He embraced her waist and held her as they descended from the city wall.
Upon touching the ground, Yue Lian consciously stepped out of his embrace, just as she always did, neither clinging to him nor making him feel the slightest discomfort.
She also dutifully said, "I'll head back first. You should head home soon too and rest; you need to be early to accompany the empress tomorrow. Be sure not to catch a cold."
"Wait."
Zi Wei called out to her.
Yue Lian's steps faltered, and her heart skipped a beat.
In the past, whenever she'd walked away on her own volition, Zi Wei had never asked her to stop.
His indifference had turned her consciousness into habit.
She never dared to linger because she couldn't bear it.
Bearing too much... would mean harboring too many hopes.
And she, she dared not.
"I will walk you home."
Zi Wei knew that Yue Lian was now living in a small courtyard by Ruo Shui border and intended to walk her back.
