Sulking

How did she have the nerve to say that about me?

When they had first married, Bu Yao had asked Xing Yue to put her shoes on for her again and again. At first, Xing Yue had taken it as flirtation and thought nothing of it. Then she discovered Bu Yao expected her to do it in public, too, and would even give her the cold shoulder if she refused.

It bothered Xing Yue, so she tried to talk about it calmly. Bu Yao replied as though it were obvious: "I've never had to put on my own shoes in my life. I don't know how!"

That's ridiculous, Xing Yue thought. Even the queen's only daughter must know how to put on shoes. Is she messing with me?

Once, Bu Yao hurt her leg in gym class and sat waiting for Xing Yue to carry her home. A torrential downpour hit that day, and traffic kept Xing Yue from picking her up on time. When she reached the school, she found Bu Yao sheltering in a little pavilion, her ankle badly swollen, both feet covered in mud and her trouser legs filthy.

"Don't you have spare slippers in your locker? If you couldn't get your canvas shoes on, you could've worn those!" Xing Yue couldn't understand it. Bu Yao could easily have asked a classmate to fetch her slippers. There was no need to stand barefoot in the mud.

Asking a classmate to fetch them was one thing. Asking someone to put them on her was another. Bu Yao did know better than to impose that on a classmate.

"Don't shout at me!" Bu Yao ordered. Then she added, "I don't know how."

Not that she wouldn't put them on. She couldn't.

Xing Yue was stunned. Bu Yao hadn't been joking. She genuinely didn't know how to put on shoes. She was eighteen, already in college, yet she was like someone who couldn't take care of herself.

It overturned Xing Yue's understanding of how the world worked.

As if she could tell what Xing Yue was thinking, Bu Yao leaned over and kissed her cheek. Her lips were still slightly swollen from their heated kiss.

"You hate me." The corners of Bu Yao's eyes were red. It wasn't even a question.

Xing Yue really did seem to hate her, as though she wished Bu Yao would disappear and never show her face again.

Xing Yue didn't much want to answer. Why did adults have to pin such things down so precisely? She hated Bu Yao in some ways and didn't in others. At the very least, she didn't mind being intimate with her.

"What do you think?" Xing Yue tossed the question back to her once more. She picked up a towel and began drying Bu Yao's tail. "Why did you suddenly come looking for me?"

They had had nothing to do with each other for ten years. Had one brief encounter at a ball made Bu Yao unable to let her go? The reason sounded too flimsy, and Xing Yue remained on her guard.

Bu Yao had answered her before. Xing Yue simply hadn't taken it seriously.

It was late. The lights were out throughout the two-story villa, except in the small bedroom, where a warm-colored orb the size of a fist still glowed. Its light was dim, gentle on the eyes and comfortable.

Rain began to fall quietly. The bedroom window was open, and water spread across the cool-toned Nordic floor tiles. The curtains fluttered with a rustle, and raindrops pattered against the sill. The sleeping night was no longer still.

The noise woke Xing Yue from a doze. There was nothing on the windowsill, and if the floor got wet, so be it. She couldn't be bothered. She rolled over, wrapped her arms around the little furnace beside her, and went back to sleep.

Something soft and wet brushed her face. It was hot and a little ticklish. She knew without looking that it was Bu Yao's Snake Tongue.

She heard Bu Yao whisper, "Xing Yue... I've changed. Please don't hate me."

Xing Yue didn't know how to respond and wanted to pretend she was asleep, but the Snake Tongue wandered from her face down to her neck. She couldn't keep up the act. She pressed her index finger against Bu Yao's lips.

The Snake Tongue flicked out against her fingertip, darted back at the touch, then emerged to touch her again. In and out, over and over.

Xing Yue's gaze darkened. "Are you determined to get frisky?"

Bu Yao's face grew hot. She shook her head innocently and finally stopped playing around.

She burrowed into Xing Yue's arms, nuzzled her nose against Xing Yue's chest, and settled on her side in a comfortable position.

After all that, Xing Yue couldn't get back to sleep. She pulled Bu Yao's tail over and kneaded it in her hand. In a husky voice, she asked, "Does the young mistress want to remarry me?"

Bu Yao hadn't expected that question out of nowhere. She grew so nervous she stammered, clutching Xing Yue's shirt. "D-do you?"

For a moment, it felt as if a nod from Xing Yue would let them remarry on the spot.

The reason for their divorce wasn't entirely Bu Yao's habit of humiliating people. There was also the gulf between their families. Xing Yue had no say in the Bu Family. She wanted to move out and live alone with Bu Yao, but Bu Yao's parents refused.

The frequent charity galas and endless mingling with prominent figures had made Xing Yue uneasy. She could carry herself with grace at such events, but the moment she opened her mouth, her shortcomings became painfully obvious.

Xing Yue hadn't been afraid of changing. If the Bu Family needed it, she could adapt and contribute to the family business. But Bu Yao's parents had never shown her the slightest appreciation. Every remark they made implied she wasn't fit for their circles.

When she confided in Bu Yao, Bu Yao accused her of being too sensitive and overthinking it. They came from different backgrounds, from two different worlds. Why force them together?

"I don't want to," Xing Yue said flatly. She held her little furnace close, yet felt cold inside. "Marriage didn't make me happy. Why would I do it again?"

Bu Yao struggled out of Xing Yue's arms and pulled her tail free, refusing to let Xing Yue play with it anymore. Propping herself up on both hands, she leaned over Xing Yue. "What part of it wasn't happy?"

