Aron tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her up carefully. Why had he never realized that the soil here was so slippery? Shiqi rose slowly and as she straightened, she brushed the grass from her clothes, while her other hand still held onto him. He waited only long enough to make sure she was standing properly, then loosened his fingers so he could step back.
But before he could withdraw, her hand closed around his. He looked at their joined hands and his eyes shot up to hers, as he looked at her in confusion. Why was she holding onto him? Was she going to slip again? "What are you..."
In answer, she gave him a bright and unbothered smile, as she claimed, "Now that you’ve held my hand in yours. I am not going to let you leave me."
Aron blinked. That made no sense. None. He frowned and tried to tug his hand free, but she clung onto him with surprising strength-only for her foot to catch on the same loose stone again.
"Not again-", he muttered as she stumbled forward, crashing into his chest.
Aron jerked backward out of pure reflex, heat shooting through him as if she had burned him. He caught himself on his heel before he toppled over, staring at her as if she’d suddenly grown horns.
Shiqi steadied herself and pouted up at him, still holding onto his hand with stubborn determination. "At the way you are avoiding me, one might think I have the plague."
Aron pressed his lips together, and his patience now at an end, said coldly, "Shiqi, let go."
She shook her head immediately as her expression turning oddly serious. But then she lifted their joined hands and pressed them to her heart. "Stop being so cold. Look- you scared me... Feel my heartbeat."
Aron stiffened at the contact, alarm running through him like a jolt. Her heartbeat thudded against his knuckles. This was far too intimate for this moment.
This time, he simply sent her a look, and then, meeting her gaze, whispered a spell. In the next instant, Shiqi let out a small scream and hurriedly let go, rubbing her hands in pain.
"What did you do?" She glared at him.
He gave her a cold look as he said," Shiqi. You needed to be reminded what happens when you cross certain limits. You get burned."
Shiqi looked down at her red hand which had been burnt from his hand and felt tears in her eyes. "Why would you be so cruel? I like you so much and you can’t even bear my touch and would rather burn me?"
Aron stiffened at her words. This time the look he sent her was not the one he usually showed the two girls. It was neither tolerant or indulgent. Instead, his eyes looked as if he wanted to burn her. "Miss Shiqi Stav. Your future mate is just behind you in the manor and here you are confessing your liking to another man."
Shiqi shook her head," They are not my future mates."
"You don’t get to decide that. It is upto them."
"If I am in love with you, then it is meant to be, Aron. Don’t you understand? Then the fates would not be so cruel as to make them choose me. Don’t you understand that?"
Aron gave her an unreadable expression as he looked at her, "You may think you like me. But what you like is an illusion."
Of all the things Shiqi could have imagined on confessing her love, this was not the answer she was expecting.
She shook her head at once refusing even the possibility of something so ridiculous. "It’s not an illusion. I know what I feel."
"No. You don’t."
Her lips pressed together in frustration. How could he be so sure of her feelings? Did he think he knew her better than herself?"
"What do you think of me, Shiqi?"
She blinked at the question. "What do I think of you?"
"Yes," he said quietly, watching her carefully. "Tell me."
She hesitated for a moment, then answered in a low voice. "You’re kind... You care about people even when you pretend not to. You’re patient, tolerant. You never get angry, even when I annoy you. You always help someone in need..."
Aron let out a sharp laugh at that. "Come out of your dream world, Shiqi."
She frowned then. "What is that supposed to mean?"
He gave her a cold look then. "Shiqi, haven’t you noticed anything strange about how people behave around me?"
She blinked again, even more lost. "What do you mean?"
"Over the last few years," Aron said, "the servants have been quite scared of me."
She opened her mouth, then closed it. She had noticed... but she had never thought much about it.
"They tend to avoid me unless absolutely necessary. They take the long route to move around me. They walk quietly when I enter a room. They lower their heads. They rarely speak."
He stepped closer, holding her gaze. "Why do you think that is?"
Shiqi stared at him, her confusion deepening. "Because you’re... the dark master?" she guessed weakly. "Because you don’t talk much? Maybe they don’t want to bother you?"
Aron shook his head. "That is not the reason."
"But-" She stopped, unsure what else to say.
"You created a picture of me in your head," Aron said quietly. "A kind one. A gentle one. A version of me that doesn’t exist outside our childhood."
Her breath caught. "That’s not true."
"It is. Ask around Shiqi and you will know how cruel I am."
Shiqi looked down at her red hand again, still stinging from the burn, and her throat tightened. "But you’re not cruel," she whispered. "You just—"
"Burned you?" Aron asked coldly. "Yes. I did."
She flinched at the reminder, her shoulders curling slightly.
"I warned you multiple times," he said. "You chose to cross a line."
"That doesn’t mean you should hurt me."
"That is exactly what it means," Aron said. "People fear consequences when they overstep. You should too."
Shiqi’s eyes shimmered, but she didn’t cry. "You wouldn’t talk like this to Mira."
Aron’s jaw tightened. He gave her no answer.
"You wouldn’t burn her," she insisted.
Still, he stayed silent.
"Then why me?" Her voice cracked. "Why are you always colder to me?"
Aron looked at her for a long moment as something dark passed through his eyes, before he said coldly," Mira... is mine. She deserves my warmth. You... do not."