💟 Valentine's Day 2022 Story: Accidental Interstellar Bride - 1/7💟 ➽───────────────❥➽───────────────❥➽───────────────❥

Five years never seemed like a lot of time, especially when Pleiadesians lived hundreds compared to the humans in the worlds they traveled to. Yet, Liyanne still found that living in archaic worlds became tiring faster than she’d like. She often missed the comforts of home. In particular, she missed the transport gates that could get her from one planet to another in seconds.

She didn’t mind walking, but not when it was her primary mode of transportation.

She also missed all her lab equipment. It always bothered her that she was spending so much time collecting medicinal plants, but couldn’t immediately study them. Instead, her many samples needed to be carefully sublimated and contained in her carrier to be studied when she returned to Taygete.

But I will be home soon! She would soon say good-bye to Star System D35, Habitable Planet 87, Time Period H1300.

Liyanne could feel the anticipation coursing through her body as she trudged up the hill to her transport point.

Pleiadesians harnessed lunar energy to connect them through time and space, and certain conditions needed to be met in order for Liyanne to go home.

First, moonlight. The light energy of a full moon was necessary to get a strong connection to make the return swift.

Second, the transport fob that functioned as a beacon to mark her location. It was synchronized to the transporter where she left. It would make her connection strong, ensuring she wouldn’t be ‘lost’ when she transported.

Third, lunar robes that covered her entire body enveloped her in lunar energy and allowed her to slip through space and time from point A to point B, which was the transport room of the Pleiades Galactic Research Facility, where she worked as a medicinal plants researcher.

When she returned, it would have only been five weeks since she left, but she still needed to check on the plants when she arrived.

Liyanne took a deep breath and tried to quell her energy. She had a lot to do when she got home, but that was after a daylong quarantine in the pulsar gel and actual rest. If her brother found out she went straight to the lab without resting, he’d never let her out of his sight to do another collection mission again.

She looked down at the bag at her side and tried to contain her smile. She had quite a haul this time. This particular location was abundant with medicinal plants and there were many who were interested in them.

Of course, not everyone was willing to share their knowledge of medicinal plants; apparently medicinal experts of this field location were secretive about their methods and resources. It was something she was warned about before leaving.

Luckily, she had enough experience identifying plants and was well known in the research facility for being able to dissect the contents of a pill by taste, smell, and feeling. Her ability worked on so called tasteless and scentless pills, as well, and thus she was often sought out by colleagues for assistance.

In this field location, she’d ‘acquired’ a number of ‘secret’ pills and formulas she’d dissected, identified, and collected samples of raw ingredients of. She tried to be discreet about it, but after making her rounds in the area for five years, there were a few suspicious doctors and pharmacists.

Liyanne was sure there were a few who were certain she’d stolen some formulas from them.

Not that it matters. When I leave this location, they won’t remember who I am. They’ll probably direct their suspicions at each other. She pushed aside the thick foliage to finally reach a small, secluded pool in the mountains. A waterfall poured down from a river higher up, but the pool itself was perfectly situated in a clearing, where it reflected the full moon.

A wide smile crossed her face and for a moment, she relaxed.

The window for a ‘full moon’ was three nights before and after the actual full moon. Today was the last night. If she missed it, there would not be enough lunar energy to transport her home and she’d have to wait until the next full moon. It would mark the end of her five-year field collection mission.

Staying any longer would start to make her susceptible to Jump Loss; a point where her body’s native strengths, including her immunity and ability to withstand the pressures of space and time travel, would begin to deteriorate to match the environment she was in. She’d become a ‘normal’ human without the food, supplements, and atmosphere of Pleiades.

That was the reason researchers like her were only allowed to stay in a field location for an average of five years; ten years maximum. After that, their body would no longer be able to withstand travel back to Pleiades. They would either be forced to remain the rest of their long, but still shortened compared to what it could’ve been, lives in the field location or risk their lives to return.

She cringed a bit. That was such a serious price to pay for oversleeping.

