Just a Misunderstanding

Just then, Lily Bai’s Messenger Charm lit up.

"It's my mother! Get up!" Lily Bai, her cheeks flushed red, pushed him away and answered Clarissa Summers's call.

"Li-li-lily!" Clarissa Summers sounded extremely off.

"What is it, Mom?" Lily Bai asked in surprise. "Did something happen?"

Why is she stammering so much?

"Lily! Something big has happened," Clarissa Summers shouted.

"What big thing?"

"A huge, huge thing!"

"Just spit it out! You're killing me here!"

Clarissa Summers: "High God Ethan Lu—that's Luna Lian's big brother—has come to the palace!"

Lily Bai was left breathless. "Mom! Can you stop scaring me like that? What's so shocking about him coming to the palace—wait, it is weird for him to come to our palace. What’s he doing here?"

"He came to propose marriage."

Lily Bai nearly choked. "Propose to who?"

"You’re my only daughter! Of course, to you!"

Wait... isn’t he already married?

"He’s not proposing for himself; he’s here on behalf of the Qilin Divine Lord to propose to you!" Clarissa Summers was super excited. "The Qilin Divine Lord! He actually wants you to be his Qilin Empress! Not just a concubine—a real Empress! Oh my god! My life has reached its peak..."

Lily Bai stiffly rolled her eyes toward Sean Shaw, whose face had already darkened. She stammered, "M-m-mom... you didn’t actually agree, did you?"

"Of course I have to ask you first! But don’t tell me you’re going to say no, right?"

"I am saying no!" Lily Bai blurted out. "You turned him down politely, right?"

Clarissa Summers was silent for a moment, then ordered, "Lily Bai, come home right now!"

"Why?"

"Come home and I'll tell you!"

"...Fine! I’ll be right there," Lily Bai agreed.

After hanging up, Lily Bai noticed Sean Shaw standing with his back to her, completely still.

"Hey!" Lily Bai tugged on his sleeve. "Take me to Eastlore—I need to ask my big brother what’s going on."

Sean Shaw ignored her.

Lily Bai leaned on his shoulder, tilting her head to look at him. "You’re not mad, are you? This has nothing to do with me!"

Sean Shaw glanced at her. "You said that to me once before."

"What do you mean?"

"You said... no matter whether you ended up with him or not, you’d never be with me." Sean Shaw had always brooded over this. "And you meant it. You weren’t just making excuses."

Lily Bai: "Uh..."

"That day, why did you go to the Spirit Alliance?" Sean Shaw asked. "If my Father Emperor’s situation hadn’t happened, who would you have chosen?"

"Um... well..."

Seeing Lily Bai hesitate and stumble over her words, Sean Shaw’s face darkened and he stood up to leave.

Lily Bai grabbed him. "Here’s what happened that day..."

She explained about Skye: "It was a misunderstanding! I thought you and Skye had some secret relationship..."

Sean Shaw: "..."

"But later... in the very last moment, I was thinking... I might make you choose between Skye and me."

"I'd pick him." Sean Shaw strode away on his long legs.

Lily Bai hurried after him. "Hey! Don’t be mad! Sean! Little Five! It was just a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding..."

......

Eastlore Imperial Palace.

When Clarissa Summers saw Lily Bai, she was like she'd been injected with chicken blood.