My Little Dragon

Half an hour later, the red mark on Xiao Yan's forehead was barely visible.

Only then did Sylus consider his next move. "It doesn't look serious, so I'll..."

Xiao Yan still looked at him reproachfully and waved. "Bye-bye."

"..." Instead, that left Sylus unsure whether he should leave.

In truth, Sylus simply wasn't used to being active during the day and wanted to return to his own place to catch up on sleep.

Looking at Xiao Yan's bed, which was plenty big enough, didn't this count as his place too?

It probably did.

Besides, there were plenty of bodyguards around, constantly patrolling along carefully planned routes. It was very safe.

He simply went around to the other side, took off his leather jacket, and lay down.

Xiao Yan pushed his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"That little bit of exercise earlier wasn't enough to make me sweat. I showered before heading out this morning, and my clothes are clean too. I won't dirty your bed," he said.

Xiao Yan said, "That's not what I meant. Aren't you... going back to your own home to sleep?"

He didn't want to explain his motives. "Wake me if your head hurts. I'm very sleepy."

He merely caught the hand Xiao Yan was pushing him with, holding it for two or three seconds before letting go. "Stop fussing. Let me sleep a while."

Once he fell asleep, Sylus showed no sign of waking even by three that afternoon.

Zayne had already arrived to pick Xiao Yan up.

She changed her clothes, got herself ready, and went to the bedside to look at Sylus's face.

With a gentle smile, she whispered, "Sleep well~ My Little Dragon."

After the sound of the bedroom door closing.

Sylus's brow lifted slightly, and the corners of his mouth curved up a little.

Sitting in the car, Zayne saw Xiao Yan come skipping out, a little fluffy snowflake-shaped bag slung across her body.

His heart softened.

Xiao Yan opened the door and sat in the passenger seat. "Hi~ Dr. Zayne~"

Then she pulled a lollipop out of her little bag, unwrapped it, and held it to Zayne's lips.

Zayne froze, only parting his lips when he felt the candy poke them.

He tasted it. Jasmine yogurt flavor.

He shifted the candy to one side of his mouth and glanced back at the heavy motorcycle parked by the garden. "Sylus is back?"

While fastening her seat belt, Xiao Yan asked, "Hm? You recognize his bike?"

"On the day you chose your husbands, I saw him leave the parking lot on it," Zayne said succinctly. "Is he... not coming with us to the main residence to see Mother?"

How very generous of you, Xiao Yan thought. Just wait until you really fall in love with me. There'll be times when you're too jealous to be so generous.

Aloud, she smiled. "He's used to sleeping during the day and being active at night. He's sleeping in my room right now."

Zayne's expression stiffened. "...All right. Let's go, then."

Xiao Yan sent the main residence's address to Zayne's phone, and he started the navigation.

After leaving the villa, the car drove steadily down the mountain road.

There were still a few issues with Xiao Yan's group assignment, so she kept her head lowered, discussing them with her classmates in the group chat.

Xavier suddenly sent her a message.

[Can I come back and stay for one night next Saturday?]

"Saturday?" Xiao Yan murmured, quickly typing a reply. [Just for one night?]

Xavier then made a video call.

Xiao Yan turned to glance at Zayne. "Can I take a video call?"

Zayne nodded. "Of course."

When the call connected, Xavier seemed to be at his own home. The living room was behind him, and he was sitting on the couch.

"Um... I wanted to explain properly, so I made a video call. I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Xavier said.

Xiao Yan blinked twice. "You're not interrupting anything, but why do you suddenly want to come back and stay?"

In truth, she was delighted, but remembering that Zayne would also be staying next Saturday made her a little worried.

She was afraid that having Zayne and Xavier under the same roof might lead to some conflict.

"The captain said I'd only been home once in over a month, and even then I stayed for less than two hours. He said he had to check on how my marriage was going, so..."