Just a few minutes more and the sun would rise, and I’d be stuck here for another month. Liyanne let out a heavy breath and rolled her shoulders back. She was rushing to return to the pool on time, as the child of an acquaintance was very ill, and she had gone to prepare some medicine before she left.

She knew she would be cutting it close, but the Wu family had been incredibly good to her and were instrumental in helping her adjust to the field location. Little Lan was still in her mother’s stomach when they took Liyanne in. The Wu family guided her on the social knowledge of her field location; information she lacked.

They taught her about the dynastic empire they were a part of, told her who the emperor was, informed her about wars at the border, and how to properly deal with different classes of people as a commoner. Such strict class differences were things she only read about in history screens. After five years, she still hadn’t adjusted perfectly.

Their technology was ancient. That was the best she could describe it. However, she wasn’t there to collect ancient technology. She was there to collect medicinal plants. When she was done, she would leave the field location in as pristine a condition as she found it.

When she left, everyone she crossed paths with would only have a vague memory of an ‘amnestic peasant girl found in the woods,’ if not completely forget her. Despite this, she still wanted to save Little Lan. Now that the child had her medicine, she’d be up and about, talking one’s ear off again in another day or two.

Liyanne felt she could leave in confidence.

She placed her carrier, a special metal and stone case the size of her head, onto a rock by the edge of the pool. She carefully balanced herself as she pulled off her now worn leather boots. Methodologically, she removed the layers of clothes she’d acquired in her five years: a patched outer robe, pants with tattered hems, threadbare socks, belly band, and a badly carved wooden hair ornament she made herself.

She folded them neatly into a pile and set it on the rocks before climbing over in nothing but the thin, white robes made of lunar silk. She pulled the hood over her head, covering her dark hair, and made sure it wrapped around her body. The sleeves fell over her hands, and she gathered the carrier in her arms like a baby.

Around her waist, her transportation fob, which was in the guise of a pale jade token hanging from a lunar silk chord, began to glow under the moonlight.

Liyanne made her way to the edge of the pool. She needed to float over to the reflection of the moon and then she'd be on her way.

The sound of the waterfall filled her ears. The chilly water from the mountains lapped at her ankles. She was focused on making her way to the edge before jumping in.

She didn’t hear the faint yelling in the distance. She didn’t hear the rapid, heavy footsteps approaching.

“There’s water! Bees can’t follow you in!”

Her head snapped up. “Bees?” She turned around to look over her shoulder. Her eyes went wide as a figure shot out of the tree line, appearing to be running for his life.

She felt a blow to her body, knocking the air out of her lungs as her arms flew to the side. The carrier slipped between her fingers. She felt something pulled from her waist before she was shoved backwards, into the pool.

As she fell back, the hood of her robes fell off and she saw a man’s face above her, the full moon, and a massive rip across white silk floating above her.

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“The villagers say she isn’t from around here.” Steward Peng looked towards the small figure wrapped in worn, patched robes with some pity. “She has passed through numerous times, but she is not one of the villagers. She doesn’t belong to any of the families in the area, it seems.”

Zhang Shenwei sat on a wooden stool by a large fire, tying his damp black hair into a haphazard ponytail. His clothes were being wrung and dried not far away and he was forced to wear the much more modest clothing of some of his guards while someone ran back to the village to fetch him another set of clothes.

Aside from Steward Peng, there were six guards who were escorting him and three attendants, as well as a few men from the village where they were spending the night. None of them expected to run into a young woman up the mountain.

His dark eyes looked across the fire.

The young woman was seated by the rocks, near the pool, staring blankly at a broken jade token in her hands. She was soaking wet, but hadn’t changed out of her white silk robes. At most, she had wrapped herself in a thin, faded garment.

After her initial scream upon the discovery that her token had fallen off and broke apart on the rocks, she had said nothing. She only sat there, alternating from looking at her broken token to the large tear in her white robes, and back with a hollow, haunted expression across her pale face.

Several of his men had tried to communicate with her, but she hadn’t responded aside from looking at them with large, brown eyes and clenching her jaw.

At first, he assumed she was a girl from a village down the mountain. What she was doing in a remote pool in the dark was disconcerting in itself, but she became more mysterious the more he learned about her. Or rather, the less he learned.

