Mu Qingyi had only just lowered himself onto the bedding when Lin Huahua suddenly called his na, and because her voice ca out soft and curious in the quiet room, the deer beastman’s whole body imdiately paused.
To be honest, Mu Qingyi had originally wanted to explain things properly and tell her that she did not have to be nervous because he usually slept very far from her anyway.
In the past, even before they mated, he had never dared to get too close unless she allowed it, so for him it was already enough that he could stay in the sa room and guard her quietly through the night.
But before he could even open his mouth, Lin Huahua had already turned to him with her little face slightly red and her brown eyes shifting around in a way that made it obvious she was embarrassed about sothing.
"Do you want to sleep here?" Lin Huahua asked, and although she tried to sound normal, her voice still ca out softer than she wanted, because at that mont her own thoughts were already running in circles.
How could they not run in circles?
Back in the sci-fi world, her father had been begging her for years to get a boyfriend. He begged so much that at so point she had started feeling as if every family al might turn into a lecture about love.
Yet no matter how many handso young n she t in her own world, she had never cared.
They were all fine, all neat, all polished, all very proper, but none of them had ever made her heart jump strangely or made her face heat up over one look.
Yet this beast world was truly unreasonable. Every man here was so ridiculously handso that Lin Huahua sotis felt offended by it, and now this calm deer beastman with his beautiful antlers, gentle eyes, and quiet face was actually about to sleep in the sa room as her, so how was she supposed to stay calm?
And Mu Qingyi—gods, Mu Qingyi—was the worst offender tonight. He was tall and broad-shouldered.
His arms were thick with muscle from years of hunting and protecting, chest solid and defined even beneath his simple tunic, waist narrow leading to powerful thighs.
His antlers rose like dark silver branches, catching the low light and casting soft shadows across his face, high cheekbones, gentle forest-deep eyes, lips that looked unfairly soft for soone so restrained.
He moved with such calm grace that it made her dizzy; even sitting still he radiated steady warmth, like sun-baked stone after a long day, and his scent was like pine, clean earth, sothing wild and comforting, wrapped around her until her head spun.
Mu Qingyi, however, understood her expression in a completely different way.
The mont he saw her blushing and looking at him like that, his heart tightened, because he thought she was uncomfortable with him being there and did not know how to say it directly.
Since she had changed so much today, since her scent had beco sweeter and softer and the whole of her seed brighter and prettier than before, he had already felt as if she was a little out of reach, almost like the moon had suddenly co down to sit in his room.
He hadn’t truly allowed himself to stare until this mont. Tonight the firelight and faint moonlight caught her in a way that stole his breath.
Her skin had turned impossibly pale, luminous like polished pearl or fresh-fallen snow that had never known harsh daylight, glowing softly as if the moon itself had kissed her all over.
Her features seed refined overnight: cheekbones a touch higher, lips fuller and naturally rosier, eyes larger and deeper with lashes that cast delicate shadows.
Her body had softened in the most tempting ways, because her curves seed to be gentler yet noticeably more generous, breasts and hips rounding out beneath the thin shift in a way that made his throat go dry.
She looked untouched by the world, delicate and divine, like a goddess who’d slipped down from the heavens and chosen, impossibly, to rest in his humble bedding.
She had always been beautiful. But now... now she was breathtaking in a way that made his chest ache and his blood run slow and hot. Different. Yet unmistakably her.
So now, seeing her face red and her body stiff, the first thought in his mind was that maybe she did not want him near her after all.
That thought hurt.
It hurt quietly, the way most things hurt Mu Qingyi, because he was not a loud person by nature.
He only lowered his eyes for a mont and thought that if she was uncomfortable, then he would sleep outside tonight. Or on the floor.
Or in the corner even farther away than usual. Or honestly anywhere at all, as long as she felt at ease.
If Lin Huahua wanted the moon, he would try to climb for it. If she wanted quiet, he would beco as quiet as dust. That was simply the kind of male he was.
He risked one more glance upward, because he couldn’t help it. The sight of her flushed cheeks, the way moonlight gilded her pale skin and made her look even more ethereal, twisted the quiet hurt into sothing hotter, deeper.
She was so close, so impossibly lovely, and he had to force himself to look away again before his thoughts wandered to places he had no right to go.
But because he did not answer imdiately, Lin Huahua instantly misunderstood his silence too.
Her face beca even hotter, and she lowered her eyes in embarrassnt as she tugged lightly at the edge of the hide covering the bedding.
In her head she was already panicking and thinking that maybe she had said sothing strange, so after swallowing once, she quickly added, "Fine, you can stay here, and I will sleep inside."
Mu Qingyi looked up at her in shock.
This ti it was real shock.
The bedding was not huge, and although it was made of thick soft furs stacked together and spread wide enough for two people, it was still one sleeping place. So when Lin Huahua shyly scooted a little and told him he could stay here, Mu Qingyi nearly thought he had heard wrong.
She wanted him to sleep beside her?
Here?
Tonight?
This very sa vicious rat princess who had once treated him colder than winter itself was now red faced and making room for him on her bedding?
Mu Qingyi’s heart began pounding so hard that even he himself felt embarrassed by it.
Since the day Lin Huahua had once saved his life, he had loved her quietly and for a very long ti, yet he had never dared to imagine that one day she would invite him to sleep beside her so simply.
Lin Huahua looked up, saw his stunned face, and imdiately beca nervous again. "Do you not want to sleep here?" she asked, and the mont she said that, Mu Qingyi felt as if his soul had nearly flown out of his body.
Want?
How could he not want?
The poor deer beastman had only just been preparing himself to go sleep in so cold corner for her comfort, and now the heavens were suddenly throwing him onto the bedding beside her.
So even though his face had already grown warm and his thoughts had beco a ss, he still nodded almost at once.
"I want to," Mu Qingyi said, perhaps a little too quickly.
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