duke and writer

The black steed let out an unsteady neigh, and its four hooves, which were forcibly stopped, trampled on the withered grass by the roadside a little anxiously.

An Mixiu slowly relaxed the rein in his hand, the red strangle marks on his palm were numb, he stared blankly at the duke's mansion that appeared in his vision, and was at a loss for what to do——

An Mixiu, are you crazy? !

——He heard a voice in his head questioning.

Have you forgotten the lessons of the past?

——No, how could I forget.

Thinking like this, the young writer clenched the rein again, but his hands were still buried in the warm and soft mane without moving.

The early winter wind is like a frosty hand, rubbing against the rough branches without tenderness, and pulling down a dead leaf that hangs persistently on the branch.

"Ka..." The fallen leaf shattered its curled up stiff corners.

"—You should believe it this time, right?" The tall boy waved a cold notice in front of the other party's eyes, "Your Excellency, you have been fired."

The beautiful lips opened and closed slightly, but the words that came out were very cold, "I want you to leave immediately."

"Lei Shi, what do you mean?" He heard a hoarse and difficult voice coming from deep in his throat.

"My meaning has been made very clear, An Mixiu," the young Duke slapped the well-printed paper on the table heavily, frowned slightly and moved closer to the pair of light blue pupils, with a low voice like a Put a heavy saw blade, "Leave this school, and then take your family and leave this entire Wangji."

The warm breath close at hand made my heart chill, "—otherwise, you can see me goodbye when you are tied to the stake."

The horse's nose fluttered and let out a low whine, An Mixiu came back to his senses, only to find that this guy had wandered not far from the mansion on his own, he was startled, he quickly pulled the rein and was about to turn around.

In his panic, he didn't even notice the sound of a carriage approaching, but when he noticed the sudden sound of horseshoes around him, it was too late.

The man in the carriage looked at Mr. Writer surrounded by guards through the opened side window, and curled his mouth in a good mood, "It's really surprising, Your Excellency, this is..." He picked it up slightly in surprise Mei, "Are you here to return the horse?"

An Mixiu looked down at the horse that carried him to the prison, and then looked up at a certain radiant duke. He almost suspected that he was being deceived—he still had the leisure to tease others. Where is this guy? Like someone who was just excommunicated?

The young man with mixed feelings in his heart twitched the corner of his mouth stiffly, speechless for a moment.

"It's very cold outside, go in first..."

"What a coincidence, my lord," the young writer immediately interrupted upon hearing the words, and quickly got off his horse. "The horse is returned to you."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and was about to leave, but was blocked by the sharp sword in front of him.

"It's cold outside, go in and talk." The small window on the side of the carriage was closed by a hand wearing a leather glove.

"..."

In the spacious living room of the Duke's Mansion, Lei Shi relaxed and leaned on the soft sofa, like a big lazy cat.The warm firelight from the fireplace was reflected in those slightly squinted purple eyes, creating a particularly moving expression.

After knocking on the door three times, the attendant came in, followed by a young man with an obviously unkind expression.

"Lei Shi, where are my shoes?" After being forced to wash off his "prison smell", Mr. Writer stepped on the carpet barefoot in a clean shirt and trousers, grinding his back molars and asked.

"I'll give it to you when I leave," the man said calmly, turning his head to indicate, "If you feel cold, sit closer to the fireplace."

An Mixiu opened his mouth to say something, but finally sat down opposite Lei Shi with a suffocated face.

The young duke raised the goblet gracefully, "Taste." Through the light golden liquid, he suggested.

"...noble rot?" An Mixiu held the wine in front of him and sniffed it, then put it down, "I can't appreciate the hobbies of noble ladies."

Lei Shi's Adam's apple moved slightly, and he swallowed the wine in his mouth, "An Mixiu," he frowned with a headache, "How long are you going to be angry about that?"

"Having lost your temper?" The young man laughed, but clenched his fists tightly. "There were indeed too many things that happened back then, but I really don't remember what I lost my temper about."

Even if he was revenged and humiliated by that villain at the beginning, he just decided to turn a blind eye to that guy from now on.But that Eldest Young Master didn't know what kind of evil it was, and from then on, he started to talk to him with all his strength, yes, it was talking, not fighting-he would rather fight!

An Mixiu really doesn't know how to deal with this kind of inexplicable "attentiveness", so he can only hide if he can.People always seem to have a strange sense of awe for things that they can't figure out. However, for the young writer, Leishi's brain circuit is undoubtedly the most puzzling thing, none of them.

"Please explain clearly," An Mixiu, who was habitually blocked, said with an almost numb expression, "If it was about being beaten before, I forgive you and I believe everything you say, okay? If you still want to A duel is also easy to handle," the brown-haired boy said, taking out a pair of white gloves from his body, "I have all the props, tell me—who do you want to take the lead?"

After listening to this slightly long question, Lei Shi hummed lightly, but only looked down at the pair of white gloves held in his hands.

"For me?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"Ah?" An Mixiu was taken aback, obviously confused by the other party's question, "...Forget it, let's do it."

"I accept it, thank you." Pulling the glove from his relaxed knuckles, the young Duke tried his best to restrain the joy in his heart, "I will return the gift."

