The Villain And His Sweet Wife

Long Xia dialled a number as she released a breath. 

Yuan Bojing answered the call. 

"I'm outside of the Tower. In the parking lot," she said. 

"Why are you there?" he questioned. 

"…You know why," she replied. 

He sighed deeply. "It would have been nice to know ahead?" he replied, voice clipped. "You shouldn't have gone by yourself." 

"You said you would help me track the Empress, and you haven't done anything about it. So I've been looking for her myself. I see her now. Come quickly if you were serious," she countered. 

Yuan Bojing was silent for a moment. "I will be there as soon as I can." 

Long Xia hadn't seen him since their intimate nights. But it didn't matter anymore. The two of them had been in each other's social spheres their entire lives, and that would never change.

She would learn to live with it as she always had, and she'd pretend it was nothing, that what happened between them meant nothing. 

Yuan Bojing arrived twenty minutes later.

When he found her, he looked Long Xia up and down. His face was neutral, almost bored. "Where is she?" he asked. 

He behaved as if nothing happened. 

Long Xia was going to do the same, but nothing prepared her for the twisted feeling in her gut when he acted indifferently. She could not tell if he was taking their job more seriously or if he mastered that indifference, that poker face. 

She wondered where he learned it. 

Long Xia had met his parents before, had seen them a few times, but never as often as she liked. 

She recalled his father. Yuan Bojing was his spitting image, but he was reserved and hardly social. His mother—Shi Yen—had left an impression on her. She was cold and dark all over but the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. Shi Yen was polite, but as polite as one can be when someone does not want to be rude or nice. Long Xia remembered she wanted to be like her. 

Yuan Bojing turned to her. "What did you find out?" he asked, looking directly at the masked woman, speaking to people they've never seen before. They were well dressed in suits, guns strapped to their waists. 

Long Xia shrugged. "It looks like a trade. I'm not sure what type of trade, though." 

Yuan Bojing swallowed. His expression blanched, and his brows went tight. 

"What's wrong?" She questioned. 

He shook his head. "Something's not right." 

Long Xia observed the men once more. It was dark, but she took in their appearances. The men the Empress spoke with did not look like they were from here. There were tattoos to be seen, no organizations they identified with.

The people who stood by the Empress looked tense, but only she looked cool and unalarmed, nearly unimpressed. 

And then there it was. 

Someone had pulled out his gun, but the Empress had cut him down effortlessly with her sword like an executioner. It happened so fast. Long Xia had hardly seen her pull it out. She slashed him across the chest, and the man fell over, lifeless. 

They tried to kill her! 

Long Xia glanced at her side to see if Yuan Bojing had been watching, but he wasn't standing next to her anymore. 

Yuan Bojing was bolting across the concrete yard when another enemy had pulled out his gun. The man pulled the trigger, but Yuan Bojing had lifted the assassin's wrist, and the bullet hit nothing but air. 

Long Xia dashed forward. 

Yuan Bojing then tackled the man into the ground, punching him across the face, the jaw. Another snuck up from behind him, but Long Xia had thrown a knife, and it plunged into his chest. Yuan Bojing gave her a sparing glance before he went back into beating the man beneath him. 

The Empress stood by and watched. 

"Whom do you work for?" Yuan Bojing pulled the collar of the bloodied man. 

The dirty-blonde man only smiled sinisterly. 

Yuan Bojing punched him again and repeated the question. "Whom do you work for?"

The assassin looked at Yuan Bojing and seethed, "Poshel na khuy." 

Long Xia had no idea what the man said, but it sounded Russian and something like a 'fuck you.' Which meant the man was unwilling to tell. 

Yuan Bojing dropped the Russian man unconscious, and the Empress's body guards dragged him for questioning or for torture, perhaps both. 

The Empress had not said a word, but she put a hand to Yuan Bojing's shoulder lightly before she turned to walk away. Jealousy welled inside Long Xia, but she ignored it. There was no reason to be jealous, not anymore. 

The Empress started to walk away until Yuan Bojing said, "wait." 

She paused. The Empress turned to face him. Long Xia could not tell if the Empress was annoyed he interrupted her—commanded her to do something or if she was surprised he had the guts to do so. "My friend wants a word with you." 

The masked woman looked at him, almost as if she wondered why he made such a bizarre request. 

"I saved your life," he answered. "Now, you owe me." 

Something in Long Xia's chest squeezed. She could not see her expression, but she could tell the Empress was not amused. She gave a slow nod, offering her permission.

Yuan Bojing then stepped away to give them some privacy. 

Long Xia was now faced with her idol. Someone she was chasing but could hardly catch. She wished she could see her face, to watch her reactions, to see if the faceless woman had feelings, to see if she wasn't entirely soulless. 

"I'm Xia," she began, her voice breathless. "I've looked up to you my entire life, and I wish to be like you," she confessed. "I don't know what's going to happen soon, but I need to fight. I need to survive. I have people that I love." Long Xia paused. "But I'm scared," her voice shook. "The result might not be what I hope for. If I lose, I die, and if I win, I will still lose." 

Long Xia glanced at Yuan Bojing, who stood far away with his back turned. He appeared anxious as he waited.

"I don't know what to do anymore, and I'm so afraid." She then turned back to face the Queen of all Queens. Long Xia had never allowed herself to be so vulnerable. She did not understand why of all people, she had to be vulnerable around the Empress. It made her look weak. 

"I guess I wanted to speak to you, at least once, before I lose everything." 

Long Xia had been prepared to die since she found out Yuan Bojing had joined the selection. She had never planned to fight him. She didn't have the strength. 

Yuan Bojing might be willing to kill her. But she could never attempt to end his life. She did not have the courage, no matter how many times he pushed her away, taunted her, and tried to make her his enemy. 

She never understood what made him hate her enough to want to compete, but it did not matter anymore. In the end, if it came to the two of them, she will surrender her life. She would not bear to go through it. 

Tears fell down her face. "So," she continued, "Do you have any advice for me?" Advice on how to go through this. How to face death. She knew the Empress didn't fear it. 

The Empress looked at her. Long Xia swore she caught a glimmer of something wet in her black eyes. The Empress finally spoke. "Don't die." 

She then walked away without another word or moment. 

Don't die? 

It wasn't that simple. Long Xia had hoped for wise words, the answers between life and death. Instead, it was almost as if she encouraged her. She hadn't expected that. But still, it wasn't something easy. She can't live without Yuan Bojing. But the Empress didn't tell her to fight; she just said, "don't die." 

If it were only that easy…