“What are you doing?!”

Jing He wanted to hide but he didn’t dare to. He pulled up his shoulders while still thinking that this made his undressed state even more obvious but there was no other choice. Then, he looked up at the irate face of his father. His lips parted but he could not find the words to respond.

What could he say? Obviously, he had acted contrary to his father’s wishes, and this blatantly at that. By now, this was not just a matter of falling in love with the wrong man and promising him a future together. No, he had defied the moral values of their people and he had done so with the man his father had warned him against early on. Could he have sunk any lower than this?

Jing He lowered his head again, unable to raise it again. He felt ashamed of himself and couldn’t even declare that he had done this because he loved Qiu Ling too much. Love … should it not be able to bear setbacks? Should it not make them more patient and inspire them to slowly deal with the issues that stood between them and their future together just like his parents had once done?

Instead, they had taken the easy way out. He had taken the easy way out. He had allowed Qiu Ling to touch him when it shouldn’t have happened yet, foregoing the sacred ceremony of his people and only following the customs of the dragons. He had lowered himself to this state. Yes, it was nobody’s fault but his own.

Jing He hastily let go of Qiu Ling, suddenly not daring to stay close to him. Even though he felt ashamed letting anyone see him like this, he leaned further away, his fingers tightly grabbing the blanket beneath.

His father did not give him any face. “How could you do this? Have I not told you again and again to stay away from this person? Now, look at what you have done! You really dare to do anything with him without even an official relationship between you. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

Jing He hung his head further but kept mum. Yes, his father was naturally right. He hadn’t been thinking earlier to agree to this. But now, it was too late. He couldn’t change what he had done. He could only live with the shame. Thankfully, there was at least Qiu Ling at his side.

Thinking of his lover, Jing He raised his head, hoping for a few words from him to calm the situation and to reassure him as well. When he looked up though, what he saw was that Qiu Ling had picked up his robe from somewhere and had started to dress himself without even glancing at him. Suddenly, his heart pounded heavily, a bad premonition filling his chest. “Qiu Ling …”

“I should go back to the dragon realm.”

He didn’t explain why he wanted to do so, making Jing He even more anxious. Letting go of the blanket and reaching out, Jing He grasped the edge of Qiu Ling’s sleeve. “Please, stay.” He couldn’t be alone. Not after this had happened. He felt small and vulnerable and the only thing that could help at all was Qiu Ling’s presence.

Unfortunately, it did not seem as if his lover wanted to do him this favor. Qiu Ling paused while putting on his belt, almost seeming to freeze when Jing He’s fingers touched his sleeve. Finally, he pulled it away. He didn’t even reach out to do so but just quietly moved his arm.

Jing He stared at him in a daze before lowering his gaze to his own empty hands. This … why was this happening? Why wasn’t Qiu Ling helping him? Why wasn’t he speaking up for him in front of his father or trying to reassure him? Why wasn’t he offering to take him along to the dragon realm, considering that they should now count as married?

“Qiu Ling, this … Are we … are we going together?” He finally couldn’t help himself and asked at least this question out loud, not daring to stay silent and just wait until it was too late.

Meanwhile, Qiu Ling had finished tying his belt. Now, he got to his feet. As he shook his head in response to his question, his black hair swayed slightly. “No. I will leave alone.”

“Then … then when will you come back?” Jing He didn’t know what to do. He felt worse and worse the longer this was going on. He understood less and less what was going on as well. Why was Qiu Ling doing this?

Qiu Ling didn’t turn around as if he didn’t even want to look at him. “I won’t.” Finally, only these words were said and then, he strode out of the room, crossed the main hall of the palace, and passed by the screen, leaving the building and, presumably, the Nine Heavens as well.

Jing He stared at the screen over there in a distance as if he expected that his lover — no, his husband — would return after a moment. Surely, Qiu Ling had only left just now because he hurriedly needed to do something, right? Yes, maybe he was going to get help so they could leave here without burning all bridges. Surely, this was the case. It had to be. It had to.

Jing He tried to reassure himself but before he could even finish his thoughts, his father who stood still aside pointed at his face and laughed. “What are you looking at his back this way for? You don’t understand? He is not coming back!”

Jing He turned to his father, his expression lost. “No …” Certainly, Qiu Ling would never do that. Yes, he wouldn’t just leave him. Never and especially not now.

But his father only huffed. “You look at your body and then ask yourself why he would still want you! You are sordid. Which man could stomach to look at you like this? I can tell you: There is not a single one out there and the dragon king is even less likely to do so.”

Jing He indeed lowered his head and gasped. The beauty he had once been so proud of was slowly fading, the jade-like skin drying up and blackening like that of a mummified corpse. He rubbed those spots but instead of making the changes go away, it seemed as if he was only spreading them further. He trembled and his eyes filled with tears as he curled up to protect himself from whatever was happening to him.

His father had no sympathy for him though. He huffed again and then turned away just like Qiu Ling, flicking his sleeve. “You have done this to yourself. In the future, do not bother calling yourself my son. I don’t have a child like that.”