“You don’t suppose she was trying to kill herself, do you?” Shenwei had heard of such things; women in such dire positions that, for one reason or another, they could not bear to live. He even knew the young widow of a comrade-in-arms who hung herself when she found out her new husband had died in battle. To say such a thing unnerved him was an understatement.

“I don’t know, Your Grace. There is certainly a chance, though she hasn’t responded to any of our questions,” Steward Peng replied. He squinted towards the young woman. “Perhaps she is mute?”

Shenwei shook his head. “No...no, I heard her scream something about her jade token when we came out of the water.”

“Then, perhaps she is in shock.” Steward Peng seemed to try to rationalize the young woman’s behavior. “One of the villagers says that she had come to the village a few years ago, with seemingly no memory of who she was. It could be that the jade token was all she had left hinting at her past.”

Shenwei’s heart dropped, and a wave of pity swept over him. He couldn’t imagine being in such a position. And now, to have her one connection to her identity ruined; no wonder she was so quiet.

“Your Grace!” a voice called behind him and he turned around. One of the attendants and guards he’d sent to fetch his clothing had returned, and with them, a thin, leathery-skinned old man.

“Village chief.” Shenwei stood up. The old man came to a stop in front of him and bowed.

“Your Grace, are you all right? I’ve called for a doctor in town. He will arrive soon and will meet us at my home.” The old man seemed full of worry and apology. Shenwei cracked a small smile.

“I am well, village chief. The fall into the water wasn’t painful in the least, and I managed to avoid getting stung,” Shenwei replied. “I am more concerned with my men.”

“Yes, of course! They should come back to have the doctor look at them, as well!”

“And her.” Shenwei looked towards the motionless young woman. He narrowed her eyes and could make out her lips moving, silently muttering to herself. “I don’t think she’s all right.”

Several heads turned back to the young woman, and across from him, the old village chief let out a huff and frowned.

“Her again,” he said with disdain. “Every time she appears, the village’s peace is shattered.”

Shenwei raised a brow and looked back at the old man. “Did something happen when she first arrived?”

“No one knew who she was or where she came from. Everyone thought it was strange. Out of pity, several of our young men offered to marry her and take her in, but she staunchly refused!” It was clear that the village chief was insulted, as if her rejection of his villagers were an incredible offense.

To Shenwei, he could understand any hesitancy. There were so many things to consider about marriage. It was actually a bit strange that someone would propose to a stranger. He looked back at the young woman.

She closed her eyes and seemed to take a deep breath before wrapping her slender, pale hand around her broken token. She pushed herself up and the threadbare garment that had been around her shoulders slipped off.

His eyes widened and his thin lips parted. “Avert your eyes!”

His voice momentarily lost the grace of his position and reverted to the sternness of his days on the battle front. However, it had the desired effect. From Steward Peng to the villagers who accompanied them, all the other men turned away to avoid looking at the young woman whose cold, wet white robes were clinging to her body.

Even Shenwei dropped his eyes to keep from looking at the poor girl, although he had seen enough.

“You.” A low, growling voice didn’t seem like it would come from such a figure, but it pierced his head. “You broke my token, and you ripped my robes!” Her voice steadily rose and Shenwei tried not to cringe as she stood so close to him, she was almost forcing him to meet her gaze. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done!?” “Young lady!” The village chief yelled and, with a hand over his eyes, turned to admonish her. “How dare you speak to the duke-”

“Shut up, old man! This doesn’t concern you!” The young woman’s voice was so loud and jarring, that the village chief seemed to choke on his own words. “What are you going to do about this? This token is irreplaceable!”

Strange. Shenwei felt killing intent. His eyes flickered to the young woman. She didn’t look like she could hurt anyone. It couldn’t have been from her, but he could feel a heavy, oppressive weight seeping out of her.

“I will be responsible,” he said, almost automatically.

“How?” The young woman’s eyes bore into him and Shenwei drew his head back. “This token can’t be replicated! It’s ruined! Ruined!”

