[ There's something suddenly, oddly, fond and amused about the twitch of lips. ]

That is not what I was referring to. I speak of the nights when we share a bed and wake early to avoid being parted unnaturally.

[ He's...not ashamed, nor embarrassed, by saying that matters.

But the serious tone when Meng Yao vows to shield him...and why... ]

I do not fear a second death. I fear...losing myself. Swords and arrows are nothing.