Wanqing’s pov

"I apologize for being rude and disrespecting you earlier."

The words left tiger’s mouth so smoothly at that moment, I almost thought I was hearing things or it was another person that was speaking. I stared at her kneeling figure, slowly shaking my head.

No, those words did come from her and they sounded awfully wrong.

Tiger and apologies simply didn’t go together, it had been established by now. She was someone who would rather climb a tree and refuse to come down than lower her head and admit she was wrong.

She was a prideful person. Yet here she was, kneeling and freaking apologizing.

The words that had just left her mouth sounded disgusting. I would rather have her call me unreasonable, or tell me to shut up, or hear her grumble under her breath when I give her extra work to do.

Truthfully, I preferred hearing other things from her mouth. My gaze drifted to her lips. I wanted to hear her moan my name from those lips, sounding all broken and needy.

Or... I looked away immediately. This was ridiculous, why the fuck was I even be thinking about that right now?

Then I realized something, Anning wasn’t looking at Qingyue as she apologized. She was looking directly at me. The apology was definitely being directed at Qingyue, but her eyes... they were fixed on me.

Why? Why does it feel like she was speaking to me instead? And why does she look so angry?

More importantly, was something wrong with her? She looked so...pale. I couldn’t quite understand her.

"That should be enough, shouldn’t it?" Qingyue said suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I blinked, turning to look at her. Tiger didn’t even say another word. She calmly rose to her feet, not sparing me a glance before walking to the exit. The room became oddly quiet after I heard the door slide closed.

My gaze remained fixed on the spot she’d been kneeling earlier. Then another thing flashed through my head, earlier she had said ’I wasn’t worthy to be her mistress.’

I had been insulted a few times, why? Because people fear me, some hated me and others found me a bit strange, but none of it had ever bothered me.

Then why, why did those words keep replaying in my head? I could still imagine the way she glared at me, as though I had done something terrible, as though I had disappointed her.

I knew I had been a bit harsh earlier, but I never expected her to react like this.

I frowned, why do I care about this? She was merely my slave, I shouldn’t care what she thinks of me and I especially shouldn’t care if she looked at me like that.

Yet... I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

"You look troubled." Qingyue’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, I turned to look at her only to find that annoying look of amusement on her face.

"It doesn’t concern you." I said firmly.

"You’ve been staring at the spot she was kneeling on earlier." She stated, chuckling under her breath.

I didn’t respond. She stood up and walked toward me, then suddenly grabbed my wrist, tugging me close to her.

"You know, I’ve never seen a servant speak to you this way." I looked down at her hand wrapped around my wrist.

Her skin was nothing like Anning’s, hers was warmer and smoother than Anning’s.

"And?"

"And..." She drew out. "It seems like you have feelings for her."

"No " I answered far too quickly but firmly.

"Then why won’t you let me punish her? Xiao Qingyue asked, her smile widening slightly.

I frowned and then said easily" because she’s mine "

Silence engulfed the room for a small second, and even I paused at my own words. Qingyue chuckled, slowly letting go of my hand as she said, "Yours?"

Tiger is mine to punish. She belongs to no one else but me." I said, taking a step away from her.

The smile on Qingyue’s face became strange. Silence stretched between us once more and I suddenly hated the way she was looking at me.

"Oh, Wanqing." She gushed, her eyes twinkling.

I knew that look, but I said nothing about it. As long as she didn’t do anything drastic, I couldn’t exactly challenge royalty.

"Quit staring." I said coldly.

She laughed softly at my words, it sounded as though she knew something I didn’t and that feeling was utterly annoying. A few moments later she finally left the Gu residence for the palace.

The room suddenly became quiet, far too quiet for comfort. I headed back to the bed, my eyes moving around my chambers.

Anning wasn’t here, oddly I missed seeing her look of annoyance. Today, she gave me a lot of it but shut me out almost immediately.

I took a seat at the edge of my bed as I thought about something I had almost forgotten, that knife.

How had she moved so quickly and without hesitation? Did she get trained by someone when I wasn’t here or was she just talented?

"Han Luo, bring me tiger." I said, staring into space.

He hadn’t been in the room during all that drama but there was a reason we were close. He was what people called a shadow guard and a highly valued comrade of mine.

A few minutes later, the door slid open and she stepped inside. Her silver hair was rolled at the top of her head and her eyes remained glued to the floor.

She didn’t greet me or even stare at me in the eyes. Weird.

"Young miss." She muttered.

I instantly disliked how formal she sounded. Before I could stop myself, I suddenly blurted out, "Look at me while you speak."

She slowly lifted her head, her face held no expressions and her mossy green eyes looked utterly blank.

"Where did you learn how to use that?" I asked, leaning further into the bed.

"That? Are you talking about the knife?" She asked, frowning.

When I raised a brow at her, she spoke again but sounded almost uncertain this time. "I’m really good with swords."

"That’s rare." I said under my breath, still staring at her.

I had been gone for a few months and this pet of mine suddenly grew claws. A part of me was impressed, but the other part couldn’t help but feel wary of her due to this small fact.

"You shouldn’t be carrying sharp objects around." I said, pushing a few strands of hair out of my face.

"It’s none of your business." She responded.

She didn’t sound angry or upset or feisty, with the tone she used...she sounded polite?

I scoffed. "You almost killed one of my guards. That could land you in a cell."

"He touched me despite my warnings. I wouldn’t mind staying in a cell." She paused, tilting her head at me. "It’s not the first time."

I couldn’t even argue with her. She wasn’t wrong.

"You’ve become quite bold." I stated, my eyes slowly moving around her face.

She didn’t respond, but I waited and after seconds of waiting, she still said nothing. I was beginning to miss her insults and our constant bickering. The quiet version of her felt so wrong.

"You aren’t going to say anything?" I said, resting my chin against the back of my hand.

"What would you like me to say, young miss?"

I frowned at that title again. I loved the way she said my name. But with that title, it was as if we never shared anything, like I was just another noblewoman to her. I didn’t like it.

"Arrange the room. It’s an eyesore." I ordered, she nodded.

She arranged the scrolls, folded my robes and then she fixed the pillows on my bed. All without looking at me.

I watched her the entire time, but not once didn’t she look me in the eyes. Not even for a second.

When she finished, she finally turned to face me and said, "I’ll take my leave."

"No you won’t." I said just as she reached the door. "I didn’t ask you to leave."

A few moments went by, before she slowly turned to look at me. Her expressionless face had my hands curling into fists.

"What is going on with you?" I suddenly asked.

She blinked once, feigning confusion, "What do you mean, Young miss?"

"Enough with this bullshit." I snapped, pushing myself to my feet. "You’re acting strange."

A soft laugh escaped her lips, but it didn’t sound as though she was happy.

"This is how I behave." She shrugged.

"Anning." I said, my voice dropping an octave lower. The threat and warning in my voice told her I wasn’t joking.

She stared at me for a moment too long. Then quietly replied, "I don’t want anything happening between us again."

I froze. "What?"

This time, she took a step closer to me and gestured between us as she spoke.

"You always do this. Whenever something happens between us... you always act differently afterwards."