“I am sure it can. My family is acquainted with the best jade masters in the capital,” Shenwei told her. He surprised himself with how placating he sounded, but the only times he’d been confronted with women this angry was when they blamed him for the death of a loved one. Emotionally unstable and fueled by anger made them lose control and at any moment, they could try to attack him.

He assessed that the young woman in front of him was unarmed. Logically, she didn’t appear to be able to cause him harm. However, his senses told him to be cautious. His time on the battlefield told him to listen to his senses, no matter how illogical they seemed.

“Miss, I can assure you that we will be able to replace your token,” Steward Peng said, still keeping his eyes shut.

“Really?” The woman let out a bitter scoff. “You think you can replace this?” She shoved a piece of the token into Steward Peng’s chest and the middle-aged man stumbled backwards at the force.

Shenwei’s eyes grew large and looked back at the young woman. Steward Peng was not a frail old man. He was short, but hardy and had spent time in the army in his youth. Steward Peng seemed to wince before one hand rose to try to grasp the token.

He held it in his hand and looked down, opening his eyes to study the piece. His calloused fingers moved the broken piece around and his lips tugged into a frown.

“Is this...jade?” he asked.

“No! It’s not your common jade!” the young woman said. “That is stone from the sky! You can’t just dig it up from the ground!”

Shenwei approached Steward Peng and took the broken piece. He tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brows. It looked like jade, but when he held it, it was heavier than it should’ve been and warm to the touch. Warmer than it should’ve been even after being held in someone’s hand. The edge that had broken off also wasn’t as messy as it should’ve been. It should’ve been rough and raw, but it was smooth, as if sliced through.

Then there was the pulsing energy that he felt as soon as it touched his hand. It was very faint and he almost didn’t notice it, but it was there.

He looked up at the young woman and narrowed his eyes. “Where did you get this?” “I’ve had it with me since I came into this world,” she said behind gritted teeth. She almost sneered. Shenwei understood; this must’ve been a gift to her at her birth. And he broke it. “Do you still think you can replace it?”

“Perhaps not replace, but fix?” Steward Peng suggested. “Perhaps some of the masters can put it together again with gold.”

A disgruntled ‘ugh’ seemed to come from the young woman as she snatched her broken token back.

“As if gold will get it to work....” She turned around and headed back to her spot.

“Miss, I am responsible for your broken token and your ripped garments. If you come with me, I will properly compensate you for both the token and your clothes,” Shenwei told her. “I am an honorable man, and I will take responsibility for my actions.”

Her back was to him and, though her hair was long, it didn’t reach past her waist, and he could still see the swell of flesh beneath the damp, white robes that clung to her. His face grew warm and he lifted his head up, to look anywhere but at her.

“I told you, this token is irreplaceable. No amount of money can fix it!”

“Miss, my master is not short of money or resources. He is Duke Zhang Shenwei,” Steward Peng tried to reassure her. “Of the Zhang Family, cousins to the Zhun Imperial Family.”

“Anything you need, I can provide for you,” Shenwei said, taking a step towards her. “Whatever you need, I can give you.”

He watched her head snap up. She slowly turned around and once more, he averted his eyes to keep from staring.

“Anything?” she asked. He nodded. “Can you get me silkworms?”

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There was still a faint energy in the transportation fob. If she kept the two pieces apart, then she could keep the remaining lunar energy from being used and save it for when she needed it.

As for her robes, they needed to be repaired, but she couldn’t simply sew the rip closed. Once the fibers were severed the energy leaked out like water from a shattered jar. There was a chance she could still use her robe, but she couldn’t feel any energy coursing through it at all.

Lunar fabric robes were made specifically for space-time travel and were woven from the silk of Aldebaran translucent moths. They were only active at night, in all their forms, and would only eat Aldebaran thistle leaves, which unfurled in the moonlight.

The resulting silk was loaded with lunar energy, making it ideal for space-time travel.

Silkworms in this field location ate around the clock and only mulberry leaves.

