The night was gentle, and the stars above the Bai Clan shone like scattered jade fragments across a deep blue silk sky.
Inside the guest courtyard, everything was quiet.
LinXuanji(Mo Tianzun)— lay on his side beneath a light quilt, raven hair fanned out over the pillow. He looked like the kind of person meant to be admired from afar—silent, ethereal, untouchable.
Until he sighed dramatically.
"This pillow is too soft," he muttered, clearly not meaning it.
Crown Prince Longxuan turned his head slightly. "I'll tell the Bai Clan to burnit immediately."
"Don't you dare," Xuanji huffed. "It's the first thing that smells like dried plum and not blood in years."
"…Then I'll have them make ten more."
Xuanji narrowed his eyes. "You're getting cheeky."
"You're getting sleepy."
"…Tch."
They lay face-to-face, the faint candlelight flickering against their relaxed expressions.
Xuanji reached out lazily and poked Longxuan's forehead with one finger. "You're warm."
"Should I move away?"
"…No."
He didn't retract his hand. In fact, he curled his fingers around the prince's sleeve and held on loosely, like a habit he hadn't realized he'd formed.
Longxuan didn't say anything. He simply shifted closer and laid his hand gently over Xuanji's.
There was no heat between them, no desperation—just the quiet kind of closeness that made a cold heart warm again.
———
Earlier that evening...
Xuanji had been flopped dramatically across the low table in the Liu Twins temporary room, stirring his tea with a chopstick instead of a spoon.
Zhenhai sat with his arms crossed, watching the chaos unfold, while Fenglan was sprawled upside down on a floor cushion, hair half-unbound, face full of cake.
"Why do you look like someone just told you the moon exploded?" Fenglan asked, licking frosting from his fingers.
"Because," Xuanji groaned, "your prince just confessed to me. Do you know how many people have confessed to me before that?"
"…Zero?" Zhenhai guessed.
"Exactly!" Xuanji sat up straight. "You'd think this Young Master of yours will have a lot of admirers!? I barely get out my room back in our Sect! And now he says 'I love you' like it's not even hard to say!"
Fenglan laughed so hard he nearly choked.
Zhenhai gave Xuanji a long look. "And you didn't punch him."
"No."
"Didn't run away."
"No."
"…And you're sleeping in the same room as him."
Xuanji sniffed. "It's practical. He's warm. I get cold."
Fenglan grinned. "Sure. Practical. Definitely not because you like the way he stares at you like you're the only star in the night sky—"
"Shut up before I feed you to your own sword."
"You say that with love," Fenglan beamed.
"Do not."
"You're glowing," Zhenhai said suddenly, biting into a candied nut.
Xuanji froze. "I am not."
"You're absolutely glowing."
"I WILL END THIS FAMILY."
At that very moment, the door creaked and a small head peeked in.
It was little Bai Zhen, the Bai Clan child who had been trailing Xuanji for days.
"Big Brother Xuanji?" the child asked shyly.
Xuanji turned, immediately softening. "What is it?"
"I made you a dumpling. It's shaped like a rabbit!"
Xuanji blinked.
Then blinked again.
Then took the oddly-shaped dumpling in both hands like it was a sacred relic.
"Thank you," he said solemnly. "This is the best rabbit dumpling I've ever seen."
Bai Zhen beamed.
Zhenhai and Fenglan exchanged glances.
"He never accepted dumplings from us," Zhenhai muttered.
"Yeah," Fenglan whispered. "Xuanji's clearly found a new favorite."
———
Back in his room now, Lin Xuanji(Mo Tianzun) was warm.
Warm from the tea.
Warm from the blankets.
Warm from the soft weight of Longxuan's arm loosely draped around his waist.
It should have made him uncomfortable.
Instead, he found his eyes fluttering closed.
Longxuan's voice came gently in the dark.
"Are you scared?"
Xuanji didn't answer right away.
"…Not of you."
"What, then?"
"Of being allowed to stay."
Longxuan pulled him a little closer.
"Then stay anyway."
"…You're too gentle," Xuanji mumbled, eyelids drooping.
"You say that like it's a problem."
"It is," he said sleepily. "I might get used to it."
Longxuan's voice was barely above a whisper now. "That's all I want."
There was no more conversation.
Only the steady sound of breathing.
Lin Xuanji, former Demon LordMo Tianzun feared across realms, let someone else hold him through the night for the first time in all his lifetimes.
And he didn't wake from nightmares.
He slept.
Peacefully.