Lin Rui stood frozen in the shadows of the corridor. He didn't even have to turn around to know he had been caught. The silence of the palace usually worked in his favor, but tonight, it had betrayed him. He could hear her steady breathing just a few paces behind him.
He let out a heavy, defeated sigh. Slowly, he turned around.
Lian Zhi was standing there, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her eyes were wide awake, tracking his every movement like she was waiting for him to try and bolt again.
"So," she said, sounding dangerously calm. "You do exist."
Lin Rui cleared his throat, shifting his weight. He felt like a teenager caught sneaking out past curfew, which was a ridiculous feeling for a man who was technically the ruler of the entire territory.
"Princess," he greeted, head slightly bowed. His voice was trembling. "Are you going somewhere? You shouldn't be wandering around this late."
Idiot. He resisted the urge to mentally smack himself. Of all the things he could have said, that was the best he'd come up with?
She raised an eyebrow. "That's your opening?"
He hesitated. "The palace isn't safe at night."
"Funny." Her gaze stayed fixed on him, arms still held tight. "It didn't seem to bother you when you disappeared for days."
He opened his mouth to give her the prepared excuse, then closed it, feeling the weight of her gaze. Finally, he went with the practiced lie he had given Arkan. "I had… family matters. I had to leave the palace for a time."
Her expression did not change.
"You've gone home three times this month." It wasn't a question. It was a statement of fact.
Lin Rui felt a cold sweat break out at the back of his neck. "…Yes."
She tilted her head. "Do you have that many sick relatives?"
Lin Rui exhaled slowly. "Someone important to me fell ill."
Lian Zhi watched him for a long moment. Her gaze searched his face, as if weighing his words. Then her shoulders eased, just slightly.
"Oh," she said, quieter now. The fire in her eyes died down, replaced by a flicker of genuine guilt. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed."
Did it work?
She looked away. "I thought you were avoiding me."
"I wasn't," he said. The response was too fast, too defensive.
She turned back at once. "Then why did you turn around just now?"
Lin Rui blinked.
"I saw you, Ruhan. You were walking toward my quarters, and then you stopped and started to retreat into the shadows. If you weren't avoiding me, what was that?"
"I…" He searched for an answer. "I thought you were already resting. I didn't want to wake you."
Another lie.
She stared at him for a long moment.
"Ruhan," she said at last, "we need to talk."
There was no anger in her voice now. And that scared him.
He swallowed and nodded. "All right." For a brief moment, Lin Rui felt he could be a man for once and face her. Enough of hiding and running. "Not here, follow me."
They moved to the stone pavilion nearby. It sat slightly apart from the main path, half-hidden by trees.
They sat across from each other, stone cold beneath them. For a while, neither spoke.
Lin Rui decided to be the first to break the silence.
"About the other night," he said carefully, eyes fixed on the ground. "I owe you an apology."
Lian Zhi looked at him, surprised.
"I shouldn't have kissed you," he continued. "It was disrespectful. I crossed a line."
He expected her to be relieved, or perhaps even angry. He expected her to agree that it was a mistake.
Instead, she laughed. It was a soft, short sound, filled with disbelief.
"You dragged me all the way here just to say that?"
He frowned. "I'm serious."
"So am I." She leaned forward slightly. "You didn't force me. And you didn't steal anything from me either."
"That doesn't make it right," he insisted. "Our positions. Your status. Mine."
"Ah." She smiled knowingly. "There it is."
He paused.
"The gap," she said, waving a hand between them. "The invisible wall men like to build."
"I'm not joking," Lin Rui said. "I'm a servant. You're a princess. A married one. In this world, that's not just a line. It's a death sentence if people find out."
"Ruhan," she said, calmer now, "you're a man who kissed me. That's all."
"If people knew—"
"People always know something," she interrupted. "And they always talk. My life has been decided for me by people who don't even know my name. My sister, my father, the Empress... they all pushed me into this 'status' you're so worried about."
Lin Rui said nothing.
"You think I don't understand limits?" she continued. "I've lived inside them my whole life."
Her smile faded a little, as if there was another meaning to her words.
She leaned back against the stone railing, her eyes drifting up to the stars. "If you didn't want more… if you regret it that much, you could have just said so. You didn't have to invent a sick aunt and go into hiding."
"I don't know what I want," he admitted. For once, the truth felt more dangerous than the lie.
He felt her gaze studying him for a long moment. The silence returned, but this time it wasn't heavy. It was something else he couldn't name, almost like… exhaustion. She let out a long sigh and stood up, smoothing out her robes.
"You're exhausting, you know that?"
He let out a weak laugh. "I've been told."
She wasn't amused by that.
She began to walk away, but stopped after a few steps and looked back over her shoulder. "Next time you disappear, don't lie about it." Her voice was stern.
He looked up at her. "Next time?"
"Don't make me hunt you down again, Ruhan. It's bad for my health."
She turned and vanished into the darkness of the corridor, her footsteps fading until the garden was silent once more.
Lin Rui stayed on the cold stone bench long after she was gone. He had done everything he was supposed to do. He had apologized. He had tried to set the boundaries. He had played the part of the noble servant protecting a princess from herself.
And yet, nothing felt settled.