And plants here took their energy from the sun, not the moon. Whatever lunar energy they absorbed was minimal compared to back home. She couldn’t guarantee that the silk she’d harvest would be strong enough to repair her robe, which was the best-case scenario. At worst, she’d need to make an entirely new one. That was likely the case, as the new thread may not work with the original.

Liyanne sat on the end of a tattered mat that had been laid over a pile of straw. The village chief’s small, thatched roof house was the best in the tiny village. It had more than one room, but privacy was still limited. Changing under such circumstances was a bit more troublesome than she’d liked.

She was hesitant to give up her lunar robe to be cleaned and dried to the villagers, though aside from appearing high quality, it was useless. She had to make do with wearing her regular worn, threadbare hand-me downs that she usually had on.

She made sure to keep her broken transport fob. That always had to stay on her.

A knock came from the doorframe of the room, and she looked up. Steward Peng, the main valet to Duke Zhang Shenwei, the man who had tackled her into the waterfall pool, stood by with a small wooden bowl in his hands.

“Miss Li Yan, please take this and warm yourself up. You refused to take off your wet robes and can catch ill,” he said. He tentatively took a step forward.

This man didn’t know that in her current Pleiadesian health, she could wade through a blizzard as she was and be fine. She didn’t need to eat as often as the humans in this world, either. Still, she needed to keep up the appearance of normality. She didn’t want to stand out too much.

Doing so got people killed in some field locations.

“Thank you, Steward Peng.” She stood up to accept the small bowl and gave him a small bow of her head.

“When you are finished, my master would like a moment of your time to speak to you about...the compensation,” Steward Peng seemed to force himself to say.

“All right.” Liyanne gave him another nod before carefully returning to sit down and bring the bowl to her mouth. She wasn’t given a spoon, but the watered-down soup inside didn’t need one.

She ate quickly and after just a bowlful, she was full. In the past five years, she’d eaten like a bird; a peck here and there at each meal, whenever she was in the presence of other people. When she was out, collecting alone in a forest, she wouldn’t eat for days. Pleiadesians ate one large meal once a week and that would be enough to sustain them.

Another knock came from the door as she placed her soup bowl beside her. The Duke lingered just outside. The room she was in didn’t have an actual door. It was more a curtain made of patched together rags. It was pushed aside, and anyone could see her.

“Miss Li Yan, may I speak to you for a moment?”

Liyanne nodded and motioned for him to sit. She spent her five years on the field in the presence of peasants: farmers, hunters, fisherman, and a few villagers. The wealthiest people she met were small town magistrates and a few merchants she’d sold medicine to for money. This particular field location didn’t have many research collectors, so there wasn’t much in terms of local coinage for her to use.

She’d resorted to selling medicine. Really effective medicine to fund her journey. She made quite a bit, but had wanted to keep some coins to be used in case future researchers needed to come collect more samples. Her small money pouch was currently at the bottom of the waterfall pool, in her carrier that should’ve automatically disguised itself as a moss-covered rock.

It was difficult to retrieve when the area had been crawling with the Duke’s men. In addition, it would’ve been strange for her to bring it everywhere. Her best choice was to hide it. She could always come back for it.

The Duke stepped in and looked around. The place where she had motioned for him to sit was an empty patch of hardened dirt. There was nowhere else for him to go. He didn’t seem to hesitate and knelt down on the floor, across from her.

Now that it was daylight, she could make out his face a bit better. Thick black hair, thick brows, high and straight nose bridge, and sharp, upturned eyes. If she were to guess, he’d be considered good-looking in this field location. He got bonus points for being tall and having what appeared to be a nice, firm body. She’d heard he was a soldier.

“Miss Li Yan, once more, I am Zhang Shenwei and I am a Duke in the Zhun Dynasty,” he said. Liyanne gave him a small nod to signal that she was paying attention and for him to continue. “I would first like to apologize for startling you last night. My men and I were hunting a boar that was terrorizing the village where we were staying. We accidentally stumbled upon a hive. I didn’t know you would be at the pool.”

“I see,” Liyanne said. “I understand it was an accident.”

