Reborn To Be The Imperial Consort [BL]-Chapter 36: Budding Lotus — VII

The interior of the armoury was nothing yet everything like the surgeon had expected at the same time. It was breathtaking, the rugged grandeur of weapons meant to take lives, beautiful when perched on their racks.

Li Xinyuan’s eyes flickered around, swift and sharp, in a desperate attempt to take everything that was unfolding in front of him.

The armoury was humongous to say the least, each weapon kept in its rightful place, so segregated yet so united at the same time. Each design was a different story, swords, shields, axes, spears. It was a feast to the eyes and dream of every martial artist.

Distinct in their making under the flickering flames illuminating the entire place, even Li Xinyuan — a doctor through and through — could see the beauty in them. It was nothing short of just one word—

Beautiful.

Letting out a soft breath, the surgeon looked around, turning around to take in every corner of the armoury. At that moment, he felt nothing like an adult he was supposed to be, but more like a child too curious about the sight in front of him.

He wanted to hold those weapons, he wanted to touch those sleek yet powerful swords, swing those menacingly breathtaking axes and the like. He wanted to hold those spears and touch the sharp tips. He wanted to see if they could make him bleed.

It was an idle, mostly stray thought Li Xinyuan was going to disregard a moment later, but it came to him like a second nature as he whipped his head to the side, looking at the Crown Prince with his golden eyes wide and almost pleading, pupils dilated and all.

"May this lowly one..." He trailed off, unsure if the request was much too big to be granted.

Liu Mingyun looked at him, eyes glinting with amusement as his eyebrows raised. "You may." He nodded.

For a moment, Li Xinyuan entertained the thought that Liu Mingyun was oddly indulgent towards him. And just him.

But then he discarded that thought, forcibly squishing the traitorous voices that wanted to fill his heart and mind with something akin to hope.

The surgeon was too afraid to hope. He didn’t know love, he didn’t understand how to love properly. Selflessly.

Selfless. It was one thing that Li Xinyuan was confident about. As a person involved in the medical field, he had been a doctor before he’d been his own person. He had been a human before anything else, doing his duty as the path demanded of him no matter the consequences of it.

Li Xinyuan was confident in his being as a selfless doctor, a human before a man bound by his status or identity. But he was not confident in his selflessness in the matter of love.

Would he be selfless enough to be able to share Liu Mingyun with the female lead once he fell in love? He didn’t know the answer to that.

Would he be able to look at her as a woman shackled by her preordained fate — much like himself — rather than a woman who stole Liu Mingyun’s affection from him?

Li Xinyuan didn’t know that either.

The surgeon pursed his lips, these stray thoughts dampening the joy of being inside the Imperial Armoury. He tried to catch himself just before he was far too gone in the downward spiral of thoughts.

The surgeon’s elegant brows drew together as a frown seated itself in the middle and Li Xinyuan took a step towards the display of swords racked against the wall, not turning to look behind himself lest his thoughts should come back in full force.

As the formless shadows made by the flickering flames around the armoury stretched around him, Li Xinyuan took a deep, bracing breath before putting a hand on one of the swords, wanting to feel the elegant weapon of violence on his fingertips.

The moment his fingers touched the sword’s handle, all of the thoughts in his head fell silent, no more wars of ideologies, conflicting thoughts, were waged in his heart as the surgeon held the handle, his hold gingerly.

As if anticipatory, the silence in his mind grew. It was deafening, Li Xinyuan was not really used to meeting with such profound silence in his mind.

It was an odd feeling, the silence of his usually clamouring mind, but it was the farthest thing from unwelcomed.

With a slight shake of his head, the surgeon pulled the sword off the rack and unsheathed it.

Behind him, Liu Mingyun took a step back. Preparing himself for a reaction.

The moment the blade was pulled out of its sheath, a blinding silver glow engulfed the sword in its entirety as it pierced through the dimly lit armoury.

Ah, so it wasn’t a match. Belatedly, Li Xinyuan realised, as the flesh of his hand in contact with the sword sizzled, searing heat registered in his mind as he took a shallow breath of air and sheathed the sword.

"Ouch." He muttered under his breath, feeling the burning pain pierce his nervous system. He then turned to look at the Crown Prince, lips morphed into a subconscious pout as he spoke, tone almost accusatory. "Why didn’t Your Highness warn this lowly one?"

He glared at the man, his gaze had no heat behind. It didn’t hurt. At least not as much as it would have had Li Xinyuan not been a cultivator but a man.

No, it didn’t hurt too much.

But the ache, the crumpled flesh, blistering and painful, was an unpleasant sensation to his body. He cringed, pressed back the urge to rub his hand on his side. It was not the right thing to do.

The stench of burnt flesh, of seared meat permeated throughout the hall, the low sizzle of burning reverberating in the place that was too quiet.

Liu Mingyun’s keen ears caught the whisper of that burn, before Li Xinyuan knew it, the Crown Prince was in front of him, his hand in the former’s gentle but otherwise vice grip.

His luscious mane of white locks, a silver river akin to the twinkling stars hung from his face as the Crown Prince brought Li Xinyuan’s palm closer to his face. The expression on his handsome visage was troubled as he pursed his lips together.

"Your Highness?" The surgeon called out, voice far too soft as he flexed his fingers.

Liu Mingyun said nothing, not a single word left his lips, not a single sound escaped his throat as he stared at Li Xinyuan’s palm, critically. freewёbnoνel.com

Li Xinyuan didn’t know what to do, he could neither pull his hand out of the protagonist’s grasp nor read the thoughts circling in his mind.

In front of his eyes, as he gazed at the silver crown of the protagonist’s head, a floating window appeared, displaying a row of numbers.

[Current Points: 7065]

As the surgeon blinked, a cool breeze caressing his burnt flesh, briefly he wondered, why were the comments not being shown anymore?

Was it because the moments like these were much too intimate, too tender to be broken by them?

Regardless of the reason, Li Xinyuan couldn’t help but feel grateful for it.

"This wasn’t what I had anticipated," a long while later, Liu Mingyun murmured, displeasure stark in his voice as he bowed, holding Li Xinyuan’s hand still. "I had expected perhaps a repellent force, not a burn like this." He explained.

Li Xinyuan didn’t require him to explain.

It didn’t hurt. It really didn’t. But his words were a soothing balm to his aching hand nevertheless.

"It doesn’t hurt, My Liege." He spoke after a beat. "It really does not."

Liu Mingyun raised his head, crimson eyes flitting over his face as he pursed his lips, frowning. He seemed to want to say something.

The Crown Prince’s lips parted slightly as he let out a sigh and spoke.