427: 8.27 Does It Count?

8.27 Does It Count?

"Ah…" Ellie let out a laugh that did not reach her eyes, mirthless. "That old fart ended up exposing me. Too bad that I've just let him go just like that. Enough of my name. So who has slapped you?"2

Lu Yizhou's smile softened, a pot of molten honey under the warm spring day. "Ellie."

"Yes?"

"That's a beautiful name."

Ellie gave him a look as though asking, "Are you seriously talking about this now?" But in the end, she still shrugged and responded. "It rhymes with Ella. Ellie, Ella. Nice, isn't it? I chose it myself."

There seemed to be something off with her answer, but in the end, Lu Yizhou was soon distracted when ice bled into her features and the anger was showing itself again. "So, are you going to tell me or… should I make a ruckus to force the culprit to show themselves?" 

Lu Yizhou did not even want to ask what the ruckus entailed. He could only let out a helpless sigh and answered truthfully. "No one slapped me." When Ellie merely leveled him with a stare plus a little raise of her brow, Lu Yizhou added. "...I slapped myself on purpose." Of course Ellie was adamant on getting to the root of the matter thus Lu Yizhou had no choice to elaborate succinctly about his sleepwalking episode.

Ellie's brows were pinched by the time he finished. But at least she did not look like she would slit someone's throat anymore. "No wonder…" she muttered under her breath.

"No wonder what?"

"You stink." She suddenly leaned forward to shove her nose into the crook of Lu Yizhou's neck, causing a quiet gasp to escape his lips. The icy sensation sent shivers down his entire body and even his toes curled up in response. Lu Yizhou did not know whether to be sad or grateful that Ellie remained as oblivious as ever, unaware of the effect she had on Lu Yizhou. "Yes… no doubt about it. Someone touched you right under my nose." She seethed, cold breath coming out in puffs. "How dare they… Did they think that I won't be able to smell it because it's close to the full moon?!"

"Do you know who it is?" Lu Yizhou had a suspicion that it might be the bug who wanted to mess him up right away, so if Ellie could tell him who the culprit was, he would be able to focus on getting rid of them. It took one long second for the entirety of Ellie's words to sink into his brain, and he blurted out in surprise, "Full moon? What's wrong with that? Will something bad happen to you?"

The ghost mannequin in his bathroom said that he would return in the full moon and Ellie implied that she was getting weaker due to the full moon. Could these two events be related to each other?

Ellie eyed him in distrust, seemingly surprised by his questions. "What does it have to do with you, My Lady?"

He heaved out a sigh. It was interesting to meet his lover in multiple scenarios and fall in love with them all over again. But there was always a single hardest part; the suspicion and apprehension, the doubt and hesitance. They plunged straight into his heart like an icy blade, so sharp that bitterness exploded in his mouth. Lu Yizhou swore he was not such a weak-willed and impatient man, but why was he so frustrated now? Why did he feel like he was racing against the clock, itching to hide his lover away in a safe place that belonged to only the two of them?

He stared intensely into those golden orbs. "Milady… I have no idea how to make you trust me but please… Please believe that I will not harm you. Ever. On the contrary, I am here to help you."

He expected Ellie to laugh it off, to burst into laughter and said, "What makes you so confident to judge that I need help?" Typical of how prideful of a person his lover was. However, he certainly did not expect that Ellie would turn quiet all of a sudden, her golden eyes turning indecipherable. 

"When I first saw you," she started in a low voice. "I heard a voice – no, two. I have no idea where it came from but here," she guided Lu Yizhou's hand to where her heart was. "This dead thing lurched for the first time in a long while as if it was trying to get to you. I was caught off guard… but more than that, I was intrigued. I still am. The more I interact with you, the more I realize that I can't seem to leave you alone."

Lu Yizhou's breath stilled in his throat. He had no idea what Ellie was talking about, but if it was his lover's soul that resonated with each other. Then…

"My lady," she whispered with that soft, sultry voice of hers that had not failed to send Lu Yizhou's mind into overdrive. Yet there it was, for the very first time, Lu Yizhou caught a glimpse of vulnerability in her otherwise striking, fearless eyes. "What spell have you casted on me?"

"I don't…" Lu Yizhou swallowed past the lump on his throat. Nobody knew more than him how it felt to have your world turned upside down, how difficult it was to bare your weakness in front of others and trust them to keep it safe. Nobody, but him. "No spell has been casted on you, milady. I can assure you that, at least not on purpose. But…" He leaned forward and gently tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered a bit too long on the cold shell, eliciting a faint shiver from the other. "...If I say that it is love at first sight, does it count?"

Ellie stared at him, stunned. Then she suddenly threw her head back and let out a wholehearted laugh Lu Yizhou had never heard before. "My lady, you're really…" she shook her head, speechless. "First, you did not fear me at all. You have seen what I could do to that ghost and you have also witnessed how I could easily intimidate Baines with only a few words. But lo and behold, your eyes…" Slowly, she cupped Lu Yizhou's cheek and brushed his eyelids with her thumb. Gentle and reverent. "...these captivating silver eyes of yours had not changed at all. And now, you suddenly told me that you have fallen in love at first sight?" 

"Yes," Lu Yizhou answered solemnly. "Can't I?"

"I did not say anything about that." Traces of laughter still remained on her face. They made her eyes crinkled beautifully. "It's just… how can someone like you exist in this world? You're just so unreal."

"Unreal…?" Lu Yizhou chewed on the word with distaste. A deep frown marred his forehead. He clasped Ellie's hand on his face and pressed his warm — hot, if compared to her skin — lips there. He peered up at her through his dense lashes. "Won't Milady know the best whether I am real or not? Or… do I have to put in some effort to convince you?"

Ellie sucked in a breath she did not actually need. It made Lu Yizhou wonder whether previously she was keeping up the pretense of breathing just to humor him. 

"Come," she said in a much deeper, lower voice. Ellie suddenly pulled away and tugged Lu Yizhou's arm along with him. He stumbled in her haste to cross the living area to one of the rooms. With a wave of her hand, the lock clicked open and Ellie did not waste one more second to enter, still dragging Lu Yizhou behind her. Her strength was surprisingly monstrous. 

Lu Yizhou only had a second to survey his surroundings. Flowery patterned wallpaper, a cabinet full of dolls, pink and lace everywhere — his eyes widened, this was the room Ozzie had snuck into! His peripheral vision caught sight of a white fluff dashing past the corner straight to the door before his world suddenly tilted on its axis. 

He landed on the bed with a soft thump. It was covered in a dark mattress and honestly, dusty to a boot and also scattered with white fur everywhere. Yet all thoughts instantly vanished from his brain when Ellie got one knee up the bed, while her tongue darted out to lick the corner of her lips. 

"What are you going to do…?" The question slipped out of his mouth without any filter. He sounded… a little breathless, to be honest.

"Me?" She blinked and tilted her head slightly in an guileless manner that betrayed how sharp her gaze was as she measured Lu Yizhou from head to toe. "I've said it before, you stink. It's plain distasteful to smell another on what's supposed to be mine." She grinned and added, "So I will just have to rewrite everything all over again."

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A/N: Just want to point out that Lu Yizhou addressed Ellie as 'Milady' -

to show his reverence, whereas Ellie always used 'My Lady' with the emphasize on 'my' -

to show her claim *cough*

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