"I told you already, stop with your wishful thinking! It's absolutely impossible!" Evan Xiao pried the octopus-like Grace off him and tossed her onto the shore.
Grace landed on the grassy bank, her butt stinging from the prickly grass.
Evan Xiao leapt ashore too, not even glancing back, and stylishly vaulted through the window of his room.
Grace rubbed her sore butt and stood up, following after him.
The architecture of Cold Moon Pavilion was enclosed; if you didn’t go in through the back window, you’d have to circle around the outer wall and enter through the main door.
But that would mean passing by the male servants’ quarters, and with her soaking wet like this—how embarrassing...
So, entering through the window was definitely the better option.
However, the window of Evan Xiao’s room was no short thing—it was actually higher than her chest.
She scrambled with both hands and feet, and finally managed to clamber in, looking for all the world like a turtle crossing a threshold.
She slipped, and landed flat on her back.
Lying on the floor, she looked up to see Evan Xiao standing over her, arms crossed, watching her with detached amusement.
His expression was absolutely dripping with disdain.
Damn, life without spiritual power seriously sucks!
And people keep looking down on me...
Grace got up, frustrated, and said, "General, I'll go change my clothes first, then come back to continue the night shift."
Evan Xiao just kept looking at her, saying nothing.
So Grace left.
She’d barely stepped out when he slammed the door shut behind her.
She heard the bolt slide into place. He even locked the door.
Damn it!
Every time she was on night duty, he’d bolt the door.
What, is he guarding against wolves or something?
Grace shot the door a fierce glare, then went back to her own room to change.
She fetched a bucket of water for a bath, peeled off her wet clothes, washed herself clean, and finally put on fresh ones.
Then, she picked up the pile of wet clothes, ready to wash them.
As soon as she lifted them, a fragrance hit her nose.
It was a fresh, grassy scent.
"Hm?" She sniffed the clothes. The smell was exactly that of the silvery-white incense.
She must have accidentally gotten some on her clothes earlier.
But once the clothes got wet, the scent became a lot stronger.
Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Grace’s mind.
Back in the lake, when she was holding onto him, he had definitely been thinking those kinds of thoughts.
His breathing had quickened, his eyes fixed on her lips, wanting to kiss her.
Even if Evan Xiao wouldn’t admit it, people always know when something like that is happening.
But why did he suddenly want to kiss her?
It definitely wasn’t because he’d fallen for her.
Could it be... because of that scent?
Even she couldn’t figure out what was in that incense. Maybe... it doesn’t make women feel anything, but it works on men?
Once the thought popped into her head, she couldn’t shake it. She rushed into her Dimensional Bracelet, scraped the medicine off the leftover Silvergrass Incense, and mixed it with a pile of sandalwood.
Whatever. Might as well give it a try.
......
The next day, in the study.
Lily and Anna were sent away by Grace, with strict orders not to approach the study unless called.
Grace rolled up her sleeves and helped Evan Xiao grind ink.
There was a cool couch in the study, a low table beside it, and on the table sat an incense burner. Wisps of blue smoke drifted up, carried by the breeze toward the desk.
She’d placed the incense burner there on purpose, since the spot was right by the window—any breeze would send the scent straight to Evan Xiao.
At first, he didn’t react at all.
But after a while, he suddenly loosened his collar and said to Grace, "Lily Bai, go brew a pot of iced tea for me."