Chapter 74: Eve
Yue stared at Viktor with a curious expression. This was the first time he’d seen Viktor cultivate so he was very intrigued. They were on the carriage ride to Switzerland and just when Yue was starting to get super bored Viktor decided to start cultivating and Yue found that incredibly interesting.
“Your form is very refined...Crystal mountain sect style...They usually don’t accept foreign disciples though...who was your teacher?” Yue asked, nudging Viktor. He knew Viktor had stopped cultivating, probably because he felt him staring, so he asked without any restraint.
“Zhao ZhiHao,” Viktor responded, getting out of lotus position.
“Ah! He’s an immortal lord!” Yue exclaimed, surprised to hear the name.
“Yes...He apparently owed my mother a favor so he taught me cultivation in exchange.” Viktor explained, “Have you met him?”
Yue shook his head quickly, “No but I’ve heard of him. My master is also an Immortal lord so he knows him.”
“Just how much did he teach you?” Yue asked, curiously moving so instead of sitting across from Viktor he was sitting beside him.
They talked about cultivation for a while and Yue was surprised about Viktor’s level. He would soon master mystic arts which meant he was even closer to being an immortal lord than he was. Yue kept quiet about it but he definitely felt a little bitter about that. He himself had already reached mystical arts mastery again within the time he was training for this mission but he still had a lot of Magic to master while Viktor had relatively little left to master.
“Stop getting ahead of me!” Yue whined and pulled Viktor’s arm childishly.
“I have a 3-year advantage, Yue, don’t get too down about it.” Viktor chuckled. Yue sighed a little, It was honestly more than a 3-year advantage because Viktor started learning magic essentially the second he learned to walk while Yue only started learning magic after he turned 5. Yue still felt upset by it, it was so strange to see someone who could progress as fast or even faster than he could.
‘I guess it’s because we have the same core type.’ Yue thought to himself, staring at Viktor’s chest, he giggled to himself a little as he remembered how he found out about Viktor’s core type.
“Your birthday is soon, isn’t it? It’s already March, just a hair away from Spring.” Viktor said and glanced over at Yue. He was not so discreetly trying to ask when his birthday was since such a subject never came up.
“Uh probably? It might’ve passed already? All I know is that it was in March and that there was blue moon...but that doesn’t really help…” Yue murmured.
“Hah...If it had been any other month it would really help. But March of 20 years ago…” Viktor chuckled.
“Yeah... Blue March.” Yue chuckled.
For the whole month of March 20 years ago there was a phenomenon called “Blue March”. There was a full blue moon every day of the month. It made it impossible for Yue to tell what day he was born but it was kind of his own fault.
Events like those always happened when one of the four beasts was born. When Huy was born the sky was cloudless for the whole month of June and the stars were brighter than ever around the south. The temperatures were sky high too. That June was disastrous because of the heat but, on the bright side, monsters didn’t appear for the whole month.
Monsters were also scarce during Blue march. Blue March didn’t have as many drawbacks as that June, the moon was full and blue and it was always bright at night. It always rained lightly during the day but there was never flooding and the nights were always cleared. Plants also grew remarkably quickly and didn’t die no matter what happened to them. It was a prosperous time.
“Hmm...Choose a day and I’ll celebrate it with you.” Viktor said and grinned, pecking Yue’s lips.
“Y-You don’t have to celebrate it…” Yue said with an embarrassed face.
“I do. Celebrating the birth of my lovely Yue is absolutely necessary.” Viktor said and kissed all over Yue’s face, hugging him tightly.
“I-I’ll choose one after all this is over,” Yue mumbled and blushed.
—
“I wonder if Mai made it to Switzerland already…” Yue murmured and rested his head on Viktor’s shoulder as he sat on his lap. They were back to being very touchy with one another so he was happy to cuddle up to him like he used to.
“Probably. She left yesterday so she should’ve arrived a few hours ago,” Viktor said and glanced out of the window.
“We’ll probably get there by sunrise...Do you think you’ll be able to sleep?” Viktor asked, looking at his pocket watch for a second before turning to Yue.
“Probably not. We’ll see.” Yue murmured, he was pretty tired but he didn’t know if he’d be able to sleep through the night. The carriage had already stumbled upon monsters and although they were weak and generally seemed more interested in running away, that just made Yue anxious for what they were running from.
“My lord, My lady, Miss Anya would like to know if you’re hungry.” A servant asked as he rode up next to the carriage. He went to the wrong window and was slightly flustered to see that Yue was on Viktor’s lap but he quickly hid it and decided to stay where he was. Anya was riding in a carriage behind them with a few other maids.
“...I could eat.” Yue murmured, a bit embarrassed to be called ‘My lady’.
“It’s almost sunset...I guess it’s a good time to stop to eat dinner. Tell Anya to only prepare something light for me.” Viktor said to the servant.
“Are you not hungry?” Yue asked, a bit worried.
“I’m more tired than I am hungry…” Viktor murmured, “I just want to finish our meal and sleep.”
