Kissing his beloved’s temple again, Qiu Ling motioned at the robe. “Alright, get dressed, and then go back to your mother’s palace.”

These days, they had mostly been hiding out at the Heavenly Empress’s palace because that was the one place where Jing He’s father didn’t dare to make trouble, no matter how much he disagreed with his presence. They only returned to Jing He’s palace at night and then went back to Bai Fen’s place early the next morning as soon as they had changed clothes.

They even would have stayed the night but … well, his beloved was embarrassed. Not that he wasn’t when thinking about how his mother knew that Qiu Ling stayed the night at his place even though the wedding hadn’t happened yet. That certainly had occupied his mind more than once these days but, in the end, he still always asked Qiu Ling to stay.

Of course, Qiu Ling wouldn’t complain. He happily obliged Jing He’s wishes and just took some extra precautions to make sure his beloved wouldn’t regret it later. For example … even though he really wanted to hug him to sleep at night, he finally pulled out a daybed, put it in the corner, and slept there. He could see Jing He’s figure in the dark which was already much better than before but he wasn’t overstepping some boundary that would keep Jing He up at night. Until the actual ceremony, it was the best of both worlds.

Jing He still felt troubled by the question of which robe to wear but finally indeed went with the one Qiu Ling had picked out, putting the white robe back. He hurriedly washed up, put on the robe, and then came out to do his hair. Before he had a chance to move his hands and pick up the comb, someone else was faster though.

“Allow me, my love.”

Jing He looked up, not sure what kind of enjoyment Qiu Ling got out of this kind of task but he could see that this was indeed the reason his lover insisted on this every day since his return. Of course, he wouldn’t deny him. Whatever made Qiu Ling happy, he would do it without even asking.

He turned back to the front and sat still, quietly letting Qiu Ling do as he pleased. His lover was incredibly gentle, each stroke of the comb barely noticeable, but he could feel those familiar fingers sliding through his hair as the style Qiu Ling imagined slowly took shape. Even though doing his hair was such a mundane thing to do, it felt … almost like a confession all over again. Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised that Qiu Ling volunteered to do this every single time.

To be honest, Jing He wasn’t far off. To Qiu Ling, being able to do something like this for Jing He was a sign of how far they had come. In the past, how often had he gotten the chance to do this? Even though he basically ran over to the Nine Heavens every single day, he would still only come by in the morning and leave in the evening. Now though, he spent the night and woke up together with Jing He, allowing him to accompany him for those simple things every day. How could he not love every moment of it?

Doing his lover’s hair was a preview of what the rest of their lives would soon look like: As soon as they were married and moved to the dragon realm, nobody would stand between them and their ability to enjoy these simple things every single day. They could wake up next to each other, discuss what to wear together, do each other’s hair, then take a stroll or see how their family was doing next door, … All those small and big things would come together, building their new, joined life. It was a beautiful thing to think about and soon enough, it would be reality.

When Qiu Ling finished, he couldn’t quite convince himself to step back. He knew that Jinde and Leng Jin Yu should arrive soon and that Jing He would loathe being late to this appointment but … he’d love to stretch this moment just a little further. He hadn’t had enough opportunities like this in the past and even though there would be many more in the future, that was still a few days away. Right now … this was all he had.

Jing He noticed when his lover stopped moving though and turned back around, looking up at him. “Are you done?”

Qiu Ling requited his gaze quietly and wondered if there was anything else he could do. Adding some jewelry would give them a few more minutes but Jing He likely wouldn’t be happy with that. The look he was going for was definitely the understated kind.

After some hesitation, he finally sighed. “I suppose I ought to be or we’ll run late. I’d love to stay a while longer with just the two of us though.” He leaned down and wrapped his arms around Jing He, tilting his head to kiss his cheek.

Jing He couldn’t help but continue looking at him and finally turned in his arms, wrapping his arms around Qiu Ling’s waist. He did indeed want to make a good first impression on Jinde but … even more important was Qiu Ling’s happiness to him. Even now that several days had passed, he simply couldn’t shake the images from that second vision. Knowing that he had almost let such a thing happen, he felt the need to make up for it. Giving in to such a simple thing … it didn’t seem to be much of an issue.

Qiu Ling hummed but let go after another moment. “Alright, let’s go. They should be here soon.”

He pulled Jing He to his feet, held his hand, and led him out of the palace and toward that of the Heavenly Empress where the meeting with Jinde was set to be held. After all, on such an important occasion, they didn’t want to be interrupted by a certain person who’d try to rain on everyone’s parade.

Not that Qiu Ling could imagine Jinde simply taking a certain someone’s bitter remarks. No, he was afraid that if those two met, Jinde wouldn’t be able to hold back from giving the Heavenly Emperor a piece of his mind. And even though the guy deserved it … he’d rather not have Jing He watch that.