"...Wait, I didn't mean that, you give it back to me."

"What's there to be shy about?" Lei Shi carefully folded the gloves and put them in the side pockets, "It's too unfashionable to take back the things you gave away."

"..."

——What are you shy about?Who is shy?And where does this scum have the qualifications to criticize his demeanor!

"What the hell are you trying to do?"

"I haven't figured it out yet. Do you like opera?" The young Duke took it for granted that the other party was asking a question in return.

"Um?!"

——This man is not a fool, is he?

……

A few months passed like this, and An Mixiu ushered in a desperate new semester.When he saw that damned familiar face again, he couldn't help but recall the almost red report card from last semester, so he grabbed that person and walked towards the courtyard involuntarily.

"Let's have a fight." He took off his windbreaker expressionlessly, "If... what are you doing?!"

Lei Shi didn't wait for him to finish his sentence, he just stepped forward and clasped the hand that was unbuttoning his cuff button, "It's cold, don't play outside," while pulling people into the corridor, he looked seriously Glancing at the other party, "Typhoid fever is troublesome."

"You wear much less clothes than I do." An Mixiu looked at someone's single clothes and choked dissatisfied.

"I'm different," the person walking in front paused slightly, with a shy tone, "don't worry."

"..." I'm not, I don't.

The two ended up in the empty fencing classroom.

The young Mr. Writer finally continued the action as he wished, and threw the windbreaker he took off far away in anger, "If you lose, you are not allowed to come to me again." He said so, rolling up his sleeves to reveal his muscular forearm .

"Then what if I win?" Lei Shi also rolled up the sleeves of his shirt like him, turning his face to the side and asked with interest.

"How are you doing?"

"Well, just... tell me what kind of gift you want in return."

"...I don't need any return gifts."

"Oh," Lei Shi nodded while crossing his arms, "Then I won't fight you."

"..."

The two of them had a tacit understanding in the point of firmly believing that they would win.

—Forget it, if you promise, you promise, anyway, the villain can't win.

When the opponent pinched his lower limbs to the ground, An Mixiu recalled his previous recklessness of underestimating the enemy, and felt the urge to hit the back of his head on the hard and smooth floor a few more times.

"Your Excellency the Knight," the slightly sweaty broken hair stuck to his forehead, leaving dark blue marks on his forehead. The young Duke smiled wantonly, baring his sharp canine teeth, and his slightly hoarse voice mixed with slightly rapid breathing seemed a little excited. "Fulfill your promise."

"...you won," An Mixiu said with difficulty, but the big hand holding his throat increased his strength desperately, "I will..." looked at the other party condemningly—what the hell is this bastard? Do you still want to let him talk? !

The strange touch of the delicate and warm skin vibrating under his palm was so beautiful that Lei Shi was about to urge him, but suddenly he met a pair of eyes staring at him with water vapor, and subconsciously let go of the restraint.

Pushing away the guy on his body, the young man who described himself as embarrassed coughed and sat up, "You scoundrel..." he cursed weakly.

Lei Shi looked at the empty palm with regret, "How should I say," he urged casually, "What do you want in return?"

He was answered by a sudden and violent cough.

That year was said to be the coldest one in a hundred years. In the long memory of the writer, it was just a certain day in late autumn, and the capital ushered in the first snow.

That evening, An Mixiu put on his overcoat and flipped through the documents borrowed from the library. Thanks to someone who had been quiet recently, he finally had time to do some serious work, but such a grateful feeling could not be maintained. too long.

Swallowing a mouthful of hot tea, the young man twitched his somewhat reddened nose, turning a deaf ear to the sound of knocking on the window outside, and writing notes on the book without squinting.

"An Mixiu! How dare you miss the appointment!" Someone shouted angrily through the window.

"What did I promise you?" In order to prevent the villain from smashing the glass with a punch, or attracting the inspecting dormitory supervisor to hurt himself, the young writer reluctantly opened the window.

"Of course it's a return gift. Didn't I just tell you about the number of opera performances?"

"..."

In fact, he has already developed a good habit of automatically filtering the other party's nonsense.

"What are you doing in a daze, come out quickly."

"The door is locked."

"Then come out from here," Lei Shi patted the window frame impatiently, "Don't tell me that you are afraid of heights even if you live on the first floor."

An Mixiu wanted to answer "It's a coincidence that I'm afraid", but was caught off guard by a sudden gust of cold wind.The swirling snowflakes rushed in on the wind, while freezing the young man into a shiver, it also dazzled his eyes.

Seemingly shocked by the gust of wind as well, the young Duke was taken aback with his lips parted slightly, his expression was rare and cute.

The lantern hanging on the handle was shining quietly, covering the face protruding through the window with a warm and furry outline, the fine snow blown by the wind fell on the slender eyelashes, and then slowly Melting, condensing into a drop of water at the end reflecting the little light...

Lights, snow, eyelashes.

Inevitably, this short and subtle moment has left a deep imprint in the writer's youthful memory.

An Mixiu moved his lips in a strange way, and the trembling of his vocal cords seemed to drive the humming of his lungs. Through the white mist exhaled in front of him, he heard his tranced voice——

"it is good."

He heard himself say it.