Not long after they returned to the room, Ryou originally planned to stay inside, but Keqing ended up shooing him out anyway.
How could she change clothes in front of him without getting embarrassed?
Ryou didn't force it. He was just waiting for a bit—Keqing wasn't going to run right under his nose.
Obviously not.
Taking the chance, Ryou opened the pocket world inside his body.
The moment he stepped in, he found nothing but empty space—so vast it looked endless, with no sign of an edge. There was nothing inside at all.
He walked a few steps before finally noticing boundaries. After circling around, he realized the space was roughly the size of his residence.
It reminded him of the storage space inside Keqing's Vision—meant for storing things.
"I wonder if I can put living creatures in here," Ryou muttered. "If I can, that could save my life in an emergency."
As he stood there thinking, a single thought brought him back outside.
[Ding! Heart entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! Heart: Darkened Mode active. Circulation increased by 10%. Stamina increased by 50%!]
That boost caught Ryou off guard. Circulation and stamina weren't bad at all.
He was just about to "have a talk" with his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys when the soft rustling sounds in the room stopped.
His heartbeat spiked.
And when he looked up and saw Keqing in that qipao…
Ryou could tell immediately—he was done for.
"Mm—!" Keqing's whole face burned. Heat flooded through her body.
She wanted to ask what he thought of it, but Ryou didn't give her the chance.
He leaned in and kissed her, stealing the words right out of her mouth.
…
The next day, noon.
The head butler noticed a few servants whispering together. He frowned and walked over. "What are you all gathered here gossiping about? Get back to work."
As he spoke, he glanced toward Keqing's room. "What's going on? At this hour, the young lady should've been up already. Why—"
"'Head Butler," a maid whispered, leaning in, "Keqing-sama and Ryou-sama are newlyweds. I'm guessing they… won't be able to go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs today.'"
The head butler sucked in a breath, envy all over his face. "Must be nice."
Then he coughed once and put on a stern look. "Alright, enough. Don't let Keqing-sama and Ryou-sama hear you. Back to work."
"Yes, Head Butler!"
…
After who-knew-how-long, Keqing finally opened her eyes.
She was still curled up in Ryou's arms. She tried to push herself up, only for a sharp wave of soreness to hit her through all four limbs.
The moment last night flashed through her mind, her whole body trembled.
Her clothes were torn into scattered pieces, barely covering anything at all. The heat rushed back into her face so fast it felt like her skin might melt.
And when she remembered how she'd called him "all talk" yesterday…
Keqing went cold.
If this kept happening every day, wouldn't she actually die in Ryou's hands?
The thought made her laugh bitterly.
Yesterday she could still barely drag herself to the Ministry.
Today? Forget it. Even if she got up, she'd be stuck recovering at home.
And Keqing could tell—Ryou had held back last night. He'd stopped short and taken care of her.
Otherwise, she'd be in real trouble today.
Her gaze grew complicated.
She was grateful he'd thought of her, but as a wife… if she couldn't even "take care of" her own husband, wasn't that negligence?
Then she remembered Ryou's terrifying stamina and immediately panicked.
It wasn't that she didn't want to.
She just couldn't.
For a moment, Keqing thought of what Ningguang had said yesterday.
Should she find a "sister" to share the workload?
But… who?
Keqing didn't have many friends. And among the few she did have, Ningguang was out immediately—if that woman sat in an office all day, she'd collapse even faster than Keqing.
Then a name popped into Keqing's mind.
Ganyu.
[End of chapter]
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