Chapter 227 -

Night fell over the barren lands, and the busy pavilion slowly became quiet. The crowds of people were all gone.

Fu Teng neatly stacked the finished papers on his desk and stood up to grab his bag. He was tired from working all day, but even more tired of the heavy feeling between him and An Yu.

An Yu sat across from him, watching him closely. He really did not want Fu Teng to leave. He hated the idea of being left alone, especially with his wedding coming up tomorrow.

“Wait,” An Yu said, tossing another stack of papers onto Fu Teng’s desk. “Check these supply receipts before you go.”

Fu Teng looked at the fresh pile of papers, then stared directly at An Yu. He knew what An Yu was doing. All night, An Yu had been giving him useless, unnecessary work just to keep him from leaving.

Still, Fu Teng did not argue. He sat back down and worked in silence.

By the time Fu Teng finally finished, it was very late at night. He stood up and looked out the window into the dark street. It was far too late. The carriages heading back to Unit 50 had stopped running hours ago.

An Yu walked over and stood right beside him, close enough for Fu Teng to feel his warmth.

“The carriages are gone,” An Yu said softly. “You can’t go back to Unit 50 tonight. Just sleep here. I have a room on the top floor you can use.”

Fu Teng kept his eyes on the dark street, his voice flat and blunt. “Shouldn’t you be heading home? Your wedding is tomorrow, isn’t it?”

An Yu rolled his eyes lazily, a small, careless smile on his face.

“My wedding is not until the evening,” An Yu replied smoothly, looking at him warmly. “I can manage.”

An Yu reached down, his fingers gently wrapping around Fu Teng’s wrist to lead him up the stairs toward the guest room.

The moment their skin touched, Fu Teng jerked his hand back with a sharp, furious yank, breaking the contact completely.

An Yu froze, his hand lingering empty in the air.

Fu Teng turned to face him, his chest heaving as his eyes burned with a dark, furious anger. Words rushed to the back of his throat, a wave of hurt, confusion, and bitter frustration at the way An Yu kept pulling him close while preparing to marry someone else. He wanted to shout at him, to demand why he was acting like none of this mattered, to force An Yu to drop his careless mask.

But looking into An Yu’s handsome, unreadable face, Fu Teng forced his jaw tight and bit back every single word. Telling him how much it hurt would only expose his own weakness.

Without saying a word, Fu Teng brushed past An Yu’s shoulder and walked up the dark wooden stairs alone, leaving An Yu standing quietly in the shadows below.

An Yu smirked, his eyes glinting with clear satisfaction. He knew exactly what he was doing, and seeing Fu Teng’s quiet fury only proved that he wasn’t as unbothered as he tried to pretend.

Closing the distance between them, An Yu took a few slow, deliberate steps toward Fu Teng.

“Why are you acting like this?” An Yu asked smoothly, his voice laced with a bitter edge. “You’re standing there looking at me like I’m the bad guy… when you were the one who got engaged first.”

Fu Teng stopped on the stairs, his back stiffening as An Yu’s words hit him like a cold bucket of water.

“Those Zhao sisters… aren’t they betrothed to you and your twin brother?” An Yu continued, stepping up until he was just a step below Fu Teng, looking right into his eyes. “You have a fiancée waiting for you, Fu Teng. So why act like I’m the one betraying you just because I’m getting married tomorrow?”

Fu Teng’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached. He didn’t answer. He turned on his heel, determined to walk away and put a wall between them before he completely lost control.

He didn’t make it two steps.

An Yu lunged forward, grabbing Fu Teng’s arm and shoving him roughly against the corridor wall. Fu Teng’s back hit the solid wood with a dull thud. Before he could react, An Yu stepped directly into his space, trapping him between the wall and his tall frame. He pressed in close, closing the gap until Fu Teng could feel the heavy, erratic rhythm of An Yu’s breathing against his skin.

“Look at me,” An Yu demanded, his charming mask completely shattered, replaced by a dark, desperate intensity. “Don’t you dare turn your back on me!”

Fu Teng glared up at him, his dark eyes burning, but he still kept his mouth tightly shut.

“You think you’re the only one allowed to move on?” An Yu whispered harshly, his eyes searching every inch of Fu Teng’s rigid face. “You come back here after days of disappearing, looking at me with those cold eyes, acting like I meant nothing to you. You’re getting married to some woman, Fu Teng! What did you expect me to do? Wait around forever for a man who won’t even claim me?”

That was it. The final thread snapped.

“Because I didn’t want any of it!” Fu Teng suddenly roared, slamming his hands against An Yu’s chest and shoving him back with enough force to make him stumble.

Fu Teng’s breathing was heavy, his flat, stoic mask completely destroyed. “I never asked for that engagement! I never looked at her the way I look at you! But you, you sit there on my desk, handing me a wedding card like it’s a joke, like what we have is just a game to you!”

“You met me here at the barren lands but I.. I met you way back at the empire.. when I was just 14, I laid my eyes on you and since then my heart hasn’t beat for anyone else.”