At his question about herself, her thoughts suddenly turned to Xiao Fusu.
The memory of being cast out by him brought an abrupt redness to her eyes.
“Miss…”
Her reaction caught Xiao Keyu by surprise. His eyes widened slightly, and a tinge of regret colored his voice. “Did I say something wrong?”
Everyone had secrets they could not easily share—perhaps he had touched on something painful for her.
“Wuwu… wah!”
Grief welled up within her, and she sank to the ground, burying her face in her knees. There was no pretense in her tears now.
Thinking of Xiao Fusu filled her with genuine, deep sorrow.
“Miss… I’m sorry—it’s all my fault. I should never have asked you such things.”
Xiao Keyu flustered, scrambling to comfort her in his clumsy way.
But she only continued to weep, lost in her own heartache.
He had never imagined a simple question about her background would leave her so heartbroken.
“Have you suffered some wrong? Did someone mistreat you?”
Xiao Keyu let out a gentle sigh, his voice warm with concern.
“I don’t even know if you’d call it mistreatment… I never meant to cause him trouble.”
Through her tears, she lifted her tear-streaked face slightly, gazing at the dirt beneath her feet as she choked out her words.
“Who is ‘him’?”
He studied her with curious eyes and asked again.
“Xiao Fusu.”
She did not hide the truth, speaking plainly. “The Crown Prince cast me out. He suspected I had ulterior motives against him and sent me to the Cold Palace.”
“Brother he…”
Surprise crossed his face, leaving him momentarily speechless.
“He thinks I betrayed him—that I was sent by you to spy on him. So he sent me back to you.”
Lin Lin’s voice was heavy with melancholy and quiet disappointment.
“But I never intended to harm him.”
“Ah… Brother was indeed overcautious.”
A flicker crossed his eyes, and he let out a soft sigh.
“Isn’t he outrageous? One moment he’s domineering and unreasonable, the next he’s gentle and caring—and now he’s thrown me out like this! He changes his face faster than turning pages in a book, moody and impossible to please. And to be so heartless… I was foolish to ever believe he’d truly care for me.”
Lin Lin lamented that her sincerity had been wasted on someone unworthy.
“So now you have nowhere to go—cast aside by him?”
Xiao Keyu looked at her with compassionate concern.
“Mmm!”
She nodded, tears still glistening on her cheeks.
“Don’t cry anymore.”
He pulled a silk handkerchief from his sleeve and gently wiped the tears from her face, his voice soft with comfort. “Since you have nowhere else to turn, let us rely on each other. We are both wanderers adrift in the world.”
“Thank you.”
She finally looked at him properly, her eyes shining with heartfelt gratitude. “You’re truly a good person!”
“Hehe.”
Watching her earnest expression, Xiao Keyu found her innocence endearing and couldn’t help but chuckle lightly.
But… a good person?
Though he had always been considerate of others and devoted to filial duty, no one had ever called him a “good person” so directly before.
A strange warmth welled up in his heart—as if he had finally found something real to hold onto, something truly his own.
This sense of self-worth and belonging was entirely new to him.
And all this warmth had come from the mysterious girl before him, whom he had only just met.
His heart stirred, and he carefully but firmly took her hands in his. “I have little to offer here, but if you don’t mind staying in this quiet, lonely place, I promise I will protect you well from now on.”
Having just met him, she was caught off guard by the intimacy of his touch and instinctively tried to pull her hands away.
But he held them fast, and her attempt to free herself was in vain.
She looked up at him nervously, but his face held only his usual gentle smile, as if her momentary hesitation had never happened.
“I still don’t know your name, miss.”
He smiled again as he spoke.
“I… my name is Lin Lin.”
Her voice was soft and gentle, her eyes as nervous and clear as a fawn’s.
“Lin Lin.”
He repeated the name, his eyes moving slightly before he offered his praise. “What a lovely name.”
“Th-thank you.”
A blush rose to her cheeks, flustering her slightly.
“I’m Xiao Keyu. I imagine you’ve heard something about me from Xiao Fusu—from Brother.”
At the mention of that name, a complex, unreadable emotion crossed his eyes, but it faded quickly. He brightened his tone and turned the conversation back to her. “You do love to say ‘thank you’—you’ve said it twice already today. I’d rather you didn’t stand on ceremony with me as we get to know each other.”
“Sorry.”
Embarrassed by his direct observation, she bit her lip and lowered her eyes.
“Now that you’re here with me, we’re family. Be as relaxed as you like—no need to act differently than you did with Brother. My home has none of the strict rules of the Eastern Palace.”
He continued, “You needn’t be formal or apologize to me. I won’t treat you like a servant meant to wait on me. From now on, we’ll look out for each other. I’m just a deposed Crown Prince—lonely and scorned by many. There are no servants here to attend to me, so you don’t need to bow and scrape. We only need to support one another.”
Perhaps he was simply lonely, he thought—desperate for someone to share genuine words with, free of scheming and pretense.
Lin Lin nodded, her eyes studying him carefully.
She had not expected him to be so warm and gracious, with perfect poise and no trace of arrogance despite his background. Even after falling from the lofty position of legitimate Crown Prince to a forgotten figure in the Cold Palace, he had not lost his dignity or resolve, retaining his gentle, jade-like nature. He truly was a man of noble character—a rare find indeed.
As she watched him, admiration shone in her eyes.
Only… it seemed she had forgotten something important.
“You’re so easily swayed,” the system’s emotionless mechanical voice suddenly whispered in her ear, sounding faintly ominous.
“Xiao Keyu is not as innocent as he appears. If you don’t faint soon, you’ll miss your chance to earn his true trust and acceptance.”
Lin Lin jolted awake, as if coming out of a dream.
She had almost forgotten the most crucial step of all!