

"Don't badmouth the prince," Qiqi told him.

"Yes, yes, my bad."

[ Wang Yukhei: Funny. This is sounds so much like how my conversations with her holiness would become when I badmouth her favorite prince. ]