That was quite a question. Apart from the physical side of things, there was nothing about being with Bu Yao that had made Xing Yue happy.

"Of course you were happy." Xing Yue lay flat on the bed, draped an arm over her forehead, and yawned. "You got yourself a servant. What wasn't to like? I dressed you and put on your shoes. I took you to school and picked you up. I cooked for you by day, put you to sleep at night, and washed your hair. Whenever we went out, I carried your bag and your shoes. If I raised my voice, you made me kneel on a keyboard. If I wasn't home by eight, you made me sleep outside the front gate. I had no rights when I was married to you, and you expect me to remarry you?"

Bu Yao's breathing turned ragged under the barrage of accusations. She hurried to explain. "But isn't that what dating is like? Don't other couples cook for their girlfriends and put them to sleep? Don't they—"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Xing Yue cut her off. To make her point properly, she sat up and leaned against the headboard. "Miss Bu, please don't dress up what you did. Other couples do those things for each other. With you, it only went one way. You just ordered me around like a dog. If I asked you to put on my shoes right now, would you?"

The more they argued, the angrier Xing Yue grew. She lifted her chin and set her foot against Bu Yao's stomach beneath the covers. Warm Snake Scales lay just below her toes. She deliberately pressed down, making the provocation clear.

The red snake tail curled in on itself. Bu Yao stared at her. "I don't know how to put on shoes."

Xing Yue gave a scornful laugh and tipped her head back. "So by that logic, if you don't know how to do anything, you don't have to do anything? And because I know how, I have to wait on you hand and foot? If that's the married life you want, then it's your happiness, not mine. I don't want to remarry you. I don't want to live like that."

She'd had the guts to quit school and take the law school entrance exam from scratch—and she'd passed. She'd earned a formidable reputation in the field. She clearly wasn't afraid to learn. Somehow, she just refused to learn the basics of daily life.

Now Xing Yue saw it. Bu Yao's bad habits hadn't changed. Of course they hadn't. Her tenderness had been an act to coax Xing Yue back to the Bu Family as a servant.

"Teach me," Bu Yao said earnestly, her eyes fixed on Xing Yue.

Even in the dim light, Xing Yue could see how serious she was. Her feelings tangled. Bu Yao was an adult. Even if she'd never done those things herself, surely she'd seen other people do them?

How could someone need to be taught such basic things? If the Bu Family ran out of servants, would Bu Yao be unable to survive?

She was so hopeless and yet looked so earnest that Xing Yue could have screamed. She couldn't help saying, "Miss Bu, aside from being pretty, you're good for nothing."

After a whole night of it, that jab finally brought Bu Yao's temper to the brink. Anger flashed in her eyes. "Why do you keep insulting me?"

"Because I want to. Did you insult me any less back then? What's wrong with giving you a taste of it?" Xing Yue flicked Bu Yao's forehead with one finger, her own anger flaring. "If you can't stand me, go home. I'll call you a car."

They could get along with false smiles as long as they left the past alone. The moment they brought it up, tempers flared. Xing Yue wanted to see what else Bu Yao could say.

Bu Yao pushed Xing Yue's foot away. Her chest heaved as she glared fiercely at her. "You said you have work tomorrow, but here you are staying up in the middle of the night to insult me. Or did those few rounds yesterday wear you out? No wonder you kept stressing that you're getting older. You were setting up an excuse for how weak you've become. You could've just said so instead of talking in circles. Hah!"

"..."

Even after saying all that, Bu Yao wasn't satisfied. She grabbed a pillow and threw it in Xing Yue's face. "You shallow, looks-obsessed jerk!"

She scrambled off the bed to make her escape. Her body moved quickly, but her tail was still on the mattress.

Xing Yue caught it with one hand and held on. By the time Bu Yao turned it back into legs, it was too late. Xing Yue had pinned both her arms and legs.

"How do you have the nerve to say that about me?" Xing Yue found it unbelievable. She pressed Bu Yao into the bedding. "Hah. I haven't even complained about how bad you are at—"

"Hss."

Bu Yao swiftly bit Xing Yue's lip.

Xing Yue tried to finish. "I haven't even complained about how bad you are at—hss!"

Bu Yao bit her again. Her lower lip burned.

The woman beneath her had her eyes wide open, watching her every move and refusing to let her finish that sentence.

Xing Yue couldn't help laughing at the sight. She'd better stop, or the young mistress would burst into tears. Bu Yao had her claws out and looked awfully fierce.

"A kiss?" she asked, softening her voice.

Bu Yao's eyes were wet. She ignored Xing Yue.

Xing Yue slowly leaned down, fitting her whole body against Bu Yao's curves until there was no space between them. With her head beside Bu Yao's ear, she murmured, "Do you want one?"

Her low, husky voice sounded as though it had been steeped in red wine, languid and commanding. It wasn't a question. It was a tease, one Bu Yao had no defense against.

Bu Yao knew that perfectly well. Embarrassed and furious, she gritted her teeth and refused to say a word, silently sulking.

They were so close their breaths mingled. In that moment, they seemed closer than anyone else in the world.

Xing Yue touched her forehead to Bu Yao's. Her index finger found those tightly closed red lips, soft and moist beneath her touch. She traced their shape, then pressed lightly. "Do you want one?"

As she asked, her fingertip kept sliding over Bu Yao's lips. "I don't like forcing anyone."