He looked relieved and nodded. “I also want to compensate you for breaking your token and causing a tear in your robes. The robe is unbelievably beautiful; I’ve never felt such quality. I’m sure it must be very expensive.”

“It is not the cost that makes it important.” It was my ride home, you ass.

He cringed a bit. “I understand. I will try to find a suitable replacement.”

“There is no suitable replacement that you can buy, Duke Zhang,” Liyanne told him in a calm voice. “What I need are silkworms to raise and harvest so that I can repair it. If I cannot repair it, then I will need to weave another one.”

He looked surprised and drew his head back. “You know about sericulture?”

She was 324 years old; she knew many things. “Can you give me silkworms, Duke Zhang?”

“Yes.” His answer was firm, and he gave her a serious nod. “I will be able to provide them for you and whatever else you need to raise and harvest them.”

“Then that will be suitable compensation.”

His broad shoulders seemed to relax, and he nodded. “That is a relief to hear! I will arrange for us to leave at once.”

He began to stand up and Liyanne paused. “Leave?”

“Yes, to go back to the capital,” the Duke told her. “I have been at the border for five years. I must return home.”

Her eyes crinkled up. “You’re bringing me with you?”

He looked at her strangely and seemed to try to give her a smile. “Yes. You will be my consort.”

“Your what?” Liyanne shot to her feet and faced him. “What are you talking about?”

“The compensation,” the Duke told her. He looked confused by her reaction. “I put you in a questionable position and touched you inappropriately when we were in the water.” She didn’t remember him doing so and continued to stare at him with narrowed eyes. “It would be reprehensible for me to leave you after hurting your reputation. As such, I am willing to take you as my consort; my wife.”

She blinked. “All I want are silkworms.”

“I understand that,” he said, giving her a pitying look. “And you will get them.”

“I don’t want anything else.”

“Yes, but you will need a place to raise them. You will need equipment to do so, as well as the equipment needed to harvest the silk and weave,” he told her. “I can give those to you.”

She had money. She didn’t need him. She could set up in the forest, near some mulberry trees. Liyanne slowly shook her head. “That’s not-”

“If you are worried about...intimacy,” he said, avoiding her eyes. “I will not touch you. All I will do is provide for you.”

Her mind was racing. For a moment, she was insulted that he didn’t want to touch her, but then pushed that aside. She still retained her body shape from Pleiades, but her golden skin and dark blue hair had been adjusted to several shades paler and black respectively, in order to fit in with the phenotype of the field location’s local population. She didn’t think she was unattractive by their standards, but that was her opinion.

Her second thought was that being supported with a roof over her head, financial stability, and supplies would allow her to focus on her silkworms and gather enough material to go home.

“You won’t bother me?” she asked. He blinked, but nodded. “You will let me live with you and I can do whatever I want?”

He chuckled softly. “Perhaps not whatever you want, but you can put all your attention into raising silkworms.”

She relaxed and lowered her arms. “That’s not a bad idea....”

“Then it’s settled-”

“What is the price?” She cut him off and the Duke paused in midstep to the door. “You don’t have to go this far. Throwing me a tael and having people bring me silkworm eggs is more than enough. I already told you that my token and robes can’t be replaced. All you should be able to offer me is monetary compensation.” She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want from me?”

The Duke seemed to take a deep breath. “You’re smarter than you appear, Miss Li Yan.”

“No, you just think you’re cleverer than you are,” she said. “What do you want, Duke Zhang?”

He straightened up and turned around to face her. “The reason I am returning to the capital is because my father, Zhang Zuwei, has passed away and I need to inherit the title. I spent the last five years fighting on the border. I have not been married and while I am trying to settle the household, I cannot afford to be distracted by offers of marriage.”

“Having a peasant woman as a consort will not ward off marriage offers, Duke Zhang.”

“But it will limit them,” he said. “Miss Li Yan, I will not only compensate you for your losses from last night, but for your time, if you accept. I will give you enough fields to grow mulberry trees to feed enough silkworms to make hundreds of robes.”

“I only need to make one.”

He opened his mouth and seemed unsure of how to counter that. “What about a store? Such a resource will support you for life. When the time comes for me to find a suitable Duchess Zhang, then I will of course give you your freedom and you can keep everything I have given you.”

