Cold Sands || Beyond the Frore Dunes [COMPLETED]

Chapter 34: Confrontation

"Your Majesty."

I take the wine glass and my eyes skim past the rim to Heng Ziyu who is sitting beside me.

I haven't gone back to the palace and insisted on staying here. Although I came up with a bunch of elaborate reasons but I guess I unconsciously just want to be a little closer to him.

I scoff lightly. How close could I possibly get though?

I take a small sip. The sweetness of this wine lingers in my mouth for a long time.

"You don't look too well," he remarks as he holds his glass, not drinking from it. I can feel his intense gaze on me even though I have my head lowered. Acting as though I haven't heard him, I smartly change the subject.

"This wine, it's bagui wine."

"A delicacy of the South." He cracks a smile. "Fragrant and alluring but one would not become intoxicated no matter how much she drinks; this wine was originally made for the noblewomen at banquets."

I drink it all in one gulp. "I am glad You are still in the mood for such pleasures."

He just smiles without replying. I glance at the soldiers walking to and from while playing with the glass, and lose the appetite to drink. Just now, I had felt powerful and sat tall but now my body is turning cold—cold and lonely.

"Your Majesty, if I may ask, why are You so glum? Do you have something on Your mind?" Heng Ziyu's voice calls me back to reality. I look up at his concerned eyes but only shake my head a little.

He pushes after a pause, "You can confide in me if You trust me."

Without replying, I close my eyes and continue rubbing the cool glass. My disguise must not adequate enough after all for him to be able to see through it. Of course, I'm exasperated but more likely, I feel helpless.

"I understand it is very difficult for You. I would like to do my best to help with Your troubles since we're on the same team."

He places his hand on my arm and refills the wine without another word.

The confidence and poise I have been faking immediately crumbles to nothingness and all that's left behind in me is bitterness and fatigue.

I down the glass of liquor, the sugary alcohol turning bitter as it slides down my throat.

"Well, it's nothing really. Just missing someone, that's all." I don't want to look at him. Then, after a moment, I chuckle. "Just a thing of the past."

He refills the glass and comments, "That sounds like nothing but missing someone is taxing and the most painful."

I laugh carelessly and pour more wine for myself, drinking it all with the bottom up.

"Could it be that You're missing the owner of the xiao? If the two of you share the same feelings, You can just bring her back to the palace and marry her, right?" He has a small smile but his eyes say otherwise. They look a bit odd.

"I said it's a thing of the past." Staring at the tiles, I scoff with a bit of self-mockery. "We couldn't stand each other when we first met and arguments and bickering were commonplace. Even though there were some feelings in the bloom, I had no idea."

"And then?" he asks.

I laugh with the aid of the alcohol buzz. "And then? And then we went our separate ways. Separated for good and never to meet again." The pain is so much that I smile instead. "No matter how strong the love, it can never stand against time or destiny."

I squint and continue as though I'm talking to myself, "Sometimes I look back and think that I was really stubborn. I mean, why did I leave when I had love?" I heave a deep sigh. "Look at me now. We shouldn't meet and we can't meet."