The Princess’ Shadow Guard Cannot Be Too Clever

ke herself clear about what she wanted to say, “Um… I don’t mean that I want you to be mine, Yan Yan…”

“I want you to be happy, to always be with you.
Yan Yan, you deserve all the good things in this world, and you deserve to fly freely… I’m not saying you’re a bird, Yan Yan! If you were a bird, you would be the most beautiful bird…”

“I want to protect you like that and be with you always…”

Ming Qin’s voice became lower and lower as she spoke, and she regretted not practicing her words beforehand.
“…Although I’m not as good as before, I’m still good at fighting, and I can carry you up and down wherever you want to go… So, um, that’s why…”

For the first time, the dull-minded shadow guard seemed to understand the meaning of being hesitant.

“Let me stay by your side… please?”

Ming Qin looked up, her throat feeling a bit dry.
Against the light, she couldn’t see the expression on the person in front of her clearly, but she blinked hard.

“Yan Yan… let me be with you, okay… ugh!”

Before she could finish her sentence, Ming Qin felt her neck tightly wrapped, and the next second she felt the weight on top of her.
She tightly hugged Murong Yan, who had pounced forward.

“Yan Yan! What’s wrong?” Ming Qin felt the woman lying on top of her trembling and breathing heavily, and couldn’t help feeling anxious.
“Don’t you like it here?”

“Let’s go home, okay? Don’t be afraid.”

Regretting her recklessness, Ming Qin knew that the woman sometimes had nightmares.
She had noticed that Murong Yan muttered under her breath about the Hidden Moon Tower, where she had been imprisoned for years, when they slept together.

Originally, the naive shadow guard just wanted to use this opportunity to create more beautiful memories for the woman she cherished, but she didn’t expect Murong Yan to tremble unexpectedly instead of being happy.

Blaming herself for being foolish, Ming Qin hugged the woman in her arms and prepared to get up and go downstairs.
However, she felt her collar being pulled.
Murong Yan leaned against her neck and shook her head uncontrollably, indicating that she did not want to leave the room.

“Yan Yan, we should go.
Aren’t you afraid?” Ming Qin asked with concern, but she didn’t get any other response from the woman.
She sat with Murong Yan on the bed, gently shaking her as a way of comfort.
“Then, let’s stay a little longer, just a little longer.”

With one hand clutching the shadow guard’s collar and the other tightly holding a delicate bouquet of flowers, Murong Yan leaned against Ming Qin’s shoulder, repeatedly muttering something under her breath.

Feeling the breaths on her collarbone but unable to hear the words, Ming Qin felt very troubled.
She had never missed her hearing so much before.

She turned her head and blinked her eyes, and in her unexpectedly clear vision, she saw a copper mirror used for grooming, reflecting the two of them cuddling together.

In the quiet world, Ming Qin stared fixedly at the woman’s opening and closing mouth in the mirror, her body stiffening.

It seemed as though Ming Qin couldn’t comprehend Murong Yan’s lip movements, or perhaps she simply wished to etch that scene into her mind.
She gazed at it in disbelief for a long time.

It was only three words.

The only thing that Murong Yan kept repeating were those three words.

Yet they made her heart bloom like a flower.

In this quiet world, it felt as if she could hear the roar of a rushing river and the explosion of fireworks.

Even though they were unfamiliar words, they always made Ming Qin’s heart feel hot.

It was those words that allowed her to find the perfect expression for her turbulent emotions, and endless devotion to the woman in her arms.

Feeling her blood rush to her head, Ming Qin opened her mouth to respond.

“Yan Yan…I love you too.”

With a hoarse voice, she dared not look down at Murong Yan’s expression, but kissed her hair, repeating the words over and over again as if to fill the time they had missed and make up for the time the woman had waited for her in her foggy understanding.

It wasn’t until she felt the warm tears soak into her collar.

“Why are you crying?” Ming Qin, at a loss, quickly pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped away the tears that traced down the woman’s face.
“Don’t cry, okay?”

“Ah Qin, can you see clearly?” Murong Yan looked up meekly, trying to control the palpitations in her chest that came in waves.

Nodding hastily, Ming Qin replied, “I can see clearly, so don’t cry, Yan Yan.”

Noticing the rosy tint under her lover’s eyes, Ming Qin spoke softly, “It’ll make me sad to see you cry…it’s your birthday today, so you should be happy.”

“…Is that why Ah Qin said that to make me happy, because today is my birthday? As a birthday gift.” Murong Yan released Ming Qin’s hand, her eyes still moist, and lovingly touched Ming Qin’s slightly reddened left ear, speaking one word at a time.

“I wasn’t just trying to make you happy…”

“Birthday gifts are usually flowers, but Yan Yan can ask for anything.” Straightforward, Ming Qin leaned into the woman’s hand, with an incredibly sincere expression.
“Whatever Yan Yan wants, I can give it to you.”

Whether it was flowers, treasures, or people, if Yan Yan wanted it, she would give it to her.

“Then…I want Ah Qin.”

Pressing her forehead against the shadow guard’s, feeling their breaths mingle, Murong Yan’s heart was filled with ecstasy in this space that had once caused her so much hatred.
“Every year, every year, all I want is Ah Qin.”

Her lips moved silently, whispering.

“Okay.”

“Everything I have is for Yan Yan, only for Yan Yan.”

Faced with such a simple request, or rather, her own desire, Ming Qin promised without hesitation, her tone still solemn.

Unconsciously staring at the glossy lip color in front of her, the shadow guard’s eyelids trembled slightly, hesitating, “Then, Yan Yan…can I also…?”

Their breaths mingled and entangled.

“Can I…?”

Feeling an inexplicable hunger, not from her stomach, but from the depths of her soul.

“Hmm?” Murong Yan indulgently brushed aside the strands of hair on the person’s forehead and hummed encouragingly.

Subconsciously licking her lips, Ming Qin felt a bit uncomfortable with the sudden unfamiliar impulse in her heart.
She hesitated before speaking, “I want to touch the lip color on your lips.”

She wanted to devour the person in front of her and fill the emptiness within herself.

“But Yan Yan just applied it…it will smudge and be eaten away.”

“Even so…is it okay?”

Stammering, the person blushed slightly and obediently bit her lower lip, waiting for her beloved’s permission.

Surprised by the person in front of her revealing her desires for the first time, Murong Yan blinked her eyes and took a slight breath.

She hooked her hands around Ming Qin’s neck and leaned back, taking her ever-obedient shadow guard with her.
“Ah Qin can do whatever she wants…”

“After all, I love you so much.”

After all, we love each other.