5 Chapter 5 | Trip to the Imperial Palace 1 (1/2)

That night she didn't sleep well and kept wailing in her sleep. Her mother and grandfather were so worried about her that it led them to not being able to sleep. They couldn't comprehend what happened.

Yue Mian woke up the next day in a daze. She felt empty and looked around on her bed. The thing she was looking for was nowhere to be found, with a hazy memory after waking up she remembered what it was and where it went.

The noisy and fluffy thing that was responsible for waking her up was no longer there. He mouth twitch at the thought. A sting passed through her heart. Tears began to form in her waterline while she mouthed his name ”Gãowán”.

”YuMi?” her mother called out to her, she noticed now that she was not alone and her mother was by her side.

She asked where Gãowán was. She was told that they buried him behind their house in the garden. She followed her mother to his grave and started crying. In her heart, she kept saying she was sorry that she could not save him.

He was her best friend that protected her and all she did was watch him die. Her mother told her it wasn't her fault, but deep down she couldn't forgive herself for what happened to him, after all, if she never went fishing, he would still be alive and by her side right now.

After returning home he grandfather and a few other soldiers came over after hearing she was up and asked about what happened; Yue Mian told them what happened, detailing the entire fight, from the beginning to the end when she woke up, but also hiding the fact that something terrible began to brew in her heart.

They truly were shocked after hearing about it all. Her grandfather smiled, embraced her and said she shouldn't worry and should stop crying. Gãowán didn't die in vain, he saved her life and killed the mountain tiger.

After finding Yue Mian yesterday they searched the area for the cause and found the mountain tiger's body not far off, it bled to death while running away, leaving a bloody trail behind, which led them to it.

She wasn't happy after hearing this because Gãowán was already dead and nothing would bring him back to life!

During the rest of the week she stayed home and did nothing, she kept reminiscing about her time together with Gãowán, she wanted to cry, but no tears came out.

***

When she first got him, he scared her with his loveable behaviour, but she got used to it over time. He would constantly pull on her hair making it wet and slimy with his saliva; the bigger he grew the smaller she felt, but because she was small, she could ride his back like a horse.

The part she misses about him the most is when it was bedtime, he would always sleep with her and she could use him as a pillow and vice versa, the two of them were inseparable and the nights after he died, she struggled to fall asleep.

***

A week went by and she was back to normal, smiling at everyone just like how she was before Gãowán died; with this, she found out that she was truly very good at hiding her emotions, but what they all noticed was that after the incident, she became more dedicated to her studies and practised martial arts as much as the soldiers did.

Crown Prince An Cheng would come by and hang out with her, but she seemed so distant to the point where she no longer bothered to practice with him as they used to and he would always be initiating conversation when in the past, she would mumble on about nonsense making him happy and unlike now where he felt like he was being a nuisance.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye and her body changed, she had little lumps growing on her chest that were firm to the touch. Her stomach muscles were firm and you could count them, which soon will form a six pack in the future. Her arm muscles looked more manly than feminine, but no one could tell since her arms were most of the time covered.

Her relationship with her mother was also slowly growing distant and the relationship she had with her grandfather became a bit unbearable and suffocating for her since he was also her master when training. She loved him, she really did, but why did he stop her from training so hard? He wanted her to learn martial arts and sword fighting, but now that she was dedicated to both arts, it was a problem?