Entangled Feelings, Impossible to Untie (6)

Ivy Shen notified the guards to report that the Crown Prince had fallen asleep in the imperial kitchens, and soon a swarm of palace maids, guards, and eunuchs bustled in to carry him back.

After watching him leave, Ivy Shen took a deep breath and headed back with the food.

"Little Bird, Little Bird, why are you only just getting back!" As soon as she stepped into Snowfall Pavilion, Aiden rushed over, visibly anxious.

"What's wrong? Is Eli not feeling well?" Ivy quickly asked, worried.

"Young Master is fine, but why are you back so late? We're starving over here!" He reached out, grabbed the food box from her hands, and marched inside.

Ivy hurried after him into the house, only to see Eli struggling to stand up from his seat and head toward her.

"Eli, sit down, don't stand up." Ivy quickly stepped forward, grabbed his hand, and helped him sit.

"I'm fine. What about you? Why were you gone so long? Did the Crown Prince give you trouble?" Eli didn't sit, his eyes full of worry. He'd wanted to go out and look for her, but Aiden wouldn't let him, and he was afraid he'd cause her more trouble, so he held back.

Seeing this, Ivy gently helped him sit down and said, "It's fine. Sorry, something came up and I got delayed. Didn't mean to make you worry."

"See? Ever since you left, Young Master just kept staring at the door, totally spaced out. I called him a bunch of times and he didn't even hear me! Little Bird, even if you're busy, you gotta think about Young Master, okay?" Aiden grumbled, waving the food around.

"Shut up!" Eli frowned, clearly annoyed by Aiden's words, and snapped at him.

Aiden stuck out his tongue helplessly, "Young Master, the food's ready, come eat!"

"Let's go together." Eli stubbornly stood up again, grabbed her hand, and led her to the bench, sitting down right next to her.

Aiden looked worried—seriously, who sits on a bench when there are perfectly good chairs? But he knew Young Master's temper. Drama king mode: activated! Whatever, let him be!

So, dinner passed quickly in this warm, chatty atmosphere.

After dinner, Aiden called for the guards to bring hot water and helped Eli bathe in the side room. A while later, he supported Eli back inside.

Ivy turned around and nearly choked on air. Eli was lounging in a white bathrobe, collar artfully open, chest just barely peeking out, damp bangs dripping water, the whole look screaming 'dangerously hot.' His deep, whirlpool eyes were basically a black hole for sanity. Somebody call the paramedics—this level of handsome should be illegal.

"Ivy..." Eli gazed at Ivy, lips curling into a seductive smile, impossibly charming.

"Mm!" Realizing she'd lost her composure, Ivy quickly dropped her head in embarrassment.

Aiden zipped over to Ivy's side, cleared his throat, and blurted out, "Little Bird, I usually check on Young Master at night to make sure he's okay, just in case. Old Man Sai said you two like each other and will definitely get married, so tonight I'm handing Young Master over to you! Make sure you take care of him—don't hog the blanket and leave him cold! Or else, I won't let you off!"

Aiden felt his words were perfectly reasonable and straightforward—she’d get it for sure. Without waiting for her reply, he nodded to himself and left. What he didn’t realize was that his comment made things awkward for the two inside: a man and woman alone together in one room...

"Ahem, don’t listen to him," Eli said, a little embarrassed.

"It’s fine, come here, let me help you." She reached out, supporting his arm and guiding him to the bed. Maybe it was the post-bath effect, but he smelled faintly fragrant and seriously tempting.

"Sorry about earlier—you had to use the storage room to bathe because of me." When she’d gone out during the day, he’d explored the place. The pavilion was big, but only had two bedrooms: one for the master, one for servants, plus a dedicated bath chamber and a small storage room. She’d insisted on using the storage room for her bath, and he felt a little guilty.

"No worries, I’m super easy to accommodate." Ivy smiled and pulled him to sit down.

They sat together on the wide bed, close enough to hear each other’s breathing. The air was starting to feel a little... charged.

