Chapter 189 - Content

The Emperor stared at the shy blushing Lei Xing, who was avoiding his gaze with a smile plastered on his face. He remembered telling her that night not to come to him dressed like this anymore unless she was trying to tempt him. It was one thing for him for her to just let him take, but it was a whole different thing for her to offer herself to him like this. This was her accepting him and as he had always wanted, this was her completely and willingly giving herself to him.

After a while of the Emperor just standing there, lightly holding her hand and making no moves or showing any indication...to do something, Lei Xing glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow.

{...Um, proceed?⚆ _ ⚆)...No? Okay, let's just stand here and play statues then -_-)'...I should say something...Like? I don't know! Let's just move this along! >_

Lei Xing took a deep breath, ready to say something, when the Emperor finally started walking, pulling her along. She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart as they inched closer and closer to the bed.

{...Doing this, finally doing this...We're doing this! (* ≧∀≦) ...}

But then to Lei Xing's confusion, the Emperor suddenly stopped walking when they got to the middle of the room. 

"Stay like this." The Emperor said with a smile and then left her standing in the middle of the room. He walked over to the table on the side and knelt in front of it. And then took a piece of paper, straightened it, picked up the brush, looked up at her and smiled again and then looked down.

Lei Xing was confused and curious and wanted to go over to him, but the Emperor swiftly said, "Stay." 

She froze and narrowed her eyes at him and asked, "What are you doing?" With a pout. 

{...≖_≖)...Dude...What is so important that you have to write it NOW?! Last I checked you were all over me! You- you - It couldn't died out so fast, coul-...}

"Drawing you." The Emperor calmly informed, interrupting her thoughts. Lei Xing's mouth hung open, she closed it and then stared at him with raised eyebrows. He looked up again and seeing her baffled expression amused him. He chuckled ad then looked her over and looked back down.

Lei Xing stood there, completely lost with this turn of events. 

{...Drawing. You're drawing... O_O)... I mean, he's drawing me and that's flattering and everything but...Drawing -_-)'...What kind of stupid foreplay is this? This isn't tita-...Well, it's obviously not titanic, I'm not n.a.k.e.d...Also would never pose for a n.a.k.e.d photo - or potrait, whatever it is. Not on his life...On mine though? Well then, maybe...No, still won't do it! That's trouble waiting to happ-...

...*sigh* What the hell am I thinking? But really in this sort of moment, who the hell in their right mind wants to draw?!  ( •̆௰•̆)... Apparently, this guy does...*cough*ε-(≖д≖﹆) Now it seems like I'm the one who was eager...I wasn't ⚆ _ ⚆)...If he's not eager, I'm not. We can draw all night for all I care!˘\_( õ‹3 ó)_/˘...}

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at the Emperor. He looked up again with a smile as he scanned his subject, completely oblivious to her disappointed state. He looked back down and continued with his task and Lei Xing sighed.  

{...He has his own version of clueless -_-)'...Well, it is kind of cute...I can stand for a few minutes...better not be hours, I have a limit hahaha...ha *sigh*...This did not go as I planned, not that I had a plan anyway... but I did have some ideas...and none of them included a portrait but it is really cute and nice of him...Very sweet actually...}

Lei Xing sighed again and as she looked at him, she found herself feeling more relaxed and found herself smiling.

The Emperor looked up again, and his eyes roamed over Lei Xing, carefully studying her before looking down and continuing with his drawing. Lei Xing subconsciously tugged at the edges of the red robe on her shoulders as her blushing intensified.  

{...It is still a bit  ⁄⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄⁄)⁄...}

After a long while, the Emperor stopped glancing up at her. And as the minutes trickled by, Lei Xing started to become more curious and then she became impatient. Finally, at her wit's end, she just walked over to see what he was doing. 

"Oh, wow." Lei Xing said as she saw the drawing. The Emperor stopped and turned to see Lei Xing as she knelt down next to him. He was so absorbed with his drawing that he had not even noticed her come over. 

Lei Xing leaned over and scrutinized the drawing. The Emperor noticed her knit her eyebrows as she scanned the drawing, and it was then he finally realized he got carried away and left her standing there. He felt somewhat embarrassed and lightly cleared his throat and explained, "Ah the scenery did not really suit, so I made a few adjustments."

"A few?" Lei Xing asked with an amused smile and a raised eyebrow. He had long finished drawing her, beautifully too. But then he had also drawn a garden around her, complete with trees in the distance, grass,  birds, and butterflies.

She was a bit annoyed that he left her standing there "posing" while he went about "adjusting" the scenery. But she was more happy than annoyed and so she honestly complimented, "It is much better than reality..." 

The Emperor immediately knit his brows and his eyes roamed between her and the drawing. He did not agree and so he said, "Perhaps to the untrained ey- " Lei Xing immediately turned to him with a threatening eyebrow raised and he quickly amended, "Beautiful eyes...but reality much more appealing." He finished with a charming smile.

Lei Xing lightly snorted and rolled her eyes as she mumbled, "Of course..." She picked up the drawing and sat back on her heels and looked it over more closely.

{...If I lost in appeal to a bloody drawing then I think I need to rethink my life choices...namely you -_-)'...}

His compliment was nice, but in her opinion, the drawing was definitely better. He drew her a lot more beautiful than she appeared. For one thing, the her in the drawing had a radiant smile on and she did not remember smiling at all, if anything she was glaring at him.

It was obvious that he put a lot of thought and care into each stroke and it made her feel warm and very happy. This drawing felt very precious to her at this moment, it was another thing she wanted. 

Since she was currently indulging in her wants, having one more would not hurt. And so she turned to ask him for it but then she froze when her eyes met the Emperor's warm obscure gaze. Her heart jumped, she gulped and she immediately looked back down at the painting. The room suddenly felt too hot and too cramped.

{...Ahhhh, I forgot...I forgot we were embarking on a certain trajectory - Well it's not my fault, he's the one who wanted to draw! That killed the general vibe of everything! (⁄⁄>⁄ω⁄

"Xing er'?" The Emperor softly called.

"En." Lei Xing timidly responded in a tiny voice. The Emperor took the drawing from her hands, dropped it on the table and then took her hands in his and turned her to face him. Lei Xing glanced up at him and then nervously lowered her eyes and nervously gulped.

{...Okay, we're doing this...Finally - Well, not finally...I'm not in a rush or anything. It's just...Progress...}

The Emperor simply held her hands and stared at the nervous Lei Xing for a while and softly caressed her hands with a content smile.

He felt truly happy and grateful to have her. She told him she liked him and she even came here ready to "tempt" him. He had never felt happier than he was at this moment and he knew she had no idea how much he felt for her...how important she had become to him.

He wanted her to know, to understand. He gently put a hand on her cheek and raised her head so she would meet his eyes, and when they met, he softly said, "I love you."