"Let’s go home. I’ll get you a new Light Brain." Su Yan’s gaze fell on her now-bare wrist. He slowly reached out, his hand gently enveloping it.

"Okay." Jiang Zheyu smiled, the corners of her lips curling up slightly.

The two of them returned to the villa.

"...Welcome home, Master Yu Yu." The villa’s butler, Xiaoyi, seemed to stutter for a moment, its voice sounding even more mechanical than before. "Welcome home, Master Su Yan."

Jiang Zheyu thought, ’I’ve been away for so long, Xiaoyi almost doesn’t recognize me anymore.’

"Yu Yu, I’ve missed you so much." Su Yan wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her again.

The soft, searing kiss was filled with deep longing and affection.

When separated lovers reunite, it’s like dry tinder catching a spark.

Jiang Zheyu could hardly handle such a passionate kiss.

She stumbled back onto the sofa, and Su Yan pressed close, his palm resting on her slender waist, scorching hot.

...

Su Yan’s upper body was human, but his lower half was a giant black tail, like a dark, deep river.

As Jiang Zheyu sat on this enormous, cool serpent’s tail, the chilly temperature made her legs tremble slightly.

Her slender, snow-white legs were a stark contrast against the dark, river-like tail.

Each smooth, delicate scale shimmered with a low, luxurious dark luster, like moonlight scattered across a deep river.

Su Yan’s upper body boasted broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Scars crisscrossed the smooth lines of his abs, and a fine sheen of sweat covered his taut muscles. The muscles of his abdomen seemed to clench tightly before slowly relaxing, almost as if they were breathing...

...

When Jiang Zheyu woke up, she found herself in Su Yan’s bed, with no memory of how she got there.

Her clothes had been tossed aside somewhere.

Her cheeks flushed. ’That was truly insane.’

"Yu Yu..." Su Yan opened his eyes, his long, narrow red irises squinting in satisfaction. He hugged Jiang Zheyu again, murmuring her name. "Yu Yu... Yu Yu..."

He called her name over and over, his voice low, raspy, and filled with deep, loving affection.

"A yuan, time to get up." Jiang Zheyu cupped his face and planted a firm kiss on his cheek.

"Okay." A faint smile touched Su Yan’s lips.

Although Su Yan had bathed with her last night, Jiang Zheyu still wanted to take another shower.

"I’m going to take a shower." Jiang Zheyu gave him another fleeting kiss on the lips, then slid out of bed. Her legs felt so weak she almost collapsed to her knees.

Su Yan caught her, his hard, broad chest pressing against her back. He asked in a low, husky voice, "Female Master, let A yuan attend to your bath."

"No, thank you!" Jiang Zheyu quickly refused.

’I don’t want a repeat of last night’s endless bath that never seemed to finish!’

Jiang Zheyu quickly pulled his hand away and tried to slowly shuffle back to her own room for a shower.

Su Yan got out of bed, scooped her up, and glanced at her gently. "Let me carry my Female Master to the bathroom."

"You’d better just carry me to the bathroom and not do anything else," Jiang Zheyu said, giving him a pointed look.

"I promise." A light, doting smile colored Su Yan’s red eyes.

Sure enough, Su Yan was true to his word. He really did just carry Jiang Zheyu back to the bathroom in her own room.

Jiang Zheyu finished her comfortable shower, but she noticed that the butler, Xiaoyi, now only performed tasks when she explicitly commanded it to.

She got dressed and went out, thinking, ’Have I really been gone that long?’

’It seems like Xiaoyi has forgotten all my habits.’

Jiang Zheyu sat on the bed while Su Yan knelt before her. His long fingers took her wrist to put on her Light Brain bracelet.

Even though the Light Brain was easy to put on, he did it slowly and meticulously, as if handling a priceless treasure.

"A yuan, has the villa’s smart butler been replaced or repaired?" Jiang Zheyu asked, a little confused.

She felt that the current Xiaoyi was much clumsier and not as smart as the previous one.

After securing the Light Brain, Su Yan gently squeezed her wrist. "The Imperial City’s main core system malfunctioned a while back, plunging the entire planet into darkness. After the core system was repaired, the smart butlers came back online, but most of their previous data was deleted or adjusted. They’re not as flexible as they used to be."

Jiang Zheyu nodded thoughtfully.

She hadn’t logged into her Light Brain in a long time. Upon logging in now, she found a flood of messages, all sent shortly after she disappeared.

Most of the messages were from two people: Su Yan and Zexun.

At that time, Su Yan must have still been hunting Star Thieves. The messages were all sent on weekends; he must have been squeezing in time to text her.

Zexun probably didn’t know she had been captured back then. He kept sending messages asking her out, but she never replied since she didn’t have her Light Brain.

His last message read:

I don’t know if this is bothering you, but I really like you.

He hadn’t sent any messages after that.

Seeing the message, Jiang Zheyu just sighed softly. She didn’t plan on explaining anything. ’Let it be.’

Her gaze drifted to the window, where a line of hovercars was parked outside.

Su Yan followed her gaze and lowered his eyelashes slightly. "People from the Imperial Family."

"News travels fast. They got here so quickly." Jiang Zheyu saw Jin Yu at the door. "Let’s go down. We shouldn’t keep them waiting outside."

"Mmm," Su Yan hummed in agreement.

The two of them went down the stairs together.

As Jiang Zheyu headed out, she caught a glimpse of withered pink roses in the window...

Her steps faltered slightly.

Su Yan followed her gaze, his eyes flickering. ’When did those flowers appear by the window, and who sent them to Yu Yu?’

He didn’t know. After finishing the hunt for the Star Thieves, he had rushed back to find Yu Yu and hadn’t spent much time at the villa since.

Jiang Zheyu thought of that gentle, ardent man.

’Pink roses are lovely, but once they wither, they fade just like memories.’

She sighed inwardly, wondering if she should explain things to Zexun. ’It’s so complicated.’

"Xiaoyi’s system data was probably replaced, so it didn’t take care of the flowers in time," Su Yan said, his hand tightening slightly around hers.

Jiang Zheyu smiled. "Yes, they’ve withered. They’re not pretty anymore. Let’s have Xiaoyi dispose of them."

"Okay. If you like them, we can go buy new roses later and plant them all over the yard," Su Yan said, turning to look at her without asking who sent the old ones.

"I’d love that," Jiang Zheyu replied, looking back at him with a small smile.

The main door opened, and Jin Yu looked at Jiang Zheyu and Su Yan.

"Your Highness." Su Yan placed his right hand over his left breast and nodded slightly.

"Commander Su." Jin Yu nodded back politely in greeting.

He looked at Jiang Zheyu. "Zheyu, I’m very sorry I couldn’t protect you last time."