The sky is gray. It's going to rain soon. The distance between me and Li Jun is enlarging. I don't think that he will be able to find me.
The timekeepers were quite skilled. They helped me leave the capital smoothly. They didn't talk to me though. They didn't speak much among themselves. It's like there is an agreement among them that the traveler must not hear or know anything. They were following my anchored timekeeper's instructions. After traveling for days, we reached the port. They helped me get on the ship. Before boarding the ship, I asked them to deliver the letter to my aunt because she would worry about me. They accepted my last request.
I have no money or clothes. The people on the ship are kind. They asked me some questions out of curiosity. I told them a soapy story about a boy that I saw on a drama once. Anyway, they believe me. It is not unusual for a boy to leave the country after his family is slaughtered by a bad noble lord.
I work in the kitchen to earn food. I have to pretend to be a human after all. Fake sleep. Eat. Keep it to myself as much as possible.
I wish I could embrace Li Jun once before I left. I didn't say goodbye. I didn't send any letter to him. I have so much to say, but he wouldn't understand a single word. I am the only one with the weight of memories. He can't understand how I feel.
But, this Li Jun isn't mine.
I have already lost my Li Jun when I turned back time. The man I met on the battlefield for the first time. The man who loved me without asking anything in return. He was mine and mine only. I can never forget the way he cherished me.
I won't regret ever for saving him.
***
Yoori feels like she's going to die. Her head is dizzy. The nausea is killing her.
The empress bullies her whenever she goes to meet her. She makes her drink poisonous teas and chats with her as if nothing happened. She would insult her every time and compare her with princesses. The worst part of the deal is that Yoori can't stab the two-faced woman. She has to pretend and listen to everything.
At night, she gets bullied by the misfortunate prince. He is keenly interested in studying her body. Every nook and cranny of her body is explored, touched, and licked. He wouldn't be satisfied with that only.
"I am starting to worry that my antidotes are weak." He would pat her flat tummy every night. "Why is it not swelling?"
It hasn't been a month. Why would it swell? Is it her fault that she's not getting pregnant?
She's always too exhausted to reply.
"I don't want to go." She whines like a kindergartner who doesn't want to go to school. "Xiao Luo, I would rather die."
"Lady." Xiao Luo pities her. "You can't deny the summon."
"I know." She rolls on her stomach. "When will it be over?"
A hand strokes her head gently. By now, she's familiar with this feeling. "Wu Yixing."
Xiao Luo quietly walks out. Master is here. Lady will be fine.
"Qian'er." He rubs her head and smiles slightly. "Thank you for distracting the empress. I have gathered the evidence against her."
She looks at him with curiosity. She knows the story now.
The empress replaced the previous empress who was Wu Yixing's mother.
Wu Yixing's mother was the most beautiful woman in the empire. The emperor was deeply in love with her. He often neglected the other women in his harem. The current empress devised a plan to destroy the previous empress.
Yu Chen's mother was the previous empress' close friend. She often visited the previous empress. Yu Chen was Wu Yixing's playmate. Nearly 2 decades ago, Yu Chen's mother was accused as a spy of the enemy country. The evidence was found at her home. She was executed and Yu Chen was exiled. The emperor was also suspicious of the previous empress. It broke that woman's heart. She drank the poison right in front of Yu Chen and died.
Back then, Wu Yixing was the crown prince. Later, the current empress' son became the crown prince. The emperor couldn't throw away Wu Yixing, but he didn't care for him either.
The current empress was still not content even after the empress died. She hated Wu Yixing and his mother. She wanted to make his life miserable. Wu Yixing did whatever he could to survive. He pretended to be a wasted prince who only drank and played with women in the flower houses while fighting the empress in the shadows.
Yoori has been curious about Wu Yixing, but she knows that he won't say a word to her about her past. Their relationship is not deep enough. She had to use her third ability on the last living previous empress' servant she met a while back. When Yoori learned of the story, she understood his obsession with poisons and antidotes.
That servant has no idea what she revealed to Yoori. Using her third ability has taken a toll on her already 'burned out' body. Now, her time-traveling ability won't return for a decade.
Perhaps, she doesn't want her time-traveling ability to return. She wants to know about this sly prince more.
Wu Yixing doesn't know that she knows. She will also pretend that she doesn't know anything. Everyone has the right to keep a secret.
"What evidence?" She asks him with a tired voice.
"I found the real spy." Wu Yixing pulls her into his arm.
"Spy?" She feigns ignorance. "Who is it?"