Chapter 35: Because of Love, It is of My Own Will!

The conversation inside the room continued.

“Qingdai, what is that bruise on your wrist?”

Hearing the faint note of concern in her sister’s voice, the cold aura radiating from Luo Wushuang grew even more intense.

What bruise? She hadn’t ordered anyone to strike the girl. Was this maid trying to frame her on purpose just to win her sister’s sympathy?

A murderous glint flashed through Luo Wushuang’s eyes. She worried her sister was being deceived by her own servant, and she was even more concerned that Liqian might grow angry with her because of it.

Luo Wushuang moved with graceful, light steps toward a half-open window. Narrowing her eyes, she peered through the gap with the utmost caution, carefully monitoring Shangguan Liqian’s expression.

Inside, Qingdai looked down at the bruise that had accidentally slipped from beneath her sleeve. Her mind flashed back to the previous night—the moment her fingertip had been pricked, and Leng Yu, looking frantic, had grabbed her wrist to inspect the wound.

Her face flushed a soft pink. Avoiding her mistress’s concerned gaze, she whispered, “It was just an accident. I bumped into something.”

As Qingdai turned away in embarrassment, she happened to face the very side where Luo Wushuang was eavesdropping.

Seeing the maid actually blush in front of her sister made Luo Wushuang’s blood boil.

She whipped her head around to glare at the deathly pale Leng Yu. With a slight hook of her index finger, she signaled the guard to approach. Just as Wushuang was about to deliver a punishing blow, her sister’s voice rang out again from inside the room.

“If you are being bullied here in the palace, you must ask Her Majesty to seek justice for you.”

Luo Wushuang’s fury hit a sudden snag, only to double in intensity a moment later. Ask me for justice? I’m more inclined to bury this maid in Mochen Pavilion right now.

Indeed, she shouldn’t have been soft-hearted in the first place…

Unaware that she was already being marked for a grim fate, Qingdai hesitated for a long moment before finally voicing the worry weighing on her heart.

“Has everything been going well for you in the palace, Miss? Does Her Majesty… treat you well?”

Luo Wushuang’s heart tightened at the question. Her hand, which had been mid-swing toward Leng Yu’s head, froze in mid-air. She waited with bated breath for the answer.

Feeling the wind from the aborted strike ghost past her forehead, Leng Yu let out a silent sigh of relief. She began praying fervently that Lady Shangguan would say the right thing.

Whether she was about to be beaten—or beaten to a pulp—literally depended on Shangguan Liqian’s next words.

Please, for the love of everything, don’t let the Master feel slighted, Leng Yu thought. Otherwise, Lady Shangguan and I are both doomed.

Though, in truth, she knew her fate would be far worse than the lady’s. Her Master might be soft-hearted toward Shangguan Liqian, but when it came to her subordinates, she was merciless. Especially since she was the “clever” one who had let the maid in.

Luo Wushuang was even more tense than her guard. Her narrow phoenix eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the woman inside through the sliver of the window.

Inside, Shangguan Liqian was about to speak when she sensed an unusually fervent, impossible-to-ignore gaze falling upon her.

The pressure of that gaze felt incredibly familiar. Wushuang?

“Her Majesty…” With a suspicion forming in her mind, a mischievous smile played across Shangguan Liqian’s lips. She intentionally paused.

As expected, she felt the gaze on her become noticeably more anxious. Only then did Shangguan Liqian continue at a leisurely pace.

“Her Majesty treats me exceptionally well. I love her, too. You needn’t worry so much about me.”

After speaking, Shangguan Liqian shifted her posture as if by accident. Her eyes swept quickly toward the half-open window. The silhouette of a phoenix crown cast upon the window paper confirmed the identity of the eavesdropper.

Luo Wushuang, still unaware that she had been caught, felt her tension melt away instantly upon hearing those words.

She replayed the sentence in her mind over and over: I love her, too…

She loves me…

She loves me!

It was as if fireworks were exploding in her mind all at once. A smile slowly blossomed on her lips.

Was Sister just confessing her feelings for me?

She loved her sister, too. Deeply, truly, passionately!

Her racing heart seemed to find its proper rhythm at last, and everything outside the window suddenly seemed beautiful and bright.

Just as Leng Yu thought she had finally escaped disaster, Qingdai’s hesitant voice rose again.

“But Miss… have you been kept locked up like this ever since you entered the palace?”

Qingdai’s voice was full of concern, heartache, and worry for her mistress’s plight.

She finally knew the identity of the woman she had seen back at the Shangguan Manor. She was the Empress Regnant of the Kingdom of Luo—a woman of supreme status and terrifying power. The entire world was nothing more than a plaything in her hands.

She was also the one who had rescued her mistress from the carnivorous Shangguan family.

But now, her mistress was locked away in this magnificent, gilded cage. Surely, her mistress… must be very sad.

Outside, Leng Yu’s heart, which had just settled, leapt into her throat once more. Why must this stupid girl bring up the one thing she shouldn’t? If she’s tired of living, she shouldn’t drag me down with her!

Leng Yu risked a glance at her Master’s face and knew it was over. The Empress’s expression was now as dark as it could possibly be.

Inside the room, having already realized a certain childish individual was listening, Shangguan Liqian’s brow twitched at the question.

She estimated that Wushuang’s face was likely unsightly right now. The Empress might even be contemplating throwing this silly girl out of the palace.

“It is not the chains that lock me away, but my heart,” Shangguan Liqian said softly.

“Since my heart is here, I am willing to be bound within these few feet of space.”

These words were meant to soothe the person outside, but they were also the honest truth.

Before, being locked up was a result of coercion, suspicion, and doubt. But now, she actually had a choice. If she insisted on leaving or pleaded softly, Wushuang wouldn’t necessarily keep her chained.

However, if she did that, the moment any trouble arose, Wushuang would fall back into panic and insecurity. The Empress would likely send even more people to shadow her—and those people would simply be another form of “chain.”

Rather than that, she preferred to remain bound like this.

She believed that one day, Wushuang would willingly unlock those chains out of trust and even greater love.

Perhaps she would never obtain the absolute freedom she had sought in her past life, but she had the chance to see a wider world and had gained someone who loved her more than life itself.

That… was enough.

No one’s life was ever perfect.

Wushuang herself was more precious than the freedom she once yearned for.

Willingly bound? Qingdai was stunned. She looked at her mistress with a mix of confusion and dawning realization. Could it be that Miss has truly fallen for the Empress?