【Interstellar Contract Magician】Ruyuanke

Chapter 258 [Empire] Raising a glass to the bright moon, the shadow and I become four people.

I stood in the hallway. The lights were off, and the whole scene seemed overly quiet, even strangely cold. I stared at his slightly lowered head. This man wasn't always as strong as steel. Even though he was persistent, affectionate, and even possessed a certain stubborn pride, at this moment, his figure was like a lonely silhouette magnified by the moonlight, revealing a heartbreaking fragility.

Just like what I heard at his door that night when I first arrived.

The aroma of red wine gently filled the air. He lowered his head slightly, as if carefully sniffing the wine in the glass, or as if he was lost in thought, appearing remarkably quiet.

"I raise my glass to the bright moon, and my shadow and I become three." I leaned against the door and made a joke with a bit of ease in my tone, trying to ease the inexplicable dull feeling in the air.

He froze for a moment, the wine glass in his hand pausing briefly in mid-air, as if digesting my words. After a moment, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing a faint smile: "Four."

I raised an eyebrow, said "Oh" softly, and asked in feigned confusion, "Four people?"

He turned his head slightly, glanced at me, and then pointed at the moon: "Me, the bright moon, the shadow... and you."

His tone was very soft, but at that moment it was inexplicably touching.

I smiled and said, "Okay, you really know how to calculate."

"Do you want a gift?" I asked, and the moment I said it, I was stunned.

He stopped raising his glass and looked up at me. There was a hint of doubt in his eyes, but more of it was a calmness of noncommittal.

A recent memory surfaced in my mind—when I asked Mr. Li for the same perfume as Dan Qi, he sounded surprised, as if doubting my mindset for asking such a question: “Are you… sure?”

"What do you want this for?" However, despite his surprise, he finally met my request and handed me the bottle of perfume. It was a bottle of personal perfume.

The packaging was ordinary, even a bit shabby, and it was incomparable to the exquisite perfumes on the market. But when I opened the bottle and smelled that familiar scent, I couldn't help but smile. It was indeed Dan Qi's perfume, exactly the same, with his unique coolness and clarity.

Now, it is lying quietly in my space, like a heavy and cute little secret, but at this moment, I suddenly have the idea of ​​taking it out.

I looked at the man in front of me, but suddenly I hesitated. Would he want this gift? Or rather, would he want anything related to Shan Qi? From me.

"What gift?" He finally spoke, his tone calm, but with a hint of inquiry, as if he was trying to figure out my intentions.

I lowered my eyes, smiled, and said casually, "A taste, a...something you might like."

His eyes flickered slightly, as if he was touched by what I said, but he didn't respond. He just looked at me quietly, waiting for me to continue.

"Do you want it?" I raised my eyebrows, my tone was relaxed, but with a hint of temptation that was unintentionally revealed.

"Are you deliberately trying to make me sad?" His voice was low, but with a barely concealed bitterness. His eyes fell on the bottle in my hand, and he frowned slightly.

It was a simple brown glass bottle, plain and unremarkable, yet he seemed to be able to see through the transparent bottle and sense the fragrance emanating from within. His eyes were sharp and penetrating, as if the perfume contained something that stung him. He didn't approach, but he seemed to have already smelled that familiar scent.

"You're so perceptive." I sighed softly and placed the bottle on the table. It made a crisp sound when it hit the surface. I looked at him and smiled helplessly. "It's just an ordinary bottle, with an ordinary taste."

"Ordinary?" He scoffed, a complex emotion flashing across his eyes, with a hint of coldness and more pain. "You know how ordinary it is to me."

He still didn't reach out to touch the bottle of perfume, but just stood there, his gaze fixed on it. His expression grew heavy, and his sharp disguise finally cracked, revealing a deeply hidden vulnerability.

"If you want to make me feel uncomfortable, just say it directly." He whispered with a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth, as if to hide his inner turmoil.

"You two have a past." I finally spoke, and this time my tone was firm, rather than the vague temptation as before.

His eyes trembled slightly, as if someone had gently exposed his inner thoughts. He didn't respond immediately, but simply lowered his eyes, scanning the brown bottle, then back to the table, and finally landing on his fingers. His fingertips trembled slightly, but quickly returned to calm.

His silence answered my guess.

Those past events must have existed - from his persistence in Shan Qi, from his waiting, his dedication, all his words and silence, I gradually pieced together an outline.

This bottle of perfume was just an unintentional trigger that allowed me to finally confirm that that period was once so vivid.

"So, that's why you..." I paused, wanting to ask something, but found that the words were stuck in my throat and difficult to speak.

He finally raised his head and turned his gaze towards me, a hint of fatigue and defensiveness in his eyes, as if my words had touched upon some unwelcome memory. He neither denied nor acknowledged it, but simply said softly, "The past is no longer important."

"He gave it to you, so keep it," he said, his voice low and resolute. He pressed the perfume back into my hand, his movements gentle, yet revealing an irresistible tone.

I stared at the bottle in my hand, stunned, and he had already walked past me, his steps neither hurried nor slow, yet revealing an indescribable heaviness. He didn't glance at me again, didn't even pause, as if afraid that if he stopped even for a moment, his emotions would completely spiral out of control.

"Just keep it if he gave it to you." Those words were still echoing in my ears, but I noticed that his voice was mixed with a heavy nasal tone, as if he was trying hard to suppress something. The ending tone trembled slightly, and it was so unstable that it made people feel nervous.

As he moved, a faint aroma of wine wafted out. It was a familiar, strong aroma, the aftertaste of the red wine he had drunk earlier, and now mixed with his tone, it seemed to add a subtle bitterness to his words.

He walked very fast, his back swaying slightly, as if his shoulders were shaking, but he managed to cover it up with his indifference and upright posture.