114 Feeding Her (1/2)

The glaring sun hung in the sky as the cold, northern breeze blew softly against the tents. It was morning yet it had felt colder than ever, traces of snow and ice still visible.

Inside An Sun's tent, three figures sat around a low squared table and ate from the dishes of food before them.

Rin blearily woke up that morning after a restless night of sleep, to be summoned to An Sun's tent. After getting dressed, Rin left and was met with the sight of dishes of cooked pheasant and boar set on the table.

Sitting comfortably at the table with his usual cup of wine, was An Sun.

Before she could question his reason for summoning her she heard him order, ”Sit.”

Uncertain of the situation, Rin did as she was told and sat on a cushion across from An Sun.

As she sat, Rin raised her eyes to stare at An Sun. But in the next second, the deep, magnetic tone of An Sun's voice said, ”Eat.”

And she did exactly that, leading to their current situation of eating breakfast together.

Silent through the whole meal, Rin only reached for the smaller pieces of meat and what was in front of her – never reaching for anything larger than her thumb.

Meanwhile, Manchu and An Sun were discussing their morning plans. Since they hadn't mentioned her, she made no move to join in on their conversation and merely ate.

As An Sun spoke, his eyes would occasionally glance toward Rin as he watched her noiseless and graceful movements.

Despite so much food in front of her, she only took the smallest or driest pieces of meat and chewed on them with an inscrutable expression.

The more he watched her the more his brows knitted together into a look of displeasure.

Munching on a piece of meat with glazed eyes, Rin was startled to suddenly see a pair of chopsticks place a massive, juicy cut of meat onto her plate.

Stunned, Rin looked up at An Sun who averted her gaze and drank his wine nonchalantly as if his previous actions never happened.

This time, it wasn't just Rin who was shocked silly, Manchu was as well - his eyes staring at the two in silence.

Sensing her eyes on him, An Sun's eyes shifted until his gray ones met her bright emerald gems.

”What?”

Rin parted her lips to speak, but nothing came out. What could she say?

Rather than speaking, Rin looked at An Sun with a slight smile and turned back to look at the big piece of meat on her plate.