Keeping a Guest, Hating the So-Called Fiancé

"Click..."

Serena Feng jumped in fright, thinking she had crushed the jade pendant. She quickly let go, only to see...

The two pieces of jade had truly fused together.

"How is that possible?" She’d seen gold-inlaid jade, but never jade-inlaid jade.

"Nothing is impossible. These are Couple’s Jade Pendants—they’re meant to become one." Sean Xuan’s words carried a deeper meaning; he believed Serena would understand, but...

Fine, Serena understood, but she really wished she hadn’t. One Victor Yun had already made Ninth Royal Uncle threaten war on Yun City to flatten the Yun clan. Now, another man showed up with Couple’s Jade Pendants. If Ninth Royal Uncle found out, he’d probably crush him.

"Ahem... So, Young Palace Lord, you were my mother’s friend? Since you’re my mother’s friend—someone come here..."

Serena played dumb, planning to settle him in and leave it at that. But Sean Xuan saw right through her, stood up, and cut her off, urgently saying, "Miss Feng, you’re smart. You should know what these Couple’s Jade Pendants mean. I’m Aunt Mo’s junior, and this jade is our engagement token. Years ago, Aunt Mo promised you to me—I’m your fiancé."

He finally said it!

Sean Xuan looked calm, but his handsome face was tinged with red, his eyes fixed on Serena. Even though he tried to control himself, Serena could see how nervous he was.

But she was nervous too.

How did she suddenly end up with a fiancé out of nowhere?

No way—she’d never admit it, not even if it killed her.

"Young Palace Lord, are you sure you’re not mistaken? How could my mother have possibly promised me to you?" Serena nearly threw the jade pendant in her hand.

If it really were true, that’d be a problem. Matchmakers’ words and parents’ orders—if this was real, would she really have to marry this man in front of her?

No, no, no. Absolutely not.

"Why is it impossible? Aunt Mo promised me herself that she’d marry her daughter to me. This jade is the token I gave her. The fact that she accepted it means she agreed to our engagement. Serena Feng, are you trying to break off the engagement?" Sean Xuan had expected Serena to be shocked or bashful, but never that she wouldn’t believe him.

Did he look like someone who’d lie about marriage? Or did he just not look like a good person?

That couldn’t be it. All those noble, upright swordswomen liked to chase after him. If he hadn’t claimed to already be engaged, he’d probably be married by now.

Of course, he always said he was engaged, but he’d never mentioned who his fiancée was—because even he didn’t know who she was, or whether she’d even been born yet.

Because the Aunt Mo he knew disappeared, and his father married someone who looked exactly like her, claiming she was Aunt Mo.

But he knew that woman wasn’t his real Aunt Mo. No matter how alike, she wasn’t the one. So he waited—waited for Aunt Mo to return, because she’d promised to marry her daughter to him.

He’d waited all these years with no result, but just as he was about to give up, he learned about Serena Feng. In that moment, a voice inside kept telling him: Serena is Aunt Mo’s daughter. Serena is his fiancée.

After getting word from the Master of Mystic Healer Valley, Sean Xuan was even more certain: Serena Feng was Aunt Mo’s daughter. Serena was the fiancée he’d waited eighteen years for.

He rushed straight to the Eastlyn Imperial Capital, determined to marry his fiancée and bring her home.

If Serena had been scared before, now she was calm. No matter what was going on with Sean Xuan’s so-called engagement, Serena wasn’t about to acknowledge it.

Serena placed the Couple’s Jade Pendants on the table, her face composed. "Young Palace Lord, I don’t understand what’s going on with these jades, but I can say for sure there’s no engagement between us. If my mother really promised me to you, she wouldn’t have agreed to Prince Rowan’s proposal. A woman can’t be married twice—she’d never have made a deal with you and then given me to someone else."

Right now, Serena was profoundly grateful for that scumbag Prince Rowan. Otherwise, she really wouldn’t be able to explain this—especially since these Couple’s Jade Pendants were uncanny: two pieces, but when fused, not a single seam.

She couldn’t just accuse Sean Xuan of making things up, especially when he called her mother ‘Aunt Mo’ so naturally. She had no way to outright deny his story.

"Aunt Mo gave you to someone else? Impossible! Aunt Mo promised me—she said she’d marry her daughter to me. Did she think I wouldn’t wait for her?" Sean Xuan couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Aunt Mo had promised to marry her daughter to him—how could she break that promise? What had happened to keep Aunt Mo from returning to Skyvault Palace, to make her give Serena to someone else?

Seeing Sean Xuan, a grown man, looking so devastated made Serena feel bad too. She was pretty sure he wasn’t lying, but...

"Young Palace Lord, I don’t know what happened back then, and telling me all this now won’t help. All I know is my mother never mentioned any fiancé, nor did she ever talk about Skyvault Palace. Before I met Sienna, I didn’t even know Skyvault Palace existed."

