Dai Yao woke in a daze. Smelling that familiar fragrance, he could not help smacking his lips, instinctively wanting to pull her into his arms, but the empty feeling in his hand jolted him awake.
He sprang up, raised one hand, and a gust of force blew the tightly shut curtains open. Golden sunlight rushed headlong into the dim room.
The room grew bright.
Staring at the empty bed beside him, the woman's smiling, charming face seemed to be right before his eyes. Dai Yao sighed softly and sat blankly at the edge of the bed, a trace of loneliness rising in his heart.
"She's gone, huh? Not even a goodbye? That really does fit her style."
Dai Yao felt somewhat helpless toward Dugu Yan's swift, decisive personality. Of course, if she were not that kind of person, Dugu Yan would never have done something so bold yesterday.
Though at first he had held a grudge against Dugu Yan, over the past six years, he had seen all the quiet effort she had devoted to him. Six years—even if he had been a stone, he would have been melted by Dugu Yan's blazing heart.
The bewitching older-sister figure she usually was, the Azure Scale Serpent Woman who made others shrink back in fear, had wholeheartedly thought of him. As a man, it was hard for him not to feel a little pleased.
But Dugu Yan's act yesterday, brave to the point of defiance, had made Dai Yao truly possess her, and it had also made him realize that he needed to shoulder responsibility.
She looked like a seductive older-sister type, yet inside she was a little girl lacking love. That only made Dai Yao cherish her all the more.
Dugu Yan's departure now was something neither of them could help.