𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲'𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 || 敵の旦那様 (𝐁𝐋) ✔ [COMPLETE]

43. Flame and Oil

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The trickling sense of warmth that emanated from the oil lamps and sunk into the dreary, cold fog coiling the entirety of the tiled pavement was all Fu Lin had as a source of warmth. He sneezed constantly and began chattering his teeth when the prickly chill swarmed on his skin, sheltered by a dress that seemed to be peeling off of him with every step. As he grappled with the barely lit streets and passed many houses and roofs, and turned many a corner and curve, he still couldn't find himself at the Zhou Manor.

"Why does the road to the Manor seem this long today?"

He himself couldn't fathom. He walked on and on, his feet bruising in the raunchy streets and his breath hindered by dense air, clogging against his nose. The street seemed endless, the place that housed and nursed him nowhere in sight. Suddenly the Zhou Manor had transformed into that one place he couldn't reach no matter how he twisted his feet. It seemed extremely far away. However, the next moment when he looked up, the manor was in sight.

Before he could sigh in relief, he felt the shadow of somebody approaching from the gates. His palms turned sweaty and his eyes dimmed by the indolent lighting abruptly snapped back to attention. Like a frothing fish sinking in its own habitat of the sea, Fu Lin found himself unable to breathe.

"Your Highness."

Fu Lin's heart dropped. He didn't know why he felt so disillusioned.

"Guard," he said, turning around to greet the man in familiar guardsman clothes and a gargantuan baton clinging to the veins in his hands. "I lost my way for a moment. You see... I couldn't find the manor no matter what I did."

"Are you perhaps drunk, Your Highness?"

"I might as well have been." His lips curled self-mockingly.

The guard didn't understand. "Apologies for my presumptuousness, but are you perhaps colourblind? Is that why you couldn't find your way back?"

Fu Lin laughed out loud at that. "Colourblind huh... Maybe I am colourblind."

The guard, still not understanding what quite happened but obviously worried, opened the gates and helped him in.

"Is he here?" "Who?"

Fu Lin looked at him meaningfully. The guard, finally understanding, spoke. "The General sent a common notification scroll from the military camp to the Zhou Manor. He said it would take a few more months for him to return."

Fu Lin's eyes were devoid of light. "Well, he can return whenever he wants to. The Zhou Manor would always welcome him with open arms."

The Guard remained stalled in place after listening to Fu Lin's voice, which was a mix of both disdain and content. As Fu Lin's figure woven into the eaves of darkness appeared under the moonlight–extremely frail and sombre, the guard couldn't help feeling slightly sorry.

He said with a complicated expression, "My apologies, Your Highness."

Fu Lin stopped himself, startled by the sheer countenance of pity in the guard's voice. He immediately straightened his back, reflexively clenching the iron gates to the manor, the dust of rust biting into his skin.

Why did he allow this situation to get to him so badly?

Both his and the General's stance as irreconcilable pawns in this unavoidable game of life–heaved by the blood debt of thousands of souls and decade's worth of snarling gruesome hatred were fixed ever since they pledged allegiance to their relevant Empires. They were fundamentally incapable of etching themselves to the other–like fire was to water.

He should not waver at the likes of the General.

A smile blossomed on Fu Lin's face as he gazed at the Guard. "Look at me, appearing so futile that even a tough man like you, used to chasing after people, feels sorry for me. I really need to have a better grasp on self-composure."

The Guard muttered, "It seems you really are better off drunk."

"Pardon?" Before any expression of shock could manifest on Fu Lin's face, he was grappled by the waists and raised into mid-air.

Through the whirling wind and scarring chill, Fu Lin felt his lungs almost combust in a sudden bout of warmth that flooded with surprise. Through the hazy night view, he felt the world overturn and was suddenly slammed into a cold, hard surface with his face grazing against the

iron grail. When Fu Lin felt the world finally stop spinning, he was already within the iron gates; the gate locked from the outside.

"You... "Fu Lin sneered, "who are you?"

The man before him smiled rather peculiarly. "You can't even identify the guard who walks around this manor every day. I really do fear for your life. But that is not what I apologised for." He tore off the leather mask on his face. "I'm Lieutenant Jiang, third Lieutenant General of Imperial General Zhou Haoran's Army force. Earlier my apology was for this–deceiving you."

"Why did you do that?" Fu Lin's palms dug into the iron railing. "You shall know in a while."

Fu Lin instinctively knew what was about to happen next. He watched the departing back of the Lieutenant with clenched teeth.

Run.

Run somewhere far away.

That was his first thought when he thought about encountering the looming shadow behind him.

To run somewhere far away where he could not be located and hide in the depths of his

self-bound cages, safe and unperturbed, was all he wanted. To escape the scorching emotions that threatened to break him out of his cage was all he desired. And yet,

When it comes to this man, his waters turned to oil.

"It is indeed unknowable what man is capable of in the straits of desperation." Fu Lin's lips curled. "To think the imminent Imperial General, known for his transparency and straight-forward mannerisms, would resort to confining somebody to talk with them..." Fu Lin laughed bitterly.

"... how cheap."

From the crisscrossing shadows of bamboo splints came the vague physique of the General into an illuminated view. His voice was heavy and profound as he proclaimed,

"I would not have to resort to deception had my conversation partner not been so infamous for running away. If you're capable of swearing to me that you wouldn't have run away if I hadn't confined and locked you here, I shall apologise at this very moment. After all." His voice dropped slightly. "It is indeed true that it is unknowable what atrocity man is capable of when desperation hits them."

What was akin to fire and water was now thoroughly ablaze–this man was the flame to Fu Lin's oil.

"And what." Fu Lin turned around to face him. "Makes the General that desperate?"

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(๑˘︶˘๑) Things getting  bit hot in here so no memes for this chap hehehe

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