“You bloody idiot! What do you mean you won’t bond with him?! Don’t you understand that you will die if you don’t?!” Ming Yan’s voice sounded loud enough to reach the rafters and vibrate the windows, but Ming Quan was unmoved.

“It’s not right to force him or me this way. I do not want to and neither does he. There is nothing more to be said.”

“Then what, you are willing to die just to spare his feelings?!” Father Ming’s yelling reached a higher volume.

Sitting at the edge of his bed, Ming Quan winced as his head throbbed. Dealing with the constant pain of the curse had drained all his energy by now. This argument had been going on for more than an hour already and neither side relented. The only progress was that Ming Yan had at least rescinded his order of asking Yin Xue to mate with Ming Quan, though he still seemed hellbent on convincing his son to bond with Yin Xue. Standing by the doorway like a passerby, Yin Xue looked indifferent as usual.

“You are my son, my heir! Yet you want me to just stand aside and watch you die?!”

Ming Quan was tired and fed up as he raised his voice in return, “Damn it, old man! Don’t you still have those other children from that woman? Just give the position of heir to one of them. It’s not like I’m necessary for this! If you begin training one of them, you can still make it in time, so there’s no need for you to act so upset!”

The air froze.

Ming Yan’s expression turned ugly as he sputtered, unable to form words in his fury. “Y-You… How dare―”

Seeing his father’s complexion turning red, Ming Quan began to regret his harsh words. Though his father never showed his affection outright, Ming Quan knew that he still loved him as much as he could. As a child, he had been very unsympathetic when his father married another woman after his mother’s death, not understanding at that time that Ming Yan had done so only to give his child a mother who would care for him. Ming Quan thus felt immensely guilty for using Ming Yan’s second marriage and the sons he’d gotten out of that against him. But unfortunately, spoken words couldn’t be taken back. The damage was already done.

With rage still writ large on his face, Ming Yan growled, “Fine then! If you want to die so badly then go right ahead! Just don’t come crawling back to me when you can’t bear it!”

Ming Yan angrily stormed out the door with Yin Xue silently following him.

Though Ming Quan looked unaffected by his father’s words on the outside, he was tightly gripping his hands inside the sleeves, using the pain from the curse marks to keep himself from showing any reaction. Only after his father left did Ming Quan release his hands, wincing from the pain. Damn, that had hurt.

His shoulders slumped dejectedly as he thought about the hurtful words he and his father had exchanged. His gaze grew heavy. If he was to die, he didn’t want to die like this while estranged from his father. But he didn’t have the energy to get up while bearing the pain from the curse marks on his feet to walk to his father’s study to apologize and make up either. Ming Quan sighed as he rubbed his forehead tiredly.

Knocking sounded on the door while Yin Xue’s voice called, “Young Master, I’m coming in.” The door opened and Yin Xue’s silvery white figure gracefully floated into the room.

Straightening his back again, Ming Quan asked, “Is there something else?”

“Master has asked me to take care of you,” came the calm reply.

Ming Quan bit his lip and blinked away the wetness in his eyes. Even when he was furious at him, his father still remembered to take care of him. Ming Quan knew that it was truly selfish of him to make his father go through this, but there was no other choice he could make.

Yin Xue’s cold voice broke into his thoughts as he asked, “Young Master, do you have any instructions?”

Letting out a deep breath, Ming Quan thought for a bit before nodding. “I wish to relocate to my mother’s Chrysanthemum Courtyard. Please make the necessary arrangements.” If he only had a week left, then he wanted to spend it in a place with warm memories that made him happy.

Giving a short nod, Yin Xue left to make the preparations. He came back after a few hours, having efficiently finished his tasks. Matter-of-factly, he scooped Ming Quan up into his arms and made for the young master’s new abode.

“Yin Xue! What are you doing?” Ming Quan was indignant at being carried so naturally like this.

“You are unable to walk. This is the most feasible method.”

“…” Ming Quan had nothing to say to that, so he fumed silently while being held in Yin Xue’s arms.

When they reached his mother’s courtyard, Yin Xue turned towards the bedroom, but Ming Quan redirected him to the back where the chrysanthemum garden his mother had loved was located.

At the back of the courtyard and lining the edge of the wide back porch was a low wall. A row of sturdy pillars extended from this wall and supported the roof. The wall connected the base of the pillars and was thick enough to provide a comfortable seat to anyone who wanted to sit relaxedly while viewing the chrysanthemum garden stretching beyond in peace.

Ming Quan motioned for Yin Xue to set him down there. With his back resting against one of the pillars and his legs stretched in front of him, he settled himself contentedly. Yin Xue soundlessly retreated to keep watch from the side.

Silence extended while Ming Quan fondly remembered his mother as she gardened with dirt stuck on her face, as she laughed and made him flowers crowns and garlands, as they played hide-and-seek after forcefully roping in his father as well. A soft, nostalgic smile curved Ming Quan’s lips as he viewed the chrysanthemums with a gentle gaze.

Having grown unruly without his mother’s care for years, the plants had spread up to the area where he was currently sitting. Slender green stalks waved towards him while bearing blooms in deep yellow, light blue, white, and many more. He wasn’t even sure if chrysanthemums in some of these colors existed outside this garden.

