Long Xiyue's visit came as something of a surprise to Murong Feiyan, though she had guessed why Long Xiyue had come.
"I came especially to bid you farewell, Sister," Long Xiyue said.
Murong Feiyan smiled. "Congratulations on finally having your wish fulfilled, Princess. May you and Young Master Hu grow white-haired together and enjoy a hundred years of marital bliss." Though her words sounded lighthearted, a bitter ache stirred in her heart.
"There's no need for such words between us," Long Xiyue said. "Without your care all these years, I don't know how I would have endured."
"Good people receive their just rewards, Your Highness," Murong Feiyan said. "I hardly helped at all."
"To tell you the truth, Xiaotian asked me to come," Long Xiyue said. "He was afraid you wouldn't agree to see him, so he asked me to pass something on."
Murong Feiyan said nothing. In truth, she understood what Long Xiyue wanted to say. How could she not know Hu Xiaotian's feelings? And deep in her heart, had she ever truly blamed him?
Long Xiyue reached out with her slender hand and clasped Murong Feiyan's soft one. "Come back with us, Sister. However lovely the Fragrant Kingdom may be, it isn't our home. Xiaotian doesn't favor one of us over the other. You and I are equally important to him."
Murong Feiyan bit her cherry-red lip. "Don't you feel even the slightest jealousy, Princess?"
Long Xiyue smiled gently. "Why should I be jealous? Loving someone doesn't necessarily mean possessing him completely. From the moment I met him, I knew he had a wild, unrestrained nature. Since I chose him, I must accept all of him. Besides, you knew him before I did. When he told me about everything you once did for him, I was deeply moved.