Serena tried her hardest, but couldn’t find a single memory of her mother ever mentioning this. Her mother just... never talked about the past.

Honestly, she didn’t have many memories of her mother at all—just that she was cold and proud. Anything more, she couldn’t remember.

Sean Xuan understood that Serena didn’t want to go through with their engagement, but this was not something she could just refuse.

"Serena Feng, since Aunt Mo never told you, let me be the one to say it. Listen carefully: you are my fiancée. I chose you before you were even born. I waited eighteen years for you. In this life, you can marry no one but me. As for Prince Rowan, don’t worry—I’ll handle him. Serena Feng can only ever be Sean Xuan’s wife."

Sean Xuan’s gaze turned cold, his eyes on Serena were utterly determined.

The Young Palace Lord of Skyvault Palace was no pushover. If a few words from Serena could make him give up, he wouldn’t have stubbornly waited eighteen years.

This chapter isn’t over yet ^.^—please click next page to continue reading!

Serena Feng—she was the wife he’d waited eighteen years for. He’d chosen her before she was even born, and he wouldn’t let anyone else have her.

Serena felt like she might faint. Waited eighteen years? Did she ever ask him to wait?

Out of respect for his connection to her mother, Serena tried to reason gently: "Young Palace Lord, marriage isn’t a child’s game. I don’t even know you. I could never marry you."

This man had seemed so good-natured just moments ago—how did he suddenly become so domineering? He could rival Ninth Royal Uncle for speed of changing face.

"Matchmakers’ words, parents’ orders—Serena, I’m not playing around. Aunt Mo herself agreed to our engagement; you can only be my wife. If you think we’re not close enough, that’s fine—I’ll stay at Feng Manor until you’re used to me, and then we’ll hold the wedding." Sean Xuan wanted to be gentle, but...

Serena made it clear she wouldn’t acknowledge being his fiancée. Since that was the case, why should he be polite? Sean Xuan could be domineering too—he was determined to marry Serena.

Serena wasn’t exactly mild-tempered herself. She’d wanted to talk things out for her mother’s sake, but Sean Xuan’s stubbornness made her drop the courtesy.

"Young Palace Lord, aren’t you going a bit far? ‘I can only be your wife’? You don’t seriously think two pieces of jade are enough to make me marry you, do you? Sorry, but I have no intention of marrying you, and I don’t believe this engagement exists. My mother never told me a thing—not even about you. Until today, I didn’t know who you were, and I will never marry you."

Before, she’d always thought she’d never have anyone in this life, but now...

After she’d given up on marriage, a whole crowd of suitors had suddenly appeared. Ridiculous.

"Serena Feng, I have no reason to lie to you." Sean Xuan, after Serena’s blunt response, calmed down considerably.

To be fair, he had come rushing in, presented a jade, and declared himself Serena’s fiancé—no wonder she couldn’t accept it.

He really had been too impatient.

But after waiting eighteen years, how could he not be impatient?

"Young Palace Lord, whether you’re lying or not, I don’t know. All I know is my mother never mentioned arranging a fiancé for me before I was even born." Serena suspected her mother had just been humoring a child, and that child took it seriously. Judging by Sean Xuan’s age, he was only a bit over twenty.

Serena’s eyes lit up. She quickly asked, "Young Palace Lord, how old were you when you made this engagement with my mother?"

"Three years old!" Sean Xuan frowned, understanding Serena’s implication but refusing to accept it. "No matter how old I was when I made the engagement with Aunt Mo, the fact remains: we are engaged. All these years, I’ve been waiting for Aunt Mo to bring you back so we could marry."

Three years old?

Serena stared at Sean Xuan in shock.

Seriously, was he precocious or what? To decide on his wife at age three and wait eighteen years—did he think he was Xue Baochai?

Serena was now certain—her mother had just been humoring a little kid back then.

Whew... Serena breathed a sigh of relief. This should be easy enough to handle.

"Serena Feng, what do you mean by that?" Sean Xuan felt uneasy under Serena’s gaze, sensing things were shifting again.

"Nothing in particular. I just want to remind you, Young Palace Lord, we’re not two or three-year-olds anymore. Back then, little children said all sorts of things—they don’t count. But now, we’re grown up, and we have to take responsibility for what we say." Serena’s point was clear: you can’t take a toddler’s words seriously...

She did not accept the engagement.

"Serena—" Sean Xuan started to explain, but Serena cut him off politely: "Young Palace Lord, you’ve come a long way and must be tired. I’ll have someone show you to a room so you can rest. We can discuss this later."

The Young Palace Lord of Skyvault Palace Sect, with a bad relationship with Sienna Skyvault, his half-sister... Serena could see he had his uses.