“It...has been a while since I last saw you. You’re still welcome to have tea at my place whenever you want to”, Duy Anh told Tuan.

There was an awkward silence as the two men seemed to have difficulty maintaining their gaze on each other, sometimes glancing somewhere else.

“...Thank you for the suggestion but I’m busy”, Tuan replied coldly.

Duy Anh expression shifted and turned into an almost sour, sad smile. There was something about his face that didn’t look like his usual calm and collected self. Duy Anh didn’t say much and just nodded taking a step back, bumping onto Arthur’s chest.

Arthur didn’t realize but he had followed Duy Anh even when he had approached Tuan, probably out of habit of staying by his friend’s side and observing him silently. Making the situation even more awkward and clumsy wasn’t his intention though (actually, he didn’t even want to interrupt but he just happened to be standing closer than he had thought he did).

“Anh Long, you were here. I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”, asked Duy Anh in a soft and low voice, with the same rosy flush on his cheeks. He must have been embarrassed.

“I’ve never seen that person before.”

Tuan’s remark startled both Arthur and Duy Anh. From up close, Tuan’s face was indeed beautiful but looked icy cold. Something about his gaze was quite scary and his whole aura was the complete opposite of Duy Anh’s. There wasn’t even a hint of a smile on his face and his brows hung low on his face, giving him a grave look. In Arthur’s eyes, Tuan was probably the cold male protagonist that women fawned over—except in real life (although it still didn’t quite feel real yet).

“Ah he is...Sir Pham Hai Long, one of my guests”, Duy Anh vaguely explained.

Tuan stared—or rather glared—at Arthur for a few seconds before giving him a nod of acknowledgment, probably as some form of greeting before turning his gaze away.

“I have to go now, excuse-me”, Tuan said. And in no time, he had picked his pace back up, joining the troupe of cavalry men that had already advanced much further into the street. For a moment, Duy Anh looked frozen in place and only looked at Tuan disappearing into the crowd.

“Let’s go”, Duy Anh finally said, his usual cheery expression back on his face, as if nothing happened.

Back into the house, the two of them joined Binh and Lien who were pretty much done eating their breakfast. Lien asked them if they’d like to eat now to which Duy Anh replied positively.

Once they both sat down, Binh picked up her tea cup and asked Duy Anh “is he back?”.

Duy Anh kept his eyes fixed towards the gate a gave her a low hum. Binh didn’t react to his response, probably knowing what it meant. Arthur, however, didn’t know better and startled the other two.

“That mister...is who?”, he asked as Duy Anh’s eyes widened, taken aback by the sudden question. Duy Anh however quickly regained his composure and opened his fan, fanning himself softly as he reflected on the right words to use to answer Arthur’s question.

“Right, you wouldn’t know him. He...is Le Vinh Tuan, a commander general from the Imperial family. He’s also my friend”, Duy Anh responded.

Arthur gave him a puzzled look. They didn’t quite interact like friends, he thought. They both seemed weirdly polite and cold with each other so he wouldn’t have guessed that they were both friends, although they were obviously acquainted with each other. Maybe friendships were different back then? That would be sad.

As if Duy Anh could tell what Arthur was thinking, he continued with a smile “I apologize for the awkwardness you had to witness, we just...grew apart, as we got busier. He’s not as cold as he looks, he’s really kind when you get to know him.”

There was obviously some fondness in his voice and eyes; Tuan must have been someone Duy Anh held very dear to his heart. Arthur was surprised—not because Duy Anh had friends; he had to have some since he was such a nice person—but because there was someone who was close enough to Duy Anh to shake him up in this way.

During those past few days, he had never seen Duy Anh talk about nor interact with anyone else than Binh, Lien or himself. It was quite a strange reality check: so Duy Anh also had close friends he treasured and could also be affected by such issues. Arthur thought that he had perhaps idealized the young man a bit too much, almost seeing him as a saint or those good-willed heroes in novels who would always remain headstrong and gracious even in the worst moments.

He started to feel bad and childish for thinking so, since Duy Anh was also human, like him. As time passed, he realized it more and more. All of them had their flaws and problems. The difference in eras and appearances didn’t matter, one’s heart was always more complicated than it looked.

“I wanted to ask him how he’s been but my mind went blank when I saw him...but I’m glad that he looks healthy. It’s good”, said Duy Anh while closing his fan. “Let’s eat, we should also remain strong and healthy while we’re still young.”