She is tired, so very tired. Filth clings to her as she walks, enveloped by a seemingly endless darkness. Suddenly, she saw light appear like a pool of water somewhat away from her. Hope rises up within as she attempts to walk forwards towards the light.

As she nears it however, she sees a figure of a young man's back. She shrinks away at first, but there is something so familiar with that back that she isn't able to stop herself from inching closer. Once she is a few steps away, she detects a faint smell of herbs. It is so comforting that she unconsciously sighs, which draws the attention of the young man who turns to her in a manner that is neither too slow or fast.

Ling Yue gasps as she sees the familiar countenance, and her hand that was raised up to tap the stranger halts in mid air.

"Ju.. Jun Xie.." she stutters as the young man looks at her. He appears to lift up a hand to reach out which makes Ling Yue resume her own hand's movement towards the young man's hand.

Before she is able to touch however, dark hands grab her shoulders, her waist and her ankles. A horrible stench surrounds her as she hears whispers that makes her blood freeze and her eyes shut tight.

"Filthy whore, you are ours! You will never, ever deserve a man like that!" they chant in her head.

"What makes you think you are even fit to carry his shoes?" says another whose hands latch at her neck.

She feels a horrible cold and wet sensation on her chin as a dark hand tilts it forcefully to the side. She smells the stench of another mouth's breath on her face as she hears the words that has caused her to curl upon herself many times. "You are tainted. You are dirty. You are nothing." Her mouth is covered without warning and a tongue plunges into it forcefully.

"No!"

-0-0-0-

Ling Yue gasps as she sits up, panting and shivering. She clutches the covers and sobs uncontrollably. She blames herself for losing all control and feeling so defenseless while asleep. It has been harder and harder to sleep undisturbed lately, and she has wondered whether it was because she was tired from working nonstop since the reigns of the fire country were handed down to her. She sobbed once again. She did not want to let Jun Xie down. She did not want to fail that trust. But why must she be so weak?

Her hand clenched on the sheets tighter and she bit a corner of the bedsheet to stop herself from crying out. She was so caught up in her misery that she never noticed the presence of a person sitting near the tea table a few paces from the bed. The person's figure was further hidden in the shadows of a moonless night.

Unseen in the darkness, this person's forehead furrows into a knot as Ling Yue's sobbing becomes more restrained. The figure stands up and noiselessly approaches the dragon bed. The Empress detects a subtle shift in the spirit energies towards her right and subconsciously turns her head. A sob catches in her throat and she tenses as she notices a person closing in on her side of the bed.

"Wh.." her startled words never come as she feels a cool hand on her forehead and she closes her eyes without meaning to. Her eyes fly open as this hand moves to her cheeks and jawline as another hand is felt, both cradling her face. A light from a nearby candle suddenly blazes and she finds herself staring back into cool gray eyes.

"Your Highness..." she whispers, and Ling Yue realizes how much of a blunder she has shown in front of her person. Jun Xie isn't supposed to see her like this. "He" shouldn't worry about her while "he" handles whatever business needs to be handled outside of the kingdom. She fights with everything she has to not say the words that threaten to come out of her mouth, but it comes anyway, like an unstoppable torrent. "Your Highness... I'm sorry," she cries out in a low voice as she sobs into "his" hand. Ling Yue feels the hands tense momentarily, almost imperceptibly. One of these hands move upwards to stroke the top of her head almost clumsily in an attempt to comfort her. Ling Yue almost smiles in spite of herself.

"Why?" her clueless benefactor asks, not understanding that her Iron Bloodied Empress had seemingly reverted back to those bleak days in Thousand Beast City. In response, Ling Yue just closes her eyes, looking like she is savoring the uninterrupted stroking of her hair.

The Emperor, although "he" has yet to realize why Ling Yue is acting this way, knows that what is bothering her is more than something simple .

"We will speak of this in the morning. Try to get some more sleep," words tinged with warmth floats into her ears, almost lulling her back to sleep. However, Qu Ling Yue was unwilling.

"I'm scared," she answers softly. "I don't want to go back to sleep," she added almost desperately.

Ling Yue then hears something that is akin to having her most cherished person draping a warm blanket around her.

"Don't be. I won't leave you."

Ling Yue sighs once again, this time in relief. In a few moments, she falls back into a dreamless slumber as deep as the night.

-0-0-0-

Once Ling Yue's breath evened out, the Emperor rose soundlessly off the bed and walked towards the courtyard, closing the door silently. "He" walks towards the middle of the courtyard where a hibiscus tree stands beside a still pond full of lotus in full bloom. Even as "he" walked distractedly, a presence materializes under the tree. The figure belonged to a man whose facial features could only be described as those of a deity. Although this man appeared to be leisurely standing under the tree, his eyes glowed a mezmerizing purple hue. Yet such eyes would have caused terror to thise who really knew who those eyes belonged to.

Sensing the almost turbulent presence, the Emperor looks up and "his" eyes widen a little but "he" does not stop walking towards the man under the tree. The man looks down at the petite body in front of him and wraps this body almost roughly within his embrace.

"Little Xie, you really are too kind. If that girl is in such a misery, I could help her by ending her little life. There is no need for you to disturb your rest," the man haughtily stated, the gleam in his eyes betraying a murderous intent.

The petite frame tries to push away the terrifying man's chest and in seeming exasperation stated, "I am partly to blame for how she is now." She leads the man to sit on a stone bench beside the pond, her soft sigh is heard as she pulls her disguise off of her face and places it beside her. The man beside her looked on in obvious veneration. No matter how many times he had seen this face, he would never tire of her beauty, of the facial features that would be enough to bring down nations.

This was the Emperor's real countenance. She was actually Jun Wu Xie, the young lass from the Jun Family of the tiny Qi Kingdom. Her prowess in battle strategies and genius in medicine was unmatched and never before seen in the Lower Realm and her unique personality has attracted this powerful and terrifying man to latch onto her.

"Why do you get angry when I try to help Ling Yue?" Wu Xie asked the man in front of her, her head tilting slightly to the side in slight confusion.

The man laughed as he said, "Nothing much. Your big brother just doesn't want you getting yourself tired for someone you can do without." The answer was cold and cruel but was almost tempered by the fact that it was said by the man in a calm voice and with a smiling face, with only a slight flash of violet betraying the quick sense of murder in his unwilling eyes.

Wu Xie was still a little confused and the black cat which was quietly hidden away as part of her soul decided to help her mistress out a little. "The demon seems to be jealous of the Empress," the cat almost giggled, glad that the man in front of him couldn't hear his thoughts. The black cat knew more than anyone else besides Jun Wu Xie that this "big brother" identity was just this demonic man's illusion. He also knew that the demon had designs on his mistress and always lamented that his mistress was always too inexperienced or dense to notice.

Hearing this, Wu Xie had a sudden realization which led her to smirk slightly. This time, it was her big brother's turn to slightly widen his eyes.

"I've told you before. Qu Ling Yue is a girl. I am a girl. Nothing will come out of this marriage." Jun Wu Xie smiled as she looked up at his expressionless eyes. Although expecting some kind of retaliation, Jun Wu Xie did not expect her big brother's hand firmly grabbing her chin, tilting it up and his hansome face swooping down all of a sudden.