With legs weak, the sickly stable boy became a mad regent.

Shen Nannan hugged his waist, buried her face in the crook of his neck, and trembled all over.

Her feet were cold, her hands were cold, her face was cold, only her tears were hot, each drop hitting his collarbone, burning his heart.

"Ah Chao." Her voice was hoarse, trembling with tears, "Ah Chao..."

She called his name over and over again, as if afraid he would disappear.

Ah Chao froze completely.

She held him so tightly that his back was pressed against the pillar, making it impossible for him to move.

Her body was trembling, and through her thin nightgown, he could feel her heartbeat, fast and erratic.

"Miss?"

His voice was a little hoarse as he reached out and gently patted her back.

"What's wrong?"

Shen Nannan didn't speak, but buried her face in his chest and shook her head vigorously.

Her fingers gripped his collar tightly, as if afraid he would run away.

"Did you have a nightmare?" His voice was incredibly gentle. He put one arm around her waist and gently massaged her back with the other, like he was soothing a child.

"Don't worry, I'm here, Ah Chao is here."

He asked her several times, but she didn't answer. She just buried her face in his chest and called his name again and again.

Ah Chao's heart felt like it had been squeezed.

He had never seen her like this before. Normally, Shen Nannan was arrogant and domineering, fearless of anything, and even dared to watch him kill someone.

But now, she was like a frightened rabbit, huddled in his arms, trembling all over, unable to even speak.

He didn't ask any more questions, but simply pulled her closer to him, rested his chin on the top of her head, and gently patted her back.

One, one, another.

As before, clumsy and stiff, yet incredibly patient and gentle.

Shen Nannan cried for a long time, until she couldn't cry anymore, and she was still sobbing.

She didn't know why she was crying. Was it because Xiao Yunzhao in her dream was too miserable?

Is it because she suddenly realized that the person who tormented her to death in her past life was actually more pitiful than her?

It was because she finally understood one thing—regardless of the past life or this life, from beginning to end, he only ever had her.

"Miss," Ah Chao's voice came from above, "What did you dream about? Why are you crying like this?"

Shen Nannan didn't say anything, but buried her face even deeper into his neck.

"Did you dream of your servant?" he asked again.

She shook her head, then nodded.

Ah Chao looked down at her. In the moonlight, her eyes were red, her nose was red, and her face was covered with tear stains. She looked both pitiful and adorable.

He reached out and wiped the tears from her face with his thumb; the roughness of his fingertip made her cheek sting a little.

"Who did you dream about?" His voice was a little muffled. "If you don't tell me, Miss, I'll get jealous again."

Shen Nannan lifted her head from his embrace, glaring at him with red eyes: "All you ever do is get jealous."

"Hmm," he replied, sounding quite matter-of-fact.

"If Miss forbids me to eat, then I must eat."

"Why are you being so shameless?"

"I learned it from the young lady."

"When did I cheat?"

"Miss always says she's ignoring me, but then she comes back to me." He paused. "What's that if not being a scoundrel?"

Shen Nannan was speechless, and punched him lightly: "You—!"

He took her fist, placed it in his palm, and gently squeezed it. It didn't hurt, just tickled.

"Alright," he said. "Stop fooling around. What did you dream about, Miss? Tell me, and I'll beat him up for you."

Shen Nannan looked at him, then suddenly reached out and cupped his face in her hands.

In the moonlight, his face was clearly illuminated. He was alluring and aloof, yet his eyes were filled with her image.

She looked at him, not with the pale, empty, dead-looking face from her dream.

She was alive and warm, with a trace of worry still lingering on her lips.

She reached out and gently stroked his cheek with her thumb. His skin was cool, warmed by the night breeze.

"Ah Chao," she called him.

"Um."

"You..." She paused, her voice hoarse.

"What would you do if I were gone one day?"

Ah Chao's fingers tightened suddenly.

He stared at her, and the look in his eyes changed.

It wasn't worry, it wasn't doubt, it was fear.

A fear that seeps from the very bones, a fear that cannot be suppressed.

He had seen blood, he had seen death, he had seen the most disgusting things in the world, and he had never been afraid.

But when she said that, he became afraid.

"Why are you suddenly asking this, Miss?" His voice was a little tense, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Just asking." She forced a smile, but tears still clung to her face; the smile was more painful than a grimace. "What would you do?"

Ah Chao stared at her for a long time.

He finally spoke after a long silence, when Shen Nannan thought he wouldn't answer.

"It won't be a problem," he said calmly, but his fingers tightened around her wrist.

"What do you mean, 'it won't happen'..."

"Miss will not be absent."

He interrupted her, his fingers tightening as he pulled her into his arms. "This servant will not allow Miss to be absent."

"What if? What if I..."

"There's no 'what if'."

His voice suddenly rose, carrying a hint of barely suppressed irritation.

Shen Nannan was stunned for a moment; she had never heard him speak in such a tone before.

It wasn't gentleness, it wasn't respect, it was... fear.

He was afraid.

Suddenly, she didn't want to ask anymore.

"Ah Chao," she called him.

"Um."

"You are not allowed to die from now on."

He froze for a moment.

"You're not allowed to die before me." Her voice was hoarse. "Do you hear me?"

A-Chao looked at her without saying a word. The moonlight fell on her face, making her eyelashes stand out clearly, with glistening, still-dry teardrops clinging to them.

"So, Miss dreamt that your servant died?" he asked.

"No." She bit her lip. "I dreamt about you...it made me very sad."

Why are you sad?

"Because..." She couldn't finish her sentence. What could she say? That she dreamt that he was holding her dead body and crying, that he only had her left, that he wanted to come down and be with her? She couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Why?" he pressed.

"Stop talking." She hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. "Stop talking, I don't want to talk about it anymore."

A-Chao was taken aback by her hug, then reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Okay," he said. "That's all."

Shen Nannan was so breathless from his embrace, but she didn't break free. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest.

She listened to his heartbeat, thumping rapidly and erratically. It wasn't the same as the one she heard in her dream.

In dreams, the heartbeat is dead, stopped, empty. But in dreams, the heartbeat is alive, powerful, and burning.

She closed her eyes and tightened her arms a little.

"Ah Chao".

"Um."

"You've suffered a lot in the past, haven't you?"

He didn't say anything, he just hugged her tighter.

"I know you've suffered a lot," she said sullenly. "Even if you don't say it, I know."

"How did you know, Miss?"

"I just know."

Ah Chao looked down at her. In the moonlight, her eyes shone brightly, filled with heartache, pity, and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Does Miss feel sorry for her servant?" he asked, his voice tinged with a hint of probing.

"Yes," she said, "It hurts."

Ah Chao's breath hitched. He stared at her, his Adam's apple bobbing as if he wanted to say something, but then swallowed it back.

"Miss." His voice was terribly hoarse.

"Um."

Say it again.

"It breaks my heart," she said, looking up at him. "It breaks my heart to see you like this."

He lowered his head and kissed her.