The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 6 (Light Novel)

you hate me so much?” he asked, his face now less like a wild dog and more like a puppy. Love, hate—some people wanted the world to be so black and white. Why wouldn’t he give her the choice of a gray area?

“I suppose I don’t hate you as such,” she said. She might even think of him favorably. Certainly, she regarded this noble more positively than she had back when they’d first met.

Jinshi pursed his lips, not very pleased with this evasive answer. Maybe he was hoping she would come right out and say she loved him, but quite frankly, Maomao wasn’t at a point where she could bring those words to her lips. The best she could manage was that she wasn’t without a certain affection for him.

He didn’t want to relinquish the sensation that still lingered on his lips.

Jinshi first heard this story when he was more than ten years old, after Gaoshun had seen him teasing Basen for trying to keep his distance from the ladies-in-waiting.

“Women are such fragile creatures,” Basen said. “I think it’s too soon for me.”

What could Jinshi say to that? There was nothing. Instead, he held out his cup, silently asking for more juice.

She wished it could stay this way.

Just when she was expecting to feel a rush of wind against her body, she felt a pressure against her belly instead.

I’m not certain I can control my strength—but may I hit you?”

Find her! Check the ground around the pagoda!” Basen roared and set off back down the stairs. He might be a somewhat simple personality, but at least he was decisive at moments like this.

Was it selfish of her to wish he would just act normal, not let the events of the previous night change how he treated her? She wanted her relationship with him to be professional, the way it had always been as each of them used and was used by the other. That was what would be best for Maomao at this moment.

“I understand.” Jinshi turned to gaze out the window, and didn’t look at her again for the rest of the ride.

Jinshi’s face as he approached was unusually haggard; he had a furrow in his brow worthy of Gaoshun, and his gaze was fixed—on Maomao, it seemed. The look lasted only for an instant before his usual calm expression returned. Basen, though, was looking at Jinshi with distress—so something was up.
Jinshi came toward her with footsteps that sounded inordinately loud.