“This is a trap!?” Sin Yoon raised her hand, pointing her finger at Yeon Hee. She had a disbelief look on her face as she realized this was the trap set up by Yeon Hee, “You know we will not join the Tang Empire, so you want to catch us!? This…. This is unbelievable, Yeon Hee. This is so low coming from you.”

“Come on, girl. I don’t need to use a trap like this if I want to catch you,” Lu An rolled his eyes, “Your imagination is quite wild to think that you six are worth the time to set up such a trap like this.”

“Do you want to surrender peacefully, or do you want to fight? I can’t allow people who dare threaten The Emperor’s life to roam around freely.”

Despite the explanation, Yeon Hee’s five friends did not believe it. The look of betrayal on their faces was obvious.

“We will fight even if it means we will die!” Sin Yoon was ready to fight, but Lu An just gave them no chance to fight. His shadow spread out, enveloping the room, swallowing the five people. He then retracted the shadow ten seconds later, and the five people were bound by the shadow just like Min Soo. From the mouth down to their ankles.

Lu An then turned around, meeting with Yeon Hee’s eyes who was also shocked to find Lu An following her. That was close to betrayal as Lu An clearly did not believe in her. His words were not true, he did not trust her. That was why he was here, following her to meet her friends.

“It’s not like what you think, Yeon Hee,” Lu An tried to explain his situation, but then he noticed Min Soo struggling in the shadows harder. The Haven’s leader tried to use the Bloodline Transformation to break apart from the shadow, “No, don’t do it if you don’t want to die. The more you struggle, my shadow will grip you harder, and you might die from it.” He did not intend or want to kill these six in front of Yeon Hee.

“Then tell me why are you here? Why are you following me? Tell me your reason?” Yeon Hee snapped out of her shock and questioned Lu An.

“I….” Lu An’s dropped his hands loose, letting out a sigh, dropping her shoulder. The reason was simple: he was afraid of losing Yeon Hee. He was afraid that Yeon Hee would return with her friends and leave the Tang Empire. It was a simple reason, but it was hard to say it out loud. He felt like it would lead to another misunderstanding.

“You can’t explain it to me?” Yeon Hee pressed, “Does that mean I am right?”

Lu An lowered his head and said in a low voice, “I am afraid.” Yeon Hee furrowed her brows, “Afraid of what?”

“Afraid of losing you!” He raised his head and met Yeon Hee’s eyes, “I am afraid that you will leave me with your friends. I am afraid. I am really afraid of losing you….” His words trailed off.

“That means I was right, you did not trust me.”

“No, it’s different, okay? I trust you. I trust you with my heart, but the fear is here,” Lu An put his hand on his chest, “What am I supposed to do? I admit it’s wrong to follow you, but I can’t just shake my fear. What can I do?” He was frustrated as he did not know what to do with the fear inside him.

“What if I decide to go back with them and leave the Tang Empire? What are you going to do? Are you going to kill them?”

Lu An’s eyes widened in fury the moment he heard that as the killing intent burst out of him, but then he calmed, drooping his head, “I don’t know. Maybe I will kill them, and maybe I will catch them like I just did. And maybe I will just let you go with them. I don’t know. I don’t know what to do, that’s why I am following you…. I don’t know what to do. This is the first time I feel like this. I don’t know what to do….” He shook his head, repeating the same words “I don’t know what to do,” three more times. 𝗈𝒱𝑙xt.𝓬𝒐𝐦

Yeon Hee let out a chuckle which surprised Lu An. He looked up, and Yeon Hee was smiling at him. She approached him and hugged him before planting her lips on his. Yeon Hee was the girlfriend that Lu An wanted to introduce to Tang Shaoyang. They had been a couple for a few months already.

Lu An’s eyes widened in shock as he was overwhelmed with happiness. He thought this would be the end between him and her. The kiss soon turned into a fiery kiss, their tongues intertwine, but Lu An managed to break free first, “There are people here.” He was still shy, and Yeon Hee let out a chuckle.

“I will forgive you, but just this once. If you are really worried, you should tell me. You can accompany me to meet them, openly, not following me sneakily in the shadows. That’s what you should do, be honest and open to each other,” Yeon Hee smiled, but then she turned toward her six friends. Her six friends were surprised by the revelation of Yeon Hee’s boyfriend, “What are you going to do with them? Can you set them free?”

Lu An let out a sigh, “This will make me look like a petty boyfriend, but not. I can’t set them free after your conversation with them.”

Yeon Hee furrowed her brow, asking for more explanation from Lu An.

“It’s not because he threatened to kill His Majesty. Even in a thousand years, he has no chance to kill His Majesty, but because of the information. You know right that His Majesty should be “dead”,” Lu An made quote and quote motion with his finger when he mentioned dead, “But they know that His Majesty is still alive because of your conversation with them. You speak to them as if His Majesty is alive, not denying that fact when your ex said he will kill His Majesty. I have to jail them until everything is over, or else they will mess up our plan if they relay that information to the other factions.”

Yeon Hee then realized her mistake. She forgot that she had to pretend that His Majesty was dead, then her friends now knew that His Majesty was still alive.

“I am sorry, but I can’t free them.” Lu An shook his head.