"Mo Xie, I'm getting engaged soon."
"I thought something was off too... Wait, what?!"
Mo Xie's pupils contracted, and a shudder ran through him. Still, his expression did not change.
Weren't they supposed to be discussing the people who had gone mad? How had the conversation taken such a sharp turn?
And engaged... Mu Ningxue was getting engaged?
Mu Ningxue caught the slightest change in him. Delight stirred within her, and a barely perceptible smile touched her lips as she nodded.
"Yes. A young master from a prominent family in the Imperial Capital wants to arrange a marriage with our branch of the Mu Clan. If I refuse, his family will cut off all business with us."
"And then?"
Mo Xie had no idea why those words came out of his mouth.
"My father respects my wishes, so he turned them down for now. But my family is struggling, and our position within the Mu Clan is awkward. Without that family's help, what comes next..."
A breeze passed. Mu Ningxue raised a hand to hold down her silver hair and lowered her gaze, disappointment and unwillingness hidden in her beautiful eyes.
She looked at Mo Xie, blinked, and gave him a faint, sorrowful smile.
"Maybe I really will marry someone I don't love for my family's sake. The next time we meet, I might be a married woman."
She said something so painful as though it were a joke, but the tremor in her voice betrayed her unease and helplessness.
Silence fell. They stood facing each other, neither saying a word.
After a long while, Mo Xie parted his lips and looked up at the strikingly beautiful Mu Ningxue.
"Is that... really what you want?"
"What?"
"To marry someone you don't love. Have you really decided to give in?"
A