Linyue turned her head slowly, eyes narrowing. Her voice was calm, her expression was not.
"… Are you a dog?"
Silence followed. Thick, dangerous silence. Behind them, someone coughed. Someone else snorted. Something definitely hit the ground. Possibly Song Meiyu's bun. Possibly Song Meiyu.
Shu Mingye didn't flinch. He straightened his back, his expression as smooth as if he hadn't just been caught taking very specific, repeated inhales of someone's hair.
"… I was checking for poison," he said blandly.
"With your nose?"
"A very refined technique. Few understand the skill," he replied without a hint of shame, just pure nonsense. Then he tilted his head slightly, studying her. "Were you always this daring, Princess?"
"You mean honest? Yes." She answered flatly, not missing a beat.
There was a pause.
Then, he chuckled. Not loud, but deep enough to make her eyebrow twitch. He leaned forward again, not to sniff this time, thankfully and asked, "Are you really not afraid of me?"
Linyue turned her head, her brow drawn in slight confusion. "Would that make this ride more exciting?"
Shu Mingye didn't answer. He just smiled. It had the shape of a polite expression, but everything about it felt wrong. His eyes didn't match the curve of his lips. The space between them carried too much silence. Then, his voice dropped—quiet, heavy, sharp at the edges.
"Are you so confident… that I won't suddenly kill you out of impulse?"
She gave him a very flat, very honest answer, "I'm confident in my ability to survive."
Oh.
That was… not the answer he expected.
If she had said something sentimental, or even clever—something about trust or fate—he had a dramatic speech ready. A full monologue. It included three very unnecessary metaphors, a personal anecdote involving a traitor's toenails, and a sentence that ended with, "They never dared sneeze again."
Shu Mingye was starting to think this girl was sent by the heavens just to test his emotional stability. What was he supposed to do with a walking contradiction who looked like a porcelain doll and talked like death was her roommate?
Honestly… it was starting to be a little bit terrifying.
And possibly attractive.
But mostly terrifying.
He squinted at her, clearly caught between irritation and curiosity. "Didn't you hear the rumors?"
"Which one? I heard a lot." She looked thoughtful, as if flipping through a list inside her head. "Though now that I think about it... the people we met on the road, even the innkeeper, none of them seemed scared of you either."
"That's because they didn't know who I was," he said, eyes narrowing slightly. "If they know… they would've scrambled like frightened rabbits."
That actually made sense. Linyue had heard those rumors too. Wild ones. Maybe too wild. They were quite creative. That might be why people didn't recognize him.
"Well," she began seriously, "I heard you had three horns growing from your forehead, red eyes that glow in the dark, and a tail that whips people who dare to stare at you longer than three seconds."
Shu Mingye stared at her. Not the cool, intimidating stare he probably practiced in the mirror. This was the look of someone who just realized the world was full of idiots.
"Three horns," he repeated slowly.
She nodded. "Oh, and fangs. Big ones. The kind that can bite through swords. Also claws, maybe. Depends on the storyteller."
Shu Mingye gave her the flattest look he could muster. "Really?"
Lin Yue shrugged. "Also, some say you breathe fire. But personally, I think that's just bad digestion."
He rolled his eyes. This is absurd, he thought. Yet, he couldn't quite suppress the smirk tugging at his lips.
"… But," she continued, tilted her head and gave him a sideways glance, "you surprisingly look like a human. A very good-looking one, at that." Her voice was calm, but there was a tiny hint of disappointment in it.
Look like a human? Was that… a compliment?
Then Shu Mingye's entire body went still.
Did she just… casually call him good-looking?
And why did she sound disappointed? As if he had failed to meet some sort of terrifying expectation. What kind of answer was that? He had heard compliments before—mostly fearful, mostly whispered—but none had ever come with such a strange mix of approval and mild regret.
He slowly turned his head to look at her. No teasing in her tone. No awkward shyness. She looked forward again, completely calm, sitting upright on his horse.
"Oh?" he asked, voice dripping with amusement. "Are you disappointed?"
"A little bit."
His eyes sparkled with mischief. "Because I don't look like a demon?"
She nodded. "Mm-hmm."
"Because I look like a human?"
Another nod. "That too."
"… Or because I'm good-looking?" he added with a smirk.
Her eyes stayed on the road. Her tone was simple, steady, almost bored. "All of them."
Shu Mingye stared at the back of her head, completely thrown off for a full second. All of them? And then, he couldn't help it. He laughed. A real laugh. Low, warm, and unrestrained. It slipped out before he could stop it, catching even him by surprise. It rolled through the quiet morning air, startling a few nearby birds and confusing the guards behind them, who exchanged nervous glances.
He raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying himself now. "So, do you prefer I looked like a demon, a human, or just… good-looking?"
Lin Yue blinked at Shu Mingye's question. Demon, human, or just good-looking? What kind of ridiculous multiple-choice question was that? Did he have a closet full of faces to switch between?
She tilted her head, pretending to think hard. Honestly, she didn't care what he looked like as long as he didn't show up to breakfast with six horns and eyeballs in places eyeballs shouldn't be. That would definitely ruin her appetite. A dull-faced human? Too boring. A painfully handsome man? Also a problem. Very distracting. Especially during serious meetings, life-or-death fights, and breakfast.
Finally, with a half-smile that felt braver than it should've, she replied, "I haven't decided. Why don't you pick the one that'll make my heart race the most?"
Shu Mingye went very still. For a beat, it looked like his brain had short-circuited. Then he recovered faster than she liked, and gave a slow, self-satisfied smile. "So… good-looking it is."
Linyue raised one eyebrow. Her breathing remained steady, her expression unchanged, but internally, she was trying not to swallow her own tongue. "How do you know it's not the demon one?"
His grin stretched wider. Too wide. And oh no, he looked far too pleased with himself now.
Shu Mingye leaned in slightly, that smug smile still tugging at the corner of his mouth. His voice dropped into a low murmur, smooth and full of mischief. "I'll take my chances."
Then he laughed again—quiet at first, then deeper, warmer. It rumbled out of him in waves, steady and surprising, shaking the quiet air around them. He didn't laugh often, not like that. But something about her expression—equal parts challenge, mockery, and what-did-I-just-say—just cracked something open.
Linyue stared at him, trying to figure out what part of her sentence had broken his brain and turned it into joy. What kind of lunatic laughed after being told he might look better as a demon? This was not a normal reaction. This was the reaction of someone who found chaos oddly comforting.
She shifted in the saddle. Her voice stayed flat, unimpressed. "Stop laughing. You're scaring the birds. Look, even the rocks flinched." She pointed at the road without looking.
Shu Mingye didn't even glance. He just shrugged, his smile refusing to fade. "Can you blame me? Most people run away screaming. You flirt back."