Lazily Yours.

Xu Ke stared at Ye Bai's face before he smirked. "You think I am trying to impersonate him?"

"The heir of the Xu Family wouldn't personally come here just for a wedding!" she squinted her beautiful eyes and threw a dagger towards him. In response, Xu Ke took a few steps backward, the smile on his face didn't falter.

"Interesting." He uttered. However, Lyca wasn't about to stop doing her plan. She continued attacking until they finally arrived at the lake. To her surprise, Xu Ke didn't engage and just continued defending himself.

This wasn't the Xu Ke that she knew.

Again, Lyca let out a series of attacks, and every time, Xu Ke only defended himself. She then held his wrist, attempting to throw him towards the water. But the latter was quick enough to remove her hands, making a small maneuver to hug her and jumping into the water with Lyca in his arms with a loud splash.

"You— "

Xu Ke's laughter echoed when he saw the woman's face reddened. 

"I can't swim!" Lyca suddenly said. Her head bobbed as she opened her mouth, and tried to reach out towards the man. "He— Help!"

At first, Xu Ke didn't help her. Who would believe that the great General cannot swim? Then he started frowning when he saw her struggle. Without having second thoughts, Xu Ke held Lyca's hands and attempted to pull her. To his surprise, Lyca suddenly smiled at him. Then he felt her knees hit his crotch. 

His eyes widened as he opened his mouth into a silent scream. The pain was just… he glared at Lyca who was already standing on the water. The surprise that he felt was not enough to dampen the pain from the kick. 

"Hah." Lyca beamed. By now, she already got what she was looking for. The necklace was indeed in Xu Ke's possession. With Xu Ke's white robe it was easy for her to see the silhouette of the necklace under his clothes now that it was wet. "Next time… don't impersonate someone like the great Xu Ke."

"You— You think Xu Ke is great?"

She snorted in response. Of course, she had to say those words to make this man think that she liked Xu Ke. "I hope you freeze and die." She said before turning away and disappearing into the dark. Lyca then went back to her palace and change her clothing. 

She knew that Xu Ke would definitely come and find her after what happened tonight. While he doesn't like that man, Lyca also understood that without Xu Ke, she would still be alive in this world. Meaning… she wouldn't have the chance to meet Huang Sheng Hong, Tang Nini, and… Shen Qui.

This should be the light in the darkness that Shen Qui was speaking about, right? The positivity in the middle of all the cruel things happening around her? The thought of the man, made her smile as she continued to comb her long white hair. 

She used to hate combing her long white hair. But now… everything about her perspective is changing.

"Your highness… this is the dress that the Emperor wanted you to wear tomorrow."

Lyca let out a series of coughs. Dresses are supposed to be handled by the Empress or the Royal Concubine. But this time, the Emperor wanted to make sure that she avoided any schemes for her to look beautiful tomorrow. The Emperor was really supportive of her plans to seduce Xu Ke.

Lyca only nodded as she examined the yellow clothing. She was certain that it was made with the best materials that they had. With its beautiful embroideries of small flowers that seemed to dance under her gaze, there was no doubt that she would really look good in it.

Yellow. 

Lyca lowered her head. Shen Qui liked yellow. She wondered what would he say when he saw her wearing something like this. 

She immediately made a mental note to have someone make something like these clothes when she comes back. She shook the doubts out of her head. She had faith that she would be able to come back. After all the stuff that she had gone through, she was certain that nothing was impossible in this universe. 

Yes, that's right. She needed to hold on to Shen Qui's words. She needed to change her perspective about everything and create her own light in the middle of this darkness. 

Lyca continued to mutter Shen Qui's words until she closed her eyes and fell asleep. When she woke up the next day, Lyca was summoned by the Emperor to attend a breakfast banquet with some of the special guests. The Emperor sent her another yellow clothing for her to wear to the banquet. 

This time, she knew that Xu Ke would be there. After all, the Emperor wouldn't invest this much just to make her look beautiful if the man wouldn't attend this banquet.

"Your highness, this buyao was given by the empress. This one would complement your dress." One of her servants immediately showed her a hair ornament that can only be worn by people from the Royal Family. She lifted her eyebrow and nodded.

The Buyao was made of gold and some jade ornaments. It wasn't really showy, but it would look beautiful in her white hair that was now in a perfect updo. She smiled at her reflection as she put on a thin layer of makeup. Then she wore a perfume sachet that was gifted by the Emperor. 

With a smile on her face, Lyca started walking towards the palace where the banquet will be held. The Royalty's residence was not really complicated as all of the houses where the princess, prince, and concubines were staying were located on one side of the emperor's palace while the halls where the Emperor would do all of his banquet and events were located on the opposite side.

Meaning, for her to arrive at the hall, all she needed was to walk in a straight path. This convenience was enough to make her day. With the same smile on her face, Lyca arrived in the hall and was immediately greeted by the announcement of the Emperor's Eunuch. She bowed at the emperor and the empress before she faced the other envoys of the kingdom and just as she expected, Xu Ke was indeed there.

Lyca's eyes turned so wide when she met Xu Ke's gaze. Then she turned her head away and pretended that everything was fine. Inwardly, Lyca was laughing. Even she found her acting a little too believable.

But all this would have been better if her partner in crime, Shen Qui, was here.