Ming Quan’s eyes suddenly flashed as he thought of something. His smile grew wider as he turned and asked Yin Xue, “What exactly were Father’s instructions?”

“To take care of you and listen to any requests you may have,” came the reply.

He had thought as much. With a happy smile, Ming Quan plucked a yellow chrysanthemum whose color verged on amber. Despite the pain in his fingers and the ache in his bones, he stubbornly persisted in removing every one of its leaves and stray branches. Holding it up to survey his handiwork, he admired the slender, smooth, and bare stem, and how it made the flower at the end seem that much fuller and more vibrant in comparison.

“Yin Xue, come here and bend down, please,” Ming Quan called.

As apathetic as always, Yin Xue walked up to the young man, his long hair gleaming as it swayed in the light. When he bent down towards Ming Quan, the silvery strands slipped over his shoulder and danced lightly in the wind.

Ming Quan was entranced for a moment upon seeing that beautiful face up close, but quickly shook it off. With an anticipatory grin, he slipped the bare-stemmed chrysanthemum behind Yin Xue’s ear. The rich amber color contrasted starkly with the cold and shining silver hair and Yin Xue’s blank expression, looking particularly funny.

Unable to control himself, Ming Quan burst out laughing. He realized that part of his almost hysterical reaction might be due to recently learning of his own nearing demise, but he didn’t care. This picture was just too ridiculous!

Yin Xue straightened and stepped away, still as expressionless as before. Seeing the exuberantly laughing youth, no one would guess that he was someone who knew he was about to die soon. Witnessing this unrestrained cheer of the usually staid young master caused a faint stirring in Yin Xue’s heart. It wasn’t sympathy or pity, or even like. It was nothing more than a faint movement that imperceptibly darkened the swirling colors in his eyes.

He had watched this person’s birth and had observed him growing from an infant. He had seen him running around in this garden as a cheerful child and had been offered an amber flower by him back then as well. He had witnessed him slowly develop into a capable person and a worthy heir.

In a similar manner, Yin Xue had expected that he would continue to watch over Ming Quan the rest of the way. He had thought he would one day serve this young master after he grew up and took over the household. Yin Xue had expected to see him live his life, marry and have kids, groom his children and choose an heir for the household, grow old and sick and die, just like all his previous masters.

But this young master wouldn’t have the chance to experience all that. He wouldn’t marry, wouldn’t know what it would be like to have children, wouldn’t know the burden of being responsible for an entire household, he wouldn’t know what it meant to be old and feeble, to feel one’s bones creak and muscles ache due to the ceaseless passage of time… And he would never own Yin Xue like his father did.

He would die just as he was now, at the tender age of nineteen, not even reaching the peak of his youth.

These melancholy and poignant thoughts caused a faint ache in Yin Xue’s heart that he easily ignored. He had no interest in involving himself too much with these humans even if he had made a contract with them. He would do the bare minimum and nothing more.

But still…

Looking down at Ming Quan’s blackened fingers, Yin Xue spoke, “What need was there to hurt yourself so for a mere prank? You humans are―”

“So stupid, right?” Ming Quan interrupted, grinning brightly. “I know, I know. But these are my last days, so I might as well have as much fun as I can.”

Since Yin Xue would be taking care of him till the end, Ming Quan put away his reservations and behaved openly. He’d been cautious and serious for enough of his life. Now, he resolved to laugh as much as he could and do whatever he wanted. His body would soon be too ruined to do anything, so he might as well experience all he could while he still had the chance.

Yin Xue saw those clear amber eyes looking at him, their gaze holding both mirth and a deeper, hidden pain. The strange feeling rose within him again and he indifferently looked away.

“Now, now, don’t be mad,” Ming Quan said, misunderstanding. “Here, I’ll give you this.” And with laughter in his voice, he plucked the next closest chrysanthemum and handed it to Yin Xue. After staring at the blue flower for a bit, Yin Xue chose to accept it solemnly.

Ming Quan smiled, his eyes curving with amusement.

Lifting up his hands, he said to Yin Xue, “Can you carry me back to the bedroom? I think I’m a bit tired now.” Since there was no one else in this empty courtyard, Ming Quan figured he might as well swallow his complaints and do the sensible thing. It was easier like this anyway.

Yin Xue nodded and carried him inside and to the bed, laying him down. Ming Quan struggled in discomfort for a while, since even the slightest brush of the quilt, his clothes, or the bedcovers over his curse marks gave him unbearable agony. But exhaustion won eventually and he sank down into a restless slumber.

At the side, Yin Xue calmly watched over him until Ming Quan was deep asleep. Lifting a hand, he removed the flower from behind his ear and held it together with the other blossom. One was a bright, cheerful amber like his young master’s eyes; the other was a cold blue like one of the colors in his own irises. Together, the warm- and cold-colored flowers balanced each other and gave off a pleasant and harmonious feeling.

Looking around, Yin Xue found a bare vase and put the flowers inside. Just as he was about to leave, Yin Xue paused, pondering for a moment. Reaching a decision, he moved the vase with the two flowers to the nightstand by the bed where they would be the first thing Ming Quan would see when he woke up.

Unwilling to think about why he suddenly had such a consideration, Yin Xue left the room, his snow white robes swaying behind him.