Xavier sounded very embarrassed. He even scratched the back of his neck with his free left hand. "If it's inconvenient for you, I can stay at a hotel instead. It's just that married men need their wife to sign a confirmation form to stay at a hotel. A digital copy works too."

Ah, why were the leaders at these workplaces so fond of forcing people to be loving spouses?

How thoughtful of them!

Xiao Yan held back her delight and merely considered it with concern. "But even with his wife's consent, wouldn't a married man still get asked all sorts of questions if he stayed at a hotel in the same city?"

"Yes." Xavier grew even more embarrassed. "But it should be all right. I can handle it."

"Then why don't you come back and stay? I'll have Uncle Sang get your room ready." Xiao Yan sighed. "After all, if someone I know sees you staying at a hotel, it'll cause trouble for me too."

Xiao Yan was the family's young lady, after all. Even her husband selection had trended online, and her beautiful close-up photos had stayed up for over a week.

Naturally, photos of the five husbands she had chosen had also trended alongside hers for a week.

Those reporters outside would make a story out of anything. If they photographed Xavier staying at a hotel in the same city, they would definitely make a huge fuss over it.

Once it became a public uproar, the Xiao Family would be thrust into the eye of the storm.

Xavier looked terribly apologetic. "I'm really sorry for the trouble. I'll be careful and try not to disrupt your normal life."

"All right, don't put too much pressure on yourself. If you're coming back, just relax and come home." Xiao Yan smiled. "Send me your clothing measurements. I'll have Uncle Sang prepare some changes of clothes and things for you. This sort of thing is bound to happen again, so it'll be more convenient when you come back in the future, and you'll be more comfortable staying at home."

Seeing that Xiao Yan truly welcomed him, Xavier finally smiled in relief too. "All right, thank you. Then let's talk more when we see each other next week."

"Mm~" Xiao Yan tilted her head and ended the call in an adorable manner.

Although Zayne had heard the whole call beside her.

He still simply drove in silence, showing nothing.

Since Zayne made no move, neither did Xiao Yan.

She continued discussing the group assignment with her classmates.

They needed to drive diagonally across the city to reach the suburban villa district in another direction.

When they reached a busy area and stopped at a red light, Zayne cleared his throat.

Xiao Yan saw a bottle of water in the cup holder in front of the center console, so she picked it up, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to him.

Zayne took it and had a sip. The light turned green, so he handed the bottle back to Xiao Yan.

She screwed the cap back on and returned it to the cup holder.

Zayne simply felt that this interaction was just like that of an old married couple.

The husband drove, and when the wife beside him noticed he was thirsty, she would take it upon herself to help him have some water.

They needed few words between them, with a sense of unspoken understanding that warmed his heart.

He had to... find something to talk about.

Zayne said, "Do you need me to stay away next Saturday? If so, I can skip staying over."

Xiao Yan froze. "You don't want to come back and stay?"

Zayne nearly bit his tongue. "It's not that I don't want to. I'm asking whether it's convenient for you."

"What could be inconvenient about it?" Xiao Yan asked in confusion. "Do you think Xavier and I are already so close that you need to stay out of our way?"

"Well..."

Zayne choked on his words.

Of course he could tell that Xavier was still polite with Xiao Yan during the call, unable to hide his unfamiliarity and reserve.

"Then don't come back if you don't want to. Why go out of your way to ask me?" Xiao Yan angrily turned toward the window. "You know perfectly well I don't have much to do and stay home every day. I'm bored to death."

That accusation was a frame-up.

Zayne hadn't known Xiao Yan was in any sort of "waiting miserably at home" situation.

"It's not that I don't want to come home." Caught on the back foot, he tried clumsily to make amends. "Since it's not inconvenient for you, I'll come back as agreed, on Saturday at noo... first thing in the morning. I'll even make it in time to have breakfast with you."

Xiao Yan folded her arms, still fuming.

Zayne grew even clumsier. "I'm truly sorry."