“My freedom?” Liyanne’s brows shot up and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you planning on imprisoning me?”

‘No! No, I meant to say that you will be free of me.”

She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. She’d read books about this situation, but never thought she’d actually be in one. “What you are proposing is a mutual partnership, Duke Zhang. You will give me resources to make my robe, as well as a place to live, unbothered. In return, I will pretend to be your beloved consort that you are so devoted to, that you cannot see any other woman.”

“Yes! That’s right....” He trailed off and narrowed his eyes. “Beloved consort?”

“What do you think will work better? A scarecrow or an actual person?” Liyanne smirked.

His brows furrowed and he slowly nodded. “You’re right. If we appear affectionate, it will be more believable.” He looked at her carefully. “Is that all right?”

“As long as I get to focus on my silkworms and my robe without being harassed or having to worry about day-to-day necessities, I can spare a few minutes a day to make a show of being a loving wife.” She lifted her chin. “Though, I must warn you. I am a commoner. There is no way I can compete with the classical arts presented by the daughters of the wealthy and noble.”

“I understand,” he said. “You won’t need to. I will take care of it.”

“Then we have an accord, Duke Zhang,” she said.

He looked at her suspiciously. “You are certain?”

“Are you having second thoughts? This is a temporary arrangement. At least until I can make my robe,” she said. “We won’t be together forever.”

He took a deep breath and nodded. “Then, Miss Li Yan, we have an accord.”

Her lips curled into a small smile, and she bowed her head. “To a successful partnership, Duke Zhang.”

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Perhaps he should’ve observed her more before agreeing. Everyone had small habits, quirks, and mannerisms. It would’ve been good for him to have taken note of them first. Aside from her routinely casual speech and her curiosity, neither of which bothered him, Shenwei was forced to reckon with her intense interest in plants.

Whenever they stopped for a rest or to eat, she’d wander off and come back with a handful of plants gripped in her hands. When she first walked out of the carriage the first time they stopped, she put her hands on her hips and looked around, then nodded.

“How long will we stop?” she had asked Steward Peng, who politely told her that it wouldn’t be for long. They had only stopped to let the horses rest and for them to stretch out and relieve themselves. “Okay, I’ll be back before we leave.”

Li Yan had then walked off the dirt road and into the forest, much to the confusion of the guards and valets with them. Several of them had looked at him, silently asking what his new consort was doing.

Shenwei didn’t know either. Steward Peng coughed and muttered a reminder that women, too, needed to relieve themselves.

And just as Li Yan promised, she returned just as they were getting ready to leave with plants in hand. Not simply flowers she’d picked, but weeds. Roots and all.

“Miss, may I take that for you?” one of the valets asked. If Shenwei were to guess, the valet didn’t want her bringing an uprooted plant with dirt on it into the carriage.

“Yes, please! Thank you. Be careful with it. It would be good to replant.”

“Is this plant useful for something, Miss?”

“The chemicals inside the roots can be extracted and used as an anti-inflammatory agent suitable for topical application and internal digestion,” she had said with a brilliant smile. “Please take care of it.”

Li Yan repeated the process, and it was inevitable that dirt would get tracked into the carriage. There was something about seeing the rough edges of her clothes smeared with dirt that irritated him. She was still wearing her peasant clothing, as they hadn’t had a chance to stop at a sizable town and get her robes more fitting of a duke’s consort.

Did she need to make her appearance worse by getting dirty?

“Must you pick up plants when we stop?” Shenwei frowned. He lowered the book he was reading and looked towards her, where she sat on his left. She looked towards him and then down at her dusty hands.

The wagon behind them that was carrying their things had a make-shift planter and another box with various leaves, roots, and flowers she had begun to dry. Shenwei didn’t know where his valets got the boxes, and was quite surprised that they were taking as good a care of her plants as she asked. While they hadn’t voiced their disagreement to bringing Li Yan, he had seen it in their eyes when he made the announcement.

