Qiu Ling stared at him in stunned silence. He had … expected a lot of things but a marriage proposal had not been among them.

Jing Yi raised his brows, wondering if this was already asking for too much after Qiu Ling had proclaimed that he would do ‘anything’. To him, it didn’t seem like such a big deal. In any case, what consequences would that have? He just wanted to be first for once. If Jing He couldn’t deal with it even though it was something Qiu Ling did in exchange for his life, then he really didn’t know.

“You don’t want to?” There was a trace of hurt in his voice even though he tried to keep it out. He just couldn’t help it. He felt like no matter what he did, Jing He was indeed always far, far ahead of him.

Yes, even in this kind of situation, Qiu Ling would still hesitate to say yes to his demand even though this had been something he had promised him originally anyway while they had still been in the mortal realm. He had only backtracked after realizing that Jing He would be sad about it. And now, Jing He’s sadness was apparently enough to offset his promises once again. It was a bit ironic.

To his surprise, Qiu Ling shook his head though. “No, I will do it. I’m just … surprised that this is what you finally went for. Are you sure?”

Jing Yi looked at him, unable to believe what he was hearing. “You … you will marry me? Just like that?”

Qiu Ling nodded again as if it wasn’t a big deal at all. To be honest, to him, it wasn’t. Originally, he had taken back his promise because he indeed did not want to hurt Jing He. It was something that had pained him to do.

Now … well, in this situation, he felt that it was the best option. In fact, he could have what he had originally wanted to have. He would be able to marry his lover even though it was Jing He’s reincarnation instead of Jing He himself. So for him, this really wasn’t a bad deal.

Other than that, he had indeed expected that Jing Yi would go for something else. He hadn’t been sure what that was but he had been afraid that Jing Yi would try to test his limits. That he would ask for something really outrageous that he would have trouble keeping just to see if he how far he was willing to go to keep Jing He safe.

He had wondered how he would deal with something like that. What should he say to negotiate? How far would he be willing to go? Both in his personal life and as king of the dragon race? After all, there were a lot of things that Jing Yi could’ve picked. A wedding … it was quite harmless, actually.

The fact that he didn’t hesitate at all made Jing Yi worry though. “Are you trying to trick me? Do you want me to swear the oath first so you can go back on your word again? Is that it?”

Qiu Ling looked at him and, to be honest, he felt pity and also regret. He sighed and then got up, walking over to Jing Yi and reaching down to take his hands.

Even though Jing Yi was angry at him right now, he still let him do so. In any case, even though he sometimes hated the fact, he loved Qiu Ling more than anything. So this kind of gesture that almost seemed intended to reassure him was something that he craved.

Qiu Ling smiled and then leaned down, raising his hands to press a kiss on his skin. “I know I hurt you when I said that I couldn’t marry you after all. Back then, I really thought it best. But if this is what is necessary to reassure you and to continue with this relationship, then I am willing to do it.”

“Despite the fact that it will hurt Jing He?”

Qiu Ling nodded. “I know it will. It is something that I will have to deal with when the time comes. Naturally, he won’t be happy. But at the same time, if we are able to talk about this right now, then I will be able to talk with him in the future as well. I just trust in that.

“But in any case, that will be my problem, not yours. So, let’s not speak about that. I believe that even though you didn’t ask for that, you would probably like to hear less about him too.”

Jing Yi smiled wryly. “I can’t deny that but I only have one thing I can ask for, isn’t that so?”

Qiu Ling smiled as well. “You have one thing that you can ask for in exchange for that oath that I will fulfill without fail. As for anything else, you can still bring it up to me. I am your … fiance after all.” He smiled at those words, feeling that they were all too familiar from the time they had spent in the mortal realm. “As for your fear of me pulling a trick on you, would you like to make a deal about that as well?”

“What kind of deal?”

“The kind where you do not have to swear the oath immediately. I will have the wedding prepared and then we will hold the ceremony like it is customary in the mortal realm. I think you would like that. Then after that, you will swear the oath, and we will finish the wedding the way it is done in the dragon realm. I think that way, we can both be sure that the other person won’t backtrack.”

Jing Yi stared at him for a moment, trying to imagine that. The dragons usually didn’t have any elaborate ceremonies from what he knew so preparing something big was already out of the ordinary. He could watch all that happening which would reassure him a lot.

On the other hand, this might also hurt Qiu Ling’s relationship with Jing He in the future. After all, the dragons — who would only love one person in their lives — would know that he had already been married once. When he went on to have a ceremony with Jing He as well, what would the dragons think? So really, going all the way was something that Qiu Ling was doing to actually make true on his words.

Thinking of that, Jing Yi nodded. “I promise you right now that I won’t hurt him again even if I get the chance. And will swear that oath on our wedding day. You have my word.”

Qiu Ling nodded and then reached up, cupping Jing Yi’s cheeks and leaning down to give him a kiss. “You should expect to be busy in the next few weeks. That kind of wedding … it will require time and effort to prepare.”

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