Yue still felt worried but he decided to believe Viktor and just relax. The servants stopped and started setting up a table so Yue and Viktor got out of the carriage and went for a short little walk to a small cliff area nearby. The next few towns could be seen clearly and a large tower that pointed out their destination was far off but still easily visible as well.
“After this, the next few months will pass super quickly, and then we’ll be at graduation,” Viktor said and held Yue’s waist.
“It’s a bit scary...I don’t know what I’ll do afterward…” Yue murmured, looking down at his hands. He didn’t have Fei Xiang to lead him and soon he wouldn’t have the school to lead him either.
“Well...there’s Mai and Huy’s engagement party and wedding, Marianne and Alexius’ wedding too….I’d like it if you came with me to Belarus for the solstice as well.” Viktor murmured and kissed Yue’s cheek.
“Hmm...I should take you to China with me too.” Yue murmured and turned to Viktor with a smile, he desperately wanted to see Viktor in a Hanfu. He also desperately wanted to just be with Viktor in the Azure Dragon temple. He felt like he’d finally be at ease if he could just laze around in his room with Viktor beside him.
“I’ll go anywhere you want me to go,” Viktor said and hugged Yue with a smile.
--
“Finally…” Yue whispered as they arrived at the manor. Viktor was sleeping while holding him on his lap so Yue was quiet. He kind of didn’t want to wake him but Viktor woke up on his own soon enough.
“Ah… we’re here...Let’s go?” Viktor murmured. He yawned and then opened the door to the carriage. He didn’t bother letting go of Yue and just carried him out.
“I’ll schedule for breakfast to be served around lunchtime. Please rest.” Anya said and smiled. Yue nodded and Viktor just continued on his way into the manor. Yue wasn’t even sure that Viktor knew where their room was in his groggy state. He didn’t say anything to Viktor though, he just giggled and motioned for a maid to follow them so they could eventually get to the bedroom.
Anya watched them calmly, she was smiling but there was a twinge of worry in her expression.
“Her Majesty will be here by tomorrow right?” Anya hurriedly asked another servant.
“Yes. She is already on her way.”
“Good…” Anya murmured.
-
Yue didn’t go to sleep even after he and Viktor got into the bedroom. He just sat down on the bed, resting Viktor’s head on his lap. He simply watched him for a while, stroking his hair silently.
Fei Xiang, Lian Bai, Xia Guiren, Xia Chunhua,and Xia MeiXu. Their faces appeared in Yue’s mind as he reflected. Unfortunately, he couldn’t help but see Viktor’s face alongside them too.
‘It’d be Ironic for a god to pray to god, wouldn’t it?’ Yue almost laughed as he thought that.
‘I don’t think a frail heart like mine could handle losing someone else. I’d probably rip my own spiritual roots out...’ Yue kept his eyes on Viktor.
“Viktor. I love you.” Yue whispered and kissed Viktor’s forehead.
Viktor’s eyes fluttered open slowly, he whispered I love you back with a tired smile. He noticed that he was on Yue’s lap and slowly got up and pulled Yue down as he changed their position so Yue was resting his head on his chest.
“Things will be hectic soon so you need to rest too,” Viktor murmured and covered the two of them with blankets.
Yue smiled silently and closed his eyes.
‘I definitely didn’t mean to fall in love with you. But I don’t think I’ll ever regret it.’
--
Yue was upkeeping his sword in the bedroom while Viktor got dressed for the strategical meeting. His clothes were similar to his expedition uniform but instead of a blazer, he wore a white cape-like garment with epaulets and a gold broach with a black gem in the center over his black blouse. His pants and knee-high black boots were the same save for a few golden decorations that were added. Yue didn’t really care for the formality of it all but he did find it looked nice. He was curious about why it was changed though.
He had forgotten to ask Viktor about it though, he became engrossed in taking care of his sword.
“You can’t break this time.” He murmured to his sword as he finished taking care of the sword. He was hoping he wouldn’t lose another rib to a fight against Li ChaoXiang.
“Okay, we can get going now,” Viktor said and walked over to stand beside Yue who was sheathing his sword. He had a very formal outfit on. It was similar to Yue’s but it was all white and gold except for the black gem pinned onto the left side of the blazer of a Belarusian military uniform that he was wearing over his shoulders.
“...The black gem… Does it represent the Black tortoise temple?” Yue asked, a bit confused.
“Yes.” Viktor chuckled a little.
“Then why do I have one?” Yue asked.
“It’s a sign that my mother trusts you. She’s going to take control of this whole operation so she’s making sure no one questions your authority or power. It’s like a sign that you are one of ‘her people’. It’s almost as powerful as a pact of kin in that way. No one will bother you or look down on you if you have this.” Viktor explained and took Yue’s hand.
“Oh...I should thank her then.” Yue murmured and blushed a little.
“She wanted to do more for you but the mission was quite sudden.” Viktor smiled.
Yue smiled a little as well and walked with Viktor outside of the room.
And that was the eve of the three nights.