Wu Yixing changes his clothes to simple ones. He hasn't seen Yoori since morning. She has already moved to the furthest courtyard from his place. He has expected her to take one far from his place, but taking one that is nearly an hour walk away is too much. He wonders if she has forgotten about the antidote. He can give the antidote vial to the servant to take it to her. He will lose an excuse to see her then.
He wonders what she is doing. How did she spend her day? Did she eat? Is she happy after moving away?
He shouldn't have given her the freedom to choose a courtyard by herself.
He seems to have forgotten the reason why he acted distant to Yoori last night. After a long day at court, he only wants to see her for now.
He is about to leave when a servant comes and informs him that there is someone to visit his wife. He frowns deeply. It's already dark. Who dares to visit his wife at night? It should be only him visiting her at nights.
"It's a boy around 15. His name is Mo Wei."
He is surprised to hear that. The girl is already here without Li Jun. How did she escape the Li house? Li Jun won't let her leave alone. That man is a bit strange when it comes to his witch. Wu Qiuyue will give him hell if Li Jun falls for the witch.
"Bring him in."
After a few minutes, Kyuri comes into the sitting room. She takes a seat in front of him without a word. Wu Yixing notices that she has a dismal air around her.
"Xiao Wei, is something wrong?" He asks her with a kind voice. "Did Li Jun treat you badly?"
He's sure that his friend won't do anything crazy, but there is always a possibility that things won't go as he expects them to.
"I know that you know." Kyuri doesn't look at him. Her eyes are fixed on her fingers tapping the floor.
"What do I know?" Wu Yixing smiles, feigning ignorance.
"We are females." She glares at him. "You and Li Jun knew from the moment you met us. You wouldn't be a fool to marry a man. You are too clever for that, Wu Yixing."
He chuckles light. "Your 'brother' hasn't noticed that yet. Why didn't you tell her?"
"I am giving you an opportunity." She lets out a tired sigh. She's exhausted emotionally.
"Opportunity for what?" Wu Yixing is puzzled by her words. What kind of opportunity does she mean?
Kyuri's voice is cold and eerie. "To find happiness in this lifetime."
He rubs his forehead. Is the witch making a prophecy? She made a similar prophecy about Li Jun once. "Mo Wei, I don't understand. Can you tell me clearly?"
"I have said enough. I have no intention of making a mess with time again." She runs her fingers through her hair. She looks like an otherworldly creature born out of the night. "Take me to her. I have something important to tell her."
***
Before he can take a step inside, he sees Bai Lan running out of the courtyard with a fearful face. She is sweating heavily. He dark eyes narrow down at her as an uneasy feeling seizes his heart. "What's wrong?"
"I am sorry, Master, she asked me to get dinner for her." Bai Lan is trembling with fear under his gaze. "After I came back, I couldn't find her anywhere. I was coming to inform you about her disappearance."
She wouldn't disappear on him again, would she? If she disappears this time, how long will she take to reappear in his life again?
No, she's cursed. She can't leave him. He needs to find her before she escapes.
***
Kwon Yoori has had a good day after a long time. She moved to the 'furthest' courtyard. She's sure that she won't be crossing path with the prince randomly again. She slept for half a day. Then, she took a walk through the garden. She was worried sick about Kyuri. She contemplated visiting the Li house a lot of times, but she wasn't allowed to leave the vicinity.
Not being able to do much, she practiced martial arts in her free time. She should be in her top-notch form. Who knows when she has to use it on the fifth prince?
"My lady, the prince is here with someone to see you," Xiao Luo tells her with a neutral face. It's quite late. It's strange that the prince will bring another boy at this time.
"Huh?" Kwon Yoori wonders who could come with the prince at this time. Is it Li Jun or Kyuri?
She comes out of the inner chamber. She exclaims in happiness when she sees her niece. "You are here."
"Brother." Kyuri gives her a hug. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Yoori hugs her niece back cheerfully. In a stranger era and a foreign country, her niece is her only comrade and her family.
Wu Yixing watches the girls with a grudge in his heart. He wants a hug too. Why can't he also scream 'brother' and hug his wife?
Yoori notices the poison lover bug in the room. She drags Kyuri inside her inner chamber and slams the door. After some time, Xiao Luo comes with the tea and finds the prince sitting alone. He is looking at the bedroom door with big sad watery eyes.
It's like a puppy has been abandoned by his master.
She doesn't know what to make of this situation. She pours down the tea for the prince and offers it to the prince quietly.
The prince wipes his nonexistent tears and takes the tea. He complains to her, "Your madame is the type of woman who wouldn't miss me even if I don't show my face for days."
"..."
***
"You did what?" Furious, My aunt yells at me. "Why would you make such a deal for me?"
"It's not a bad deal." I don't know why she is angry. "Aunt, I am freaking immortal until I reach my time. Until then, I can't die or grow up. You can live a normal life. If you don't mess up with time again, you won't be hunted by the timekeepers."
"But, it's not fair." The corner of her lips curls down. She holds her head as if she's getting a headache. "Everything is going wrong."
My situation won't change for a while. She has a chance to live a normal life. "Aunt, don't mess up with time again. I am quite satisfied with how things have turned out. If you do something again, both of us will be caught and put into a time prison. If one of us can live a normal life, it's not bad. Besides, I can't stay here forever. You still have six years until your powers come back. Wu Yixing will protect you and give you a good life until then."
I don't know what kind of decision she will make when her powers return. Will she go back to her time or stay here? It's up to Wu Yixing.
"I didn't appear before you left your time." She looks up at me with deep struggles in her eyes. "If I go back home and live there, I will mess up the timeline again. It might affect your existence."
That's true. The timekeeper probably knew it too.
Aunt Yoori disappeared before I was born. In the original timeline, she went back to her correct time to give the purple notebook to grandmother. My grandmother gave that notebook to my father to pass it to me. When I came back to the past for the first time, I gave it to my aunt.
It was a trap set by the timekeepers to force her to go to her correct timeline and capture her.
This time, the timekeepers might not capture her. But, there is no telling how her presence would affect my existence.
I was born to correct her mistakes.
Still, there's a chance that she might find happiness with Wu Yixing.
"Aunt Yoori, this era isn't bad." I pat her head to calm her down. "But, if you want to go back, don't think about me. Maybe, things will turn out good."
"Kyuri, I want to leave this place and come with you." She hunches down her shoulders. She knows that she can't leave with me without the antidote.
"I will keep an eye on things here," I tell her to soothe her worried heart. "When you get the antidote, I will come to get you."