Li Yu Rong watched Asya follow the servant all the way until she disappeared from sight. He stared a bit lost in thought before bringing his gaze down to the hand that had held her around the waist. He flexed his fingers slightly as if trying to keep within them her gentle warmth and softness.

Sigh...

Since he had spent the entire afternoon to late evening teaching Asya to understand his words, there was neglected work to be done. However, before he touched upon the loathsome drudgery, he had a much more important matter to attend.

Carefully storing away Asya's writing practice, Li Yu Rong laid out a clean sheet of rice paper. He dipped the ink brush into the inkstone well to saturate the brush in ink. The bristles made of fine arctic fox fur gracefully glided across the page. A lengthy letter was soon written after a series of gentle sweeps and re-dunking into the inkwell.

Li Yu Rong waved a hand to help dry the ink before folding and sealing the missive. Infusing it with a bit of a spirit energy, he placed an array to ward away prying eyes.

"See to it that this gets there safely and without fail."

A rush of wind and then the sealed letter vanished without a trace.

Another sheet of rice paper was laid before him, yet rather than gliding the brush in more graceful sweeps, he laid the brush down in the holder. His brow twitched with a hint of annoyance.

"Paoxiao, if you have something to say, come in and say it. If not, take your pacing elsewhere, it's distracting."

The sound of agitated and tromping steps paused. In the time it took to steep a cup of tea a hesitant figure entered the study to take a seat upon a cushion in front of the desk. Hands resting on his knees, Paoxiao opened his mouth to say something yet nothing managed to come out in the end.

Li Yu Rong made no moves to rush him and waited for the demon to speak, yet as he kept floundering the prince began to feel his patients slip. Eventually, Paoxiao finally found the courage to ask. "What are you planning to do with that human girl?"

Brows knit at the suddenness of the strange and unexpected question, Li Yu Rong said with a bit of an edge. "This concerns you, because...?"

Rather than answering Paoxiao went on to say, "I saw that thing on her arm. You forcibly placed a contract on her, why?" He had almost dropped the tray of food he was holding as he caught a glimpse of the markings on her left hand when she had reached out to receive it.

Fists clenched beneath the table, within his sleeves. Li Yu Rong's crimson eye flashed with a guilty anger. "She agreed to it!" He protested.

"How?" Paoxiao shot back. "It's clear to see that she doesn't understand anything! You fooled her into it, and if you're planning to do anything to her I'll-"

"What tiger's blood did you drink to argue with me like this? To threaten me?" He murmured softly, eyes narrowed to slits, a sure sign of his anger shifting toward something murderous.

At that, Paoxiao deflated. A hand moved up to touch the slave binding contract at his neck before falling away. He took a breath and shifted his sight toward the bookshelves at his left to then say, slightly embarrassed, "she has a smile like my sister." Then, in a stronger voice he said with narrowed eyes, "a person who can smile like that isn't bad. Your ruthlessness against humans is widely known, I won't let you do anything to hurt her."

The prince scoffed lightly. He wasn't unnecessarily ruthless without just cause. Those that plotted against him and those that thought to use him, how could he let them go easily?

Calming down, Li Yu Rong picked the brush back up and filling it with ink wrote out another missive. He handed the completed and sealed letter over to Paoxiao. "Take this and deliver it to Commander Jiang. Be quick and don't allow for yourself to be seen."

Normally this would be left to one of his servants with the name Ying, but this rambunctious demon seemed to have too much time and energy on hand. With the contract in place, it would be fine for him to run this errand in the Mortal Realm.

Paoxiao excepted the missive wordlessly and left, feeling stifled at heart. He wanted to argue more but understood that making Li Yu Rong -who was stronger than him- angry wouldn't be beneficial in any way.

Therefore, he resolved to himself silently to watch over that strange girl and try to foil any vicious plots. He couldn't really see what the contract was but knew that the markings were different from a Slave Binding Contract. This fact made him feel slightly better.

Paoxiao had been unable to protect his sister years and years ago when the previous Gate Guardian came to their village and snatched her up for the Mortal Realm. So, when he saw that girl who smiled like his elder sister he felt a deep need to look out for her.

If he could protect that girl with a similar smile he felt he could make up for failing to prevent his sister's abduction. He felt that by protecting her, he could have a chance at finding his sister in the Mortal Realm.

---------------------------------

A door gently pulled open and then pulled shut. Li Yu Rong softly made his way toward the bed where the red-haired girl lay happily sleeping. The gentle rise and fall of her chest and light sounds of her breath put him at ease. The tenseness of his shoulders relaxed as he sat beside her at the edge of the bed.

His fingers brushed the red strands of hair from her face and then trailed lightly down the smooth skin of her cheek, to her chin, and then down her neck before stopping. Her presence felt like a balm to his tattered soul.

It was inexplicable how a single person could move another so completely, even within just a single moment of meeting. The way she had looked at his eye, the way she reached out to touch it in wonder, the way she said his name, and the way she trembled in his embrace all moved him to breathlessness.

Never before had Li Yu Rong desired to possess a person so completely. Never before had he felt a need to keep a person even if it meant underhanded trickery.

Shifting to lay down beside her, he carefully pulled her into his arms. She moved slightly and mumbled a bit, but settled down with her head against his chest. The sleeve of her left hand bunched up revealing the entirety of the mark he placed.

Humans were meant to stay in the Mortal Realm and Spirit Creatures were meant to stay in the Spirit Realm. The Palace of the Four Gates was between the two. If he had not made this contract with her, he would not have been able to keep her here. The palace would have rejected her after a bit of time.

Thinking back to the intel he received from An Ying as he was returning from the eastern gate, his expression darkened.

He would receive a decree to enter the imperial palace soon. Minister Li sure didn't bide his time to whisper into the emperor's -his brother's- ear having already sent out the details of Asya's presence within his Palace of the Four Gates.

Tracing a finger down the symbols on her soft flesh, he added an array for protection before closing his eyes for sleep. When the decree came, he knew without a doubt, his brother would force his hand to bring her along. Unlike the father that had ignored him and tried to have as little to do with him as possible, the brother he later discovered having seemed to enjoy acting out like a spoiled child for his attention.

All he could do was to place his pieces carefully to minimalize, if not outright stop, the coming storm.