Chen Luo's many roses

CH 3: Drank myself to sleep last night, now the devil has come to take me.

Much to my dismay, Chen Luo indeed arrives early after the full moon. 

I sit restless in my office trying to figure out how to handle this situation smoothly when suddenly the doors open and two guards let in a man so young I almost ask them who this newcomer is.

"Advisor Chen Luo has arrived from the Capital" He bows to me and I stand up, returning the gesture as I in half-shock take in his appearance.

Young, firm and slightly taller than me yet I can tell by his stance that he is a little bit younger. It's just something you learn and pick up when working with alot of people like this. 

Then my eyes travel upwards to meet the brightest grey eyes I have ever seen. I can hear the doors shutting behind him as we are left alone in my study. 

Another oddity about him is that his hair is short and messy, almost as if he had arrived fresh from the battlefield. He seems to notice my interest in his hair and touches it with his hands.

"I was held hostage at a rogue thief camp, they sliced off most of my hair. My apologies" His eyes meet mine and I quickly recompose myself.

"No worries, but do remember to maintain overall status-worthy clothing here in the court to make up for it" I quickly stop myself from stammering, and sure enough calm down enough to nag a little bit.

Chen Luo nods with a smile, and I decide that I want to know more about this man.

"You seem younger than most of the men I've had this far"

"I am only 21, not much younger than Mr. Li correct?" I smile, I had been right in assuming he was younger.

"Yes, and please call me Sheng Li from now on, Mr. Li sounds too tight and tense. We are the youth right? Let's modernise the system together, shall we?"

I know. I know. My attitude towards Chen Luo is completely contradictory to what I had been planning on giving, but by no means does this mean that I'll let him off easy. No way. He will be trained twice as hard as the other advisors, especially considering his military background.

I signal for Chen Luo to follow me as I exit the room.

"What made you want to become an advisor?" We stroll peacefully down the outer corridor of the magistrate's manor, without a clear destination in mind.

Chen Luo ponders for a moment and then he smiles and replies "I guess I just got bored with the battlefield and wanted to try out something different"

We end up at the small pond in the backyard of the manor and I sit down on a bench, watching as Chen Luo takes in the scenery.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" His face lit up, and I have to admit that he does look very handsome with the way that the sun caresses his face. His bright yellow and black clothes nicely frame his figure, which made him look even taller than he actually is.

I turn my eyes to the pond, where a tiny slot of land stands at the centre with a cherry tree growing on it all alone. It is already bearing fruit, tiny red cherries too sour to eat but pretty to look at.

I wonder if that was the earth's conveyance of a metaphor about me, lonely and bitter on an island surrounded by water and no way of escape.

But oddly enough, while looking at Chen Luo I find myself feeling less lonely than when looking at other people.