"Rui-er, come over here," Yu Jian said quietly as he held a bow and arrow in his hands.

"Hm?" Xin Rui obediently followed and stood in front of him. She tilted her head up and her innocent eyes found his.

Yu Jian said nothing as he stared at her with dazed eyes before he blinked away his thoughts and took her small hands into his. Placing the bow into her hand and an arrow in the other, he stepped behind her back. He had promised her that he would teach her how to use a bow and arrow at some point.

"You see the quail bird on that tree?" his velvet voice whispered into her ear, tickling her senses and bringing a tingling feeling in her stomach.

Ignoring their close proximity, she forced herself to focus and nodded firmly. Yu Jian's fingers guided her hands into position and he helped her draw the string back.

There was a moment of quietness—the two held in their breaths—and he let go. The arrow zipped by like the wind, almost soundlessly as it pierced the prey, causing it to fall to the ground.

Xin Rui's smile grew wide and she cheered in happiness, "I did it! Well, you did the majority of it, but I did it!"

She ran forwards to fetch the quail and happily brought it back, "We're not having fish tonight!"

"Still so picky," he lightly scratched her nose and gave her a small smile that hung on his lips, "Keep practicing. I won't always be here to guide you."

Rui half-heartedly nodded and dragged him back to the cottage with the quail in hand.

Over the next few days, Rui had been learning how to hunt small birds and fish in the river. With her clothes rolled up and her sleeved tied back, she finally managed to catch a fish.

Water droplets splashed onto her face and wet the edges of her clothes. She carried the handmade net with pride and arrogance—obviously she was proud of herself.

Yu Jian was sitting back on a stone and he watched her struggle the entire time. It was certainly entertaining and amusing to watch her grow frustrated while clumsily falling over once in a while. A gentle smile played on his lips and his eyes radiated with warmth.

In the beginning, she was stabbing through the water in hopes of hitting one of the fish. Finding it absolutely useless, she build herself a net and ran with it across the river. One time, she even fell face-flat. Jumping over to the stone that Yu Jian was sitting on, she laughed happily and brought over her prized possession.

"Hey, hey, are you proud of me?" she tugged his sleeve cutely.

Yu Jian thought to himself as his eyebrows lightly pulled together, 'After the 47th attempt?'

However, when he saw how bright her eyes were, he did not have the heart to burst her happiness. He played along and nodded before patting her head gently, "En. Now come on, it's getting late."

After experiencing the dreadful journey of hunting fish, her appreciation grew for Yu Jian and fish. It was such a difficult task for her! She made a mental note to herself to not be so hateful towards fish next time.

One day, Rui looked out and noticed the beautiful weather with rays of sunlight that pierce through the forest leaves. With her red dress on, she ran into the woods and spun contently. With naturally reddish pink lips, the dress suited her perfectly.

The fresh scent of mother nature mixed with the sweet smell of nearby flowers that drifted along with the wind. In the distance, she could hear the birds chirp while the water flowed tranquilly down the mountains.

Rui looked up into the blue sky with white fluffy clouds, wind blowing her hair and dress. There was a rare sense of wholeness while she was in the presence of nature; the very one that disappeared when she had stopped being a young child. The breeze caressed her back, soothing her from her worries while blowing them away. The air had never been so fresh, so raw.

It was...peaceful.

Yu Jian watched her play from afar, and the way she admired the beauty of nature. The red dress did not fail to emphasize her bewitching beauty. The sheer dress slowly danced with the wind, making it seem like she was a floating goddess that graced the surface of the mortal world. Her red lips pulled into a charming smile while her black doll-eyes glimmered with light as she gazed at the world around her.

Seeing her live so freely, his enclosed heart began to beat alive once again. He had never expressed his interest in finding love or partner, simply because he thought it was a hassle. Her unrestraint laughter echoed with joy in the forest, like chirping birds in love, making his stomach erupt with some sorts of butterflies.

How did this happen, he wonders.

Stirring himself out of trance, he reverted back to his empty gaze. Yu Jian picked up a basket and headed back inside the cottage.

A while back, the two had visited another nearby town to trade goods. As usual, Xin Rui was window-shopping at every stall with no extra cash to spare on herself—at least, ones she deems unworthy. So it surprised her when Yu Jian suddenly presented her a gift.

"Rui-er," Yu Jian called for her, to which she responded with a soft 'en.'

She propped herself on a wooden stool, sitting right across from him. Her bright eyes shimmered like crystal orbs as she looked at him with wonder. With one hand, he motioned her to come closer.

Though she was hesitant at first, in the end, she leaned towards him.He held her gently by the side of her head as he inserted a hairpin into her hair. Confused and flustered, she touched the pin and attempted to remove it.

However, he simply gave her look that said 'I will not take a no from you,' and nodded her towards a bronze mirror.

She shyly walked to the mirror and peeked in. A white, jade pin with a blue butterfly at the end was inserted in her bun. Her red lips parted as her slender fingers traced the smooth edges of the hairpin.

"Are you sure you want to give this to me?" she asked slowly, still filled with doubt. He simply nodded and said nothing more.

Assuming that Yu Jian meant nothing more than a simple gift, she happily accepted. Originally, giving a maiden a hairpin is another way of expressing one's love. Perhaps, men in this era gift maidens hairpins as...a friendly gesture? Cai Zhi conveyed the same message so it must be it.

What Xin Rui did not know, was that Yu Jian had given her the jade pin with the traditional intentions. Seeing her denseness, he silently rolled his eyes. But that's one of the things he enjoys about her.

Her injuries were long healed and all that was left were scars on her body. Though she despises them, it was daily reminder that her father was still on the hunt for her. Rui began to feel the fear rising in her heart again; what if one day, he finds her and kills Yu Jian simply because he hid her? She slowly calmed her rapidly beating heart, telling herself that it was not possible.

It just can't.