Chapter 137: Chapter 137: The Duke’s Clone
The bracelet Geoffrey had given her was made of pure Diamond, the carved lotus flower breathtakingly lifelike.
Yu Zhizhi clutched her wrist as she left the Fox Clan miss’s room. She walked through the corridor and slowly returned to her own suite.
The Guard Team followed quietly.
They stood guard outside.
She pushed open the door. The living room was empty, with only a single lamp lit.
"You’re back?" Louis came out of the kitchen, a bottle of mineral water in his hand. He studied Yu Zhizhi’s face carefully, making sure no conflict had occurred.
However, the little rabbit looked somewhat downcast and listless.
Yu Zhizhi’s voice was very soft. "Where’s Sensen?"
"Asleep, probably."
The Mermaid had been in his room, and the light was off, so he was probably asleep.
Yu Zhizhi glanced at Yusen’s bedroom, then turned and headed for the dressing room. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned back, a watery sheen in her eyes.
"Louis, I’d like to be alone for a while."
"Alright."
Louis stopped in his tracks.
He rarely saw the little rabbit this upset, but after a moment’s thought, Louis could roughly guess what the Fox Clan member had said to her.
’It’s best to let her think things through on her own.’
Louis turned and walked toward his own room.
Yu Zhizhi closed the door to the dressing room.
The light was on inside. The dressing room wasn’t large; besides a vanity table and chair, there was only a single-person sofa against the wall.
She stood by the table, removing her headdress, earrings, rings...
Through the mirror, she saw the necklace hanging on her chest. Its pale blue scale had a dreamy, hazy quality.
’...Sensen gave this to her.’
The thought of possibly having to part with Sensen in the future made Yu Zhizhi’s heart feel heavy, and her nose tingled with the urge to cry.
She didn’t take off the necklace.
Looking down at her wrist, she saw the bracelet Geoffrey had personally put on for her. It was also beautiful, but... there was an indescribable strangeness to it.
A lotus flower was carved onto the chain. It was as if it were filled with water, and a tiny, ink-black tadpole inside seemed to have come to life.
Yu Zhizhi stared at it for a while, momentarily forgetting what she was doing.
Strangely, she noticed a cloud of white smoke appearing from the lotus flower.
’I must be too tired, I’m seeing things—’
Yu Zhizhi rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again, the entire dressing room was filled with a Cloud Mist. A look of astonishment on her face, she hastily backed away.
But it was as if an invisible barrier was blocking her from behind.
She was only a few steps from the door, but she couldn’t reach it.
Within the Cloud Mist, the "little tadpole" from the bracelet appeared. It weaved through the white mist, swimming all the way up to the "clouds."
Gradually, the ink-black tadpole grew longer and larger. Looking closer, it wasn’t a tadpole at all—it was clearly a snake!
Yu Zhizhi’s expression was dazed. Just as she was about to cry out, she heard a familiar voice—
"Don’t scream. It’s me."
Before she could see anything clearly, she felt something soft and cool hook around her and pull her forward.
’This feeling... it was familiar...’
And the jet-black snake had finally taken human form, its figure hazy and hidden in the mist. His purple robes were slightly open as if he had just stepped out of a bath. Water dripped from his medium-length, ink-blue hair, trailing down and trickling into his firm chest.
Amidst the swirling Cloud Mist, the Duke’s vertical golden pupils were reflected with perfect clarity deep in Yu Zhizhi’s eyes. She felt her heart begin to pound wildly.
’Is this a dream?’
’Or is it real?’
She could no longer tell.
"D-Duke..." Yu Zhizhi’s voice trembled. It sounded like she was afraid, yet also delighted. "What are you doing here?"
"I came for you, of course."
The Duke’s snake tail, hidden in the Cloud Mist, gently wrapped around the young woman before him. With just a slight exertion of force, Yu Zhizhi stumbled and fell into his arms.
Yu Zhizhi felt a dampness at the tip of her nose. Her hands pressed against the Duke’s chest in front of her as she slowly raised her head, gazing at him in a daze.
"Aren’t you in the Imperial City?"
The distance between Varolan’s Imperial City and Moonrise’s Paradise was vast.
"You falsely accused me once before. I had to prove it to you," the Duke’s magnetic voice held a trace of a lazy smile. He lowered his head slightly, his serpentine eyes profound. "If it were my Clone, it wouldn’t have just bitten you once."
Yu Zhizhi suddenly shivered.
’Thinking of the Duke’s original snake form, such a huge python... if it bit her, how much blood would she lose?’
"So..." A small smile stretched across her pale little face, as if she were subconsciously trying to curry favor. "Duke, are you a Clone right now?"
"Mm," the Duke replied. He noticed that Yu Zhizhi’s mood wasn’t quite right. He stared at her intently, his gaze shifting slightly to land on the necklace hanging on her chest—
The Mermaid’s Heart Scale.
’No matter how he looked at it, it was an eyesore.’
The Duke’s gaze returned to the little rabbit’s face. "Did you see that fox?"
’Fox?’
"Lord Li Yuan?" Yu Zhizhi’s voice was quiet. "I saw him."
"Did he mention the matter with the Mermaid?"
At the mention of this, Yu Zhizhi’s nose stung, and she almost burst into tears. She was miserable, her voice thick with a nasal tone. "I can’t leave."
The Duke squinted at her for a long moment, watching the little female’s expression as she held back her tears. The thought that she was sad over that Mermaid left a sour taste in his mouth.
"You cry just at the thought of leaving him? How come I’ve never seen you shed a single tear over leaving me?"
His words carried a hint of wanting to settle a score.
Yu Zhizhi’s shoulders trembled slightly, and tears instantly streamed down her face.
’Great.’
’Just one sentence and he’d made her cry.’
Like a flood bursting through a dam, the tears were overwhelming.
A trace of helplessness flickered in the Duke’s eyes. He raised a hand to cup the little rabbit’s chin, his thumb gently wiping away the tear tracks on her face.
’...Why are there more and more the more I wipe?’
"A living separation is better than a final one in death," he offered, a rare attempt at comfort.
The Duke had known all along that the Moon Rising Empire would not let her go.
When the Delegation sent to retrieve her arrived, it would be a bloodbath.
Yu Zhizhi’s eyelashes were clumped together by tears, yet each lash was still distinct. She looked at the Duke, who was just inches away, her eyes brimming with tears. This was the first time she had seen him enveloped in mist, making everything seem so ethereal and illusory.
The Duke’s words had some effect.
She stopped crying and stared intently at him.
"What is it?" the Duke asked, meeting her gaze.
Yu Zhizhi averted her eyes. "N-Nothing..."
’It’s just that, a moment ago, I thought of some things Li Yuan said.’
The Duke fell into thought, then raised an eyebrow. "Did that fox speak ill of me? No matter what he said, it was just to sow discord."
Yu Zhizhi lowered her head, feeling the snake tail wrapped around her waist. Her hands had nowhere to go.
She could only clasp them lightly over her chest. Her body wanted to pull back and create distance from the man, but with a tug of his strength, she was brought back into his embrace.
His snake tail coiled even tighter.
Yu Zhizhi couldn’t help but let out a soft moan, which sounded exceptionally suggestive.
Her face flushed red, the end of her words trembling. "Let go of me..."
The Duke chuckled softly. "How could I?"
He lowered his head, seeking the little female’s soft, warm lips, but just as they were about to touch, she turned her head to avoid him.
Yu Zhizhi pressed her hands against his chest, holding him off with all her might. She stubbornly kept her face turned away, refusing to let him kiss her.