"Ivy," Eli turned, took her hand, and looked at her with gentle eyes. "Am I really worth all these risks?"

Hearing this, Ivy replied seriously, "If it was for me, would you do the same?"

Eli nodded without hesitation. Ivy smiled, "Well, there’s your answer, isn’t it?"

"Ivy..." Warmth flooded Eli's heart. He reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace.

As soon as Ivy was in his arms, that subtle herbal scent drifted from his body. Years of mixing medicines had left him with a gentle, natural fragrance—way better than any modern perfume, in Ivy’s opinion!

"Ivy, I want to tell you something." Eli lifted her up so she was looking straight into his eyes.

"Uh? What is it?"

Eli reached under his pillow, pulled out a book, and handed it to her, smiling softly without explaining.

Ivy picked up the plain-looking book and flipped it open—her eyes went wide with shock. "Eli, you..."

"From now on, I won’t just memorize things—I’ll tell you everything I see, okay?" Eli smiled gently and patted her head.

"Eli, you actually... you have all these martial arts manuals! And these are the secret techniques from every sect!" Ivy was amazed. How could he know so much? There was even a page about the Silver clan’s attack patterns—clearly, that must be Silver Consort’s family style.

Eli smiled faintly, "My biological grandfather gave it to me. It’s got all the routines from the last Six-Realm Martial Conference—every major sect’s style from back then. Of course, it’s pretty old now, so I’m not sure what’s changed, but I hope it helps you!"

"Eli..."

"From now on, let me keep track of everything for you, okay?"

"Keep track of things?"

"Martial arts manuals."

"You mean... you can memorize any move you see?" Ivy was stunned. Wow, what kind of memory does he have?!

Seeing her shock, Eli just smiled and nodded. "I never really cared about this stuff before, but now I want to help you."

"Oh my god, Eli, you are a walking cheat code!" Ivy felt like she'd just found a legendary loot drop. Grinning, she planted a noisy kiss on his cheek, absolutely shameless in her excitement.

Her sudden move made Eli’s face instantly flush red.

Seeing his reaction, Ivy realized she’d gotten a bit too excited. She laughed awkwardly, "Sorry, haha. Um, let’s just get into bed." With that, she flipped open the covers for him.

"Okay!" Eli didn’t refuse and climbed right in.

Watching him lie down, Ivy's brain short-circuited for a moment—handsome guy, big bed, dangerously close proximity. Next second, she shook her head so hard she almost gave herself whiplash and mentally roasted herself: Get a grip, you shameless woman! What are you even thinking?!

"Ivy, what's wrong?" Eli looked over, puzzled by Ivy's head-shaking and pouting.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." Ivy quickly kicked off her shoes and lay down beside him. Instantly, the room’s atmosphere got a little tense.

Crack! Suddenly, a deafening thunderclap sounded outside. A gust of wind whooshed through, and the lights went out in a flash. The abruptness startled Ivy—she jumped straight into his arms.

Bang! Another earth-shaking crash of thunder split the sky, and fierce lightning lit up the pitch-dark room, making it all feel eerily strange.

"Don’t be scared." Eli gently patted her back, propping himself up on one arm and soothing her.

"You smell way too good." Squished up against him, Ivy felt like his herbal scent was some kind of love potion, and her heart was pounding like a drum.

Crack! The sky rumbled again, but this time, Ivy didn’t flinch—she looked up at Eli instead. He was leaning over her, white robe loose, strikingly handsome, and Ivy nearly swallowed her tongue.

Lightning flashed outside, thunder rolled, and the tension in the room kept rising. Suddenly, rain started pouring down in sheets.

"Ivy—mmph—" Eli started to say something about the rain, but before he could finish, Ivy wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him hard.

******* Scene Break ********

PS: Wow, it’s been ages since we’ve had any spicy scenes! Do you guys want to keep it all veggies, or are you ready for some meat? Actually, let’s compromise—a little bit of minced meat, just for flavor, hehe, so evil~ (How much depends on your comments! Fudanshi and fujoshi, typhoon’s coming so don’t lurk—pop up and say hi!)