059 Lied

His gentle eyes fixed on the cold, hard-faced Yun Xueyan, Feng Xilou began to soften his emotions. He had indeed been too agitated, but when he saw the fragile look of the person before him, his excitement became impossible to restrain.

He simply could not let her go.

For the first time, he allowed a woman to enter his heart, only to bring such anguish.

A stiff smile formed on his delicate lips, as if he refused to believe it, yet his intuition could not be wrong. “Yan’er, have you… fallen in love with Duan Nanyu?”

She neither nodded nor shook her head. Love? Did she love him? She herself did not know.

“I must leave now. If I stay… something will happen.” She turned away, almost fleeing in panic, afraid to face the eyes of Feng Xilou.

The tenderness in those eyes threatened to drown her.

She opened the door, just as her foot was about to step outside, her waist was suddenly encircled. “Yan’er, I will wait for you. I will still wait for you… No matter what, I will wait for you to return to my side.” The voice that was usually gentle now sounded hoarse and broken.

He kept her back to him, afraid for her to see… his pain!

She pried his fingers away from her waist and left without looking back.

She kept telling herself not to soften, not to turn back—she was not worthy of him!

Returning to Prince Xiao’s manor, she lowered her head and hurried toward Xuan Yue Pavilion, only hoping that Duan Nanyu had not noticed her absence from the manor. She did not want any more trouble.

The repeated struggles and torment had already left her utterly exhausted.

Yet all her hopes vanished the moment she pushed open the door—Duan Nanyu stood in the room, his face icy and forbidding.

“Where have you been!” His throat was dry, but he could not restrain his anger.

He had practiced countless times in this room, hoping that when she returned he could avoid being too rough with her.

But once again he failed to control himself; she always managed to ignite his fury so easily!

“I… I got lost.” She could not lie. Whenever she tried, she would lower her head, bite her lips, and nervously twist her hands.

All these gestures were seen by Duan Nanyu. With a stride, he gripped the back of Yun Xueyan’s head and brought her panicked face before his.

“You lied. You actually dared to lie to me!” he roared, devouring her trembling lips.

He ravaged her without restraint…

Just a blink—just a moment—and she vanished without a trace. He searched frantically for her in the crowds, terrified something might have happened to her. Yet she dismissed him with a single “I got lost.”

Her lie stabbed deep into his heart, but he could not care about that now—as long as she was safe…

He released Yun Xueyan, who nearly collapsed into his arms, gasping for breath, her delicate lips swollen and painful from his kiss.

She turned her gaze away, refusing to look at Duan Nanyu, and reaffirmed her words. “Your Highness, I truly… got lost.”

Her unwavering reply drove the knife even deeper.

Clenching his fists, he must have gone mad—why did he care so much about her? Why let her disturb his emotions?

He pushed her away from his embrace, his distaste unmistakable, looking at Yun Xueyan with contempt. “I won’t come tonight! I don’t want to see you!”

The empty room was left with only Yun Xueyan alone. She slowly picked herself up from the floor and let out a heavy sigh—she had no choice left.