“This area has many medicinal plants,” Li Yan said. “It would be a shame to go through and not collect any when we have the chance. You never know when you may need them.”

“Medicinal plants?” He squinted his eyes. “You collect medicinal plants?”

She nodded. “Yes, why do you think I was on the mountain?” She raised a brow and leaned back.

“I thought you were taking a bath....” That was the logical reason, wasn’t it?

She wrinkled her nose and looked to the side. “All right, that, too. But why else would a lone woman be on the mountain at night?”

He narrowed his eyes and closed the book before placing it beside him. “What were you collecting?”

“It goes by many names, but here it’s called moonsnake. Their flowers only bloom at night.”

That sounded surprisingly legitimate. He leaned back and kept his eyes on her. “And what does moonsnake do?”

“The leaves are thick and if you cut them, there is a milky substance. It’s a bit sticky, but it’s good for clotting blood over an open wound and facilitating healing. However, there is very little of the substance in each leaf and the leaf has to be mature, otherwise the substance is still clear and watery, making it ineffective.”

She was strange, but she spoke of something interesting. Shenwei leaned forward and tilted his head. “What do you do with the medicinal plants? Sell them?” “Sometimes. If I have enough time in one place, I will try to dry them or preserve them for later use. I’ve sold some to a few herbalists and wandering doctors, as well,” Li Yan replied. She spoke rather casually about it. It didn’t feel as if she were lying.

“Where did you learn?”

“My father studied plants,” Li Yan told them. “And I became interested in it as a child. I followed him around, studied, and now do research of my own.”

He cocked his head and drew his brows together. “Research?”

Li Yan cracked a smile and chuckled. “Well, you always want to improve on what you know. Let’s say the junipera leaves are said to be good for clearing the sinuses, so you try other parts of the tree. The branches, the wood, the bark, the roots. You smoke them, dry them, grind them up, put them in tea or make them a salve. Then you try to see which of the outcomes is most effective.”

He watched her face, studying her animated expressions. “And which part is most effective?”

Her almost smug smile didn’t falter. “Tree bark in tea for prevention, leaf extract in oil for immediate clearing.”

Shenwei’s thin lips pulled into a smile. “Shall we go with that for how we met?”

She knit her brows together and crossed her legs. It was an odd habit he wasn’t used to seeing most women do, especially in his presence. “Ah, the lie that brought us together,” she said. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement, as if she were ready to hear a good story. “I was thinking that I would go with I saved your life in the forest with medicinal plants.”

Shenwei’s smile dropped. He drew his head back and frowned. “Why must I be the one you saved? I should’ve saved you at the border. From marauders.”

“The northwestern border?” He had told her where he was stationed when they first started the journey back. It had been to fill in the initial awkward silence between them. Li Yan raised a brow and shook her head. “The terrain and climate of the northwestern border make it limiting for medicinal plants. Why would I, the medicinal plants researcher, be there?”

“You were kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped!?” Her voice rose and he almost laughed at the dismay on her face. “No.”

“Why not?” He held back his smile.

She crossed her arms over her ample chest and turned her head away. “I’m not going to be kidnapped in this elaborate lie.”

“You’re a beautiful woman who was out in the mountains collecting moonsnake and was abducted by traffickers to be sold on the border. Their camp was raided by marauders and by chance, my unit was stationed near-by and we rushed in to save you,” he told her, as if easily recounting an actual occurrence.

Her lips parted and she stared at him with big, wide brown eyes. “Did you already make this up?” He nodded, confident. She smirked. “Well, won’t someone be able to check if such an event happened? It sounds like quite a battle and military logs would have it recorded, right?”

He nodded again. His confidence didn’t falter. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s a good thing it did actually happen.”

Her face dropped and he turned his head away so she wouldn’t see him struggling to keep from laughing.

Li Yan shook her head and seemed to think for a few moments. “Would it not be strange that you left that battle without a consort, but are returning with one?”

“You were freed, and we crossed paths again when I was returning home.” His story was flawless.

Li Yan narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, her lips curled up. “All right. That’s fine.”

“Good-”

“And that’s when I saved your life.”

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