Chapter 283 - Prime Utterances (2/2)

And the other was the recent ”I think” situation after she had told him the truth about herself. This one he honestly could simply have been due to feelings of gratitude for him being so understanding and open-minded in accepting her.

Therefore, he truly could not be confidently sure she meant what he thought she did. But while he would like to hear her say those words, it was not too important. The Emperor lightly sighed and moved on from the topic, ”Are you sure you aren't cold?” he asked again frowning at her bare shoulders.

”No, I'm really fine...” Lei Xing responded with a smile as she moved to refill their cups.

{...I'm too warm actually...Your eyes are basically an oven these days („ಡωಡ„)...}

The Emperor slightly knit his brows and then stood up and quickly removed his outer robe and crouched down and dr.a.p.ed it over her, ”Still...wear this. I don't want you to get sick.”

Lei Xing blankly stared at him as he adjusted the robe over her and then sighed, ”You know...I don't think even my own parents doted on me as much as you do...”

”It is what I should do...” The Emperor responded patting her face, ”So do you have any request for tonight?”

”Request? It's your birthday, you should be the one making the requests.” Lei Xing responded with a little laugh. She had taken pains to look beautiful for him but he apparently did not care much about it and now he was asking her what she wanted?

{...Be a bit selfish, won't you?...}

The Emperor blinked at her and then said, ”I have no requests...”

”Are you sure?” Lei Xing asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Emperor took her hand, looked down at it, and caressed it, ”I have all I need...So tell me, what do you want me to play for you?” He asked smiling up at her.

Lei Xing blinked at him in confusion and then he motioned to the qin placed on a table across from them and Lei Xing glanced remembered what she was doing and went, ”Oh!...Sit down.” She quickly said pulling him down on the cushions.

She then removed his robe and put it in his lap and said, ”It disrupts the scenery...just for now.”She quickly added before the Emperor could protest. ” Today, I'm the one who will be playing for you~” She happily announced with a smug smile.

”Oh?” The Emperor went slightly knitting his brows in surprise. Till today, he had still never heard her play. She always turned down his requests, so he was pleasantly surprised to hear this.

This was again not the reaction she was expecting, Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him, ”I will have you know that I have been training very hard for this event and while I may not be a master YET...I am most certainly no longer a noob.” She finished, proudly raising her head high.

The Emperor knit his brows, ”Is this why you've been so busy recently?”

”Partly...” Lei Xing responded knitting her brows as well, another unexpected response.

The Emperor sighed and then hugged her, ”Thank you...but you shouldn't have stressed yourself so much ove-”

”Why are you picking at everything today? Can't you just be happy and enjoy it...?” Lei Xing interjected. He kept focusing on weird points today, it was confusing.

The Emperor chuckled and then released her and held her hands, ”I'm sorry...It's just...I can't help it when it comes to you. You make me worry...I've never worried about anyone like this before...”

Lei Xing scoffed and sarcastically said, ”Guess you'll make a great father then...”

The Emperor froze and Lei Xing also froze as she realized she just brought up the taboo topic. She glanced at the Emperor to see him calmly looking at her with an odd look in his eyes. She gulped as her heart jumped.

Lei Xing promptly got to her feet, ”Um...I'll go play now.”

With that said, Lei Xing quickly scurried over to the qin table while stifling the feelings of wanting to bang her head on a wall somewhere for her insensitive remark just now.

Since their cold war, they had both intentionally been avoiding talking about anything related to children and she just had to go and ”praise” his parenting skills.

{...Prime example of mouth moving before brain! Way to ruin the atmosphere! Crazy stupid mouth! >_

Lei Xing sat down, took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart. She glanced at the Emperor to see him calmly smiling at her, looking completely unaffected by her remark just now. This made Lei Xing relax a bit and she smiled back at him and tentatively went, ”Um...I composed this for you...It's my first so, um...I hope you like it.”

”Naturally will~” The Emperor said as he picked up his cup and raised it to her with a smirk.

Lei Xing's face twitched a bit but she maintained her smile and then looked down at the qin and inwardly sighed. It would be a lie if she said she had no clue what he wanted, not only was it a want, it was an actual need yet he said he needed nothing.

This sort of selfless love he offered her was sometimes disconcerting...Sometimes, she felt horrible for giving him so little in return, times like now.

Lei Xing glanced up at the Emperor again and he playfully asked, ”Nervous?”

Lei Xing blinked and swiftly went, ”No, just making you're ready to receive this...magnificence.” She awkwardly finished, raising her head high.

The Emperor snorted and she narrowed her eyes at him. He quickly adjusted his expression and motioned for her to go ahead. Lei Xing cleared her throat and then announced, ”I'll start now.”

She looked down at the qin, took a deep breath, and began to play the song she had memorized with laser-like focus.

{...I feel a bit foolish...sometimes...}