The wound had been stitched. Celia put away the needle and looked up at him.
"Did Xia Si… care for you very much?" she asked softly. She could hear the deep respect in his tone whenever he mentioned the woman.
Nathaniel Fu nodded. "At that time, almost every child in the imperial capital disliked me. I was an illegitimate child—always on the outside, trailing behind them, watching the woman my father loved most from a distance.
"But it was Xia Si who found me, who took me in. Even when my mother's mind was broken, she personally raised me for several years. In my heart, she will always be my teacher—my master."
No wonder he had risen so high, so fast. Of course, it was partly due to his own astonishing talent, but much of it came from Xia Si's guidance. His birth might have been unfortunate, yet meeting Xia Si had been his greatest fortune.
Nathaniel brushed a faint kiss against Celia's cheek. His voice grew low. "When I was nine, my master became pregnant with the Lu family's precious daughter. One day, she told me, 'Ah Cheng, I'm leaving. I'm pregnant with a girl. I'll give her to you as your wife, all right?'
"Then Yara Lu was born. And my master… passed away. That day, the rain was pouring. I knelt by her grave and swore I would be Yara's knight for life, never betraying her."
This was his story with Yara. Because she was Xia Si's daughter, because Xia Si herself had arranged the betrothal before her death, he had vowed to protect her.
Celia… She repeated the name silently in her heart, and to her surprise, she felt her chest soften.
"Then why," she asked carefully, "did you break up with Yara?"
Nathaniel's gaze deepened. For a long moment, he was silent.
Celia immediately regretted it. "Forget I asked. It's none of my—"
"Because she despised my background," he cut in, his voice steady. "She found another man. I took my mother abroad after that. That was when I met you."
Celia froze. She had never imagined that Yara would look down on his birth as an illegitimate child.
Back then, Xia Si had chosen Nathaniel over all the other sons of the imperial capital, had personally raised him—yet later, her own daughter rejected him.
The mother's judgment and the daughter's were worlds apart. And the facts proved how right Xia Si had been.
As a mother, Xia Si had loved her child enough to plan her entire future, even arranging a marriage that could have secured lifelong prosperity.
Parents who love their children always plan ahead. Xia Si had truly loved Yara.
Celia wanted to ask another question—who was this man Yara had chosen instead? Proud, spoiled, arrogant Yara… what kind of man had managed to catch her eye?
But Celia dared not ask. She only murmured, "Oh."
Nathaniel let out a short, incredulous laugh. "I've told you so much, and that's all you have to say?"
Celia didn't respond. She rose to her feet. "I'll get some water and help you wash."
But before she could leave, Nathaniel caught her slender wrist, refusing to let go. His voice was low, almost raw. "Celia, do you really have nothing else to say to me?"
Back in Yecheng, when he said things like this, what he wanted was to hear her admit she missed him.
"Let go," she said, twisting free. Then she slipped into the bathroom.
Nathaniel's eyes followed her. Watching her retreating figure, his Adam's apple moved. In truth… he was afraid of wronging her. That was why he kept testing, circling, never daring to say what was really in his heart.
······
Celia soon returned with a basin of hot water. She set it down, wrung out a towel, and began carefully wiping the blood and sweat from his bare chest and shoulders.
But how could she keep her composure when the man before her was both wounded… and devastatingly close?