Linyue frowned. "Permission to enter the royal library."
"Ah." Shu Mingye nodded as if this were almost as entertaining. "The second most sacred room in the palace."
She gave him a flat look. "What's the first?"
He leaned closer, his voice dropping into a low, velvety whisper that seemed to curl directly into her ears. "This one. Because you're in it."
Of course.
Linyue sighed, though it came out softer than she meant. She really should have expected that answer. And yet, she didn't step back. She stayed right there in his hold, feeling the warmth of his hands on her waist, the usual dangerous edge in him replaced by something softer and far more dangerous in a different way.
"So, is that a yes?"
"For the library," he murmured, "or for the seduction?"
She gave him a slow, withering glare. Here she was, letting herself wrapped up like a dumpling in his arms. A very warm, very muscular, extremely smug dumpling wrapper. All because she kissed him once. Now he was acting like she had signed a lifelong dumpling contract. But Linyue was not someone who backed down easily. She rose up on tiptoe, moving slow enough to watch his eyes darken. Her lips brushed close enough to his ear that she could feel him hold his breath.
"Both," she whispered sweetly. Then she lowered herself back down with the most innocent smile she could muster.
Shu Mingye froze. Both? Did she really say both? Or had his traitorous ears misheard? Maybe his brain had short-circuited? That was possible. Highly likely, in fact. Because now he was standing here, arms full of Linyue, heart doing a very un-Demon-King-like flutter that he would never, ever admit to anyone.
She had kissed him once. He had kissed her twice. But still… they had never actually talked about any of it. Not seriously. Not even close. So, what were they? Friends? Subordinates? Dumpling delivery partners? Or was he just her emergency snack fund, someone she visited when she needed food, fire, or a good glare?
Shu Mingye stared at her quietly, his dark eyes tracing every detail of her calm, unreadable face. She didn't look unsettled at all—just slightly curious, as if she were waiting to see what kind of nonsense he would come up with this time.
He swallowed, forcing his voice to stay level. Very slowly, he asked, almost too careful, "Pie… what are we?"
Linyue tilted her head, as if seriously considering the question. "Two cultivators, standing very close, one surrounded by reports. The other hasn't had dinner."
Shu Mingye blinked at her, a little offended, a little impressed.
That was it? That was her answer?
That was… not the answer he had been hoping for. Not even in the same province as the answer he wanted. For one wild, reckless moment, he considered setting every single report on the table on fire just to see if she would finally stop giving him that infuriatingly calm look. His fingers twitched on her waist, torn between pulling her closer and shaking her until something more romantic fell out of her mouth. In the end, he settled for a slow exhale instead, the kind that could melt snow or at least the resolve of anyone less stubborn than Linyue.
"Dinner," he repeated, voice low. "That's what you think this is about?"
Linyue nodded without hesitation. "I haven't had dinner." Then her lips curved into a sweet smile. "You look like you need it too."
The Demon King of Shulin, feared across states, conqueror of battlefields, was now being diagnosed as underfed by the woman in his arms. He almost laughed. Almost.
He leaned down until his forehead hovered just short of hers. His voice softened into something warm and dangerous. "Pie, if I say yes to dinner… does that include dessert?"
Linyue went very still. "Depends," she said slowly, her tone even. "On your definition of dessert."
"I want Pie for dessert," he said without a single flicker of shame.
Her heart gave the smallest, most inconvenient jump. Did he mean Pie as in pastries? Or… Pie as in… her?
She told herself it was probably the first. It had to be the first. She was almost sure it was the first. Almost. Her mind scrambled for something to say. "You… like sweet things?" she asked carefully.
His eyes gleamed, dark and amused. "Only one."
That was not helping. Not helping at all.
"Then you should eat more fruit," she said flatly.
Shu Mingye's lips curved into a slow, dangerous smile. "Fruit is fine. But I prefer something soft. Bites back when you tease it."
Her brain promptly decided to shut down. How did this conversation jump from permission for the royal library to… this? She tried to steer the conversation back into safer waters. "About the library…"
He let out a slow sigh. The smile faded from his face, replaced by something more serious. "You haven't answered my question, Pie. What are we?"
Linyue met his gaze. He was no longer teasing, no smirk hiding at the edge of his mouth. His eyes held a steady weight that made it hard to look away.
She let a faint smile curve her lips. "I don't know yet," she said softly. "But I don't hate this."
Before he could reply, she leaned her head gently against his shoulder.
Shu Mingye felt the air leave his lungs in a rush. The palace roof could collapse and he wouldn't move an inch. Slowly, he tightened his arms around her and lowered his chin to rest lightly against her hair.
"I'll take don't hate this," he murmured, his voice low and rough. "For now."
Linyue rubbed her head lightly against his shoulder, the same way he had done to her before. It was such a small, quiet gesture, but the sound it pulled from Shu Mingye was somewhere between a sigh and a laugh strangled in his throat. This close, she could hear his heartbeat. Loud, quick, uneven. For someone who always looked so calm and deadly, he was panicking like a teenage boy in a cheap romance scroll. She tilted her head up and looked him straight in the eyes.
"I change my mind," she said.
Shu Mingye froze. Again. He had been a king, a walking nightmare to many. But somehow, this tiny woman could make him forget how to use words.
"You… change your mind?" he asked carefully. "About what?"
Linyue blinked at him like the answer should have been obvious. "About I don't hate this part."
His heart did a somersault. Before he could recover, she leaned up again, close enough that he could feel her breath against his jaw.
"I like it," she whispered.
Then she rubbed her head against his shoulder again, like a cat claiming a very large, very confused dog.
Shu Mingye stood completely still. He was afraid that if he moved, she might vanish. Or worse, take it back.
"You… like this?" he repeated, voice barely above a whisper.
She gave a little hum. "Mhm."
"Me?"
Another hum. "Mhm."
"This situation?"
Another hum. Then a pause. "Well, I don't like the stack of death reports behind you. But everything else is fine."
Shu Mingye made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. He leaned forward, resting his forehead gently against hers. His lips brushed the corner of her mouth in a way that was absolutely not proper for two cultivators standing in a study surrounded by death reports.
"You really are dangerous," he whispered, his voice low and warm.
"You're the one keeping me," she whispered back.
Outside the study, no one was burned alive that night, which was frankly a miracle. But Shanjun, on his way to deliver a scroll, walked past the door at the worst possible time. He paused. He heard something. Something suspiciously like a soft, muffled laugh from the terrifying Demon King's study. His eyes widened. Then he did a perfect, silent turn and speed-walked away. He had no idea what was going on in there, and he didn't want to know. He liked his eyebrows exactly where they were.
Back inside, where the air was warm and thick with unspoken things, Linyue was still tucked neatly in Shu Mingye's arms. She tilted her head, her voice calm as if they hadn't been melting into each other seconds ago. "So, the library…"
Shu Mingye groaned, dropping his head onto her shoulder. "The palace physicians already dug through the entire royal library," he mumbled. "You don't have to go there."
"Sister Meiyu wants to take a look. She seemed really excited. Isn't it better for her to stay in the library and read books… rather than run around the palace and accidentally set something on fire?"
Shu Mingye raised a brow, his voice laced with amusement. "She can set things on fire just by reading too, you know."
Linyue just shrugged. "So… permission granted?"
He chuckled, low and warm. "Alright. But there's an entrance fee for the royal library."