Tao Hua slithered down further in his chair. It was better to assume he looked more dead than he did alive, and what came next was the sword that ended him entirely. 

"I'm kind of, if not already, locked down. Uh, engaged? Forcefully engaged. Yay."

Lord No-Name's brows rose. "You mean an arranged marriage?"

"Against my will!" Tao Hua retorted. Though his position was pitiful, his expression was purely sincere. But it would be the first time he ever defended his stance on his supposed future. The only issue was that he couldn't seem to understand Lord No-Name's expression. Like a book within Tao Hua's grasp, but none of it was fucking translated. Rather, a forbidden tome was a better way of putting it.

"Most are against anyone's will. Rarely are they not."

"And most don't care," said Tao Hua, in a voice low and unsettling. "They're usually fine with it."

Lord No-Name just laughed. It was a laugh that was more daunting than it was amused. With a shake of his head, he reached down to Tao Hua's shoulders and forced him to sit like a normal, respectable person. His grip was firm in doing so, and the way he brought Tao Hua back up was done with genuine ease.

Now he was back to the previous problem; this man was still invading his personal space.

"I think you need to experience more of the outside world." Reaching his other hand past Tao Hua, he closed the cover of the book and slid it closer. It wasn't anything special—nonfiction. Something on constellations and how they affected the country's destiny. Gods and all that stuff. Fun.

The man continued, pressing his finger to the title. "If you can't leave, read. You'll find it's not so bad—and it's nothing like it is here. Fairytales exist out there too, y'know."

Tao Hua sat there in silence. He wanted to push back, pointing to his first issue of "not being able to leave", but anytime he opened his mouth, he just shut it. He reached his hand towards the book and gently placed it on the cover. With a slow nod, he finally decided on a response. He whispered, "I'll try."

Nothing more.

Lord No-Name's eyes were stuck to Tao Hua like a man who knew all the answers to any question tossed his way, making the act of catching them look quite simple. It was never simple.

If it were, then who was there to save him from this sad excuse of a town? But Tao Hua had to scoff at that question. Wouldn't that mean he was the princess? He just shook his head and leant into the table; away from the man's shoulder.

Whether it was pure luck, or this man was insanely perceptive, he cut the moment short with a proclamation.

"But enough of that; I'm bored," he said, propping an elbow onto the table once more. "Let's talk about that boss of yours."

To be disappointed or relieved? Tao Hua didn't know, but his shoulders did. They deflated at the all too familiar question. But in a world where jewels weighed more than hypotheticals, appearances always had to be kept up, especially those adorned in gold-plated silver. "Master Tao, right?"

"Sure."

"…and the relic, right?"

"Yup."

"…right." Tao Hua puffed his cheeks, blowing out each whiff of air until they were completely exhausted. "What do you need to know?"

He tapped his index finger on the table. It stopped, however, and in an abrupt motion, he pushed past the boundary of comfortable. This closed the gap between the two shoulders. Now, to a normal person, the act of two shoulders touching would be a simple gesture, twice not questioned.

But to Tao Hua? It made him tense dramatically.

So, to handle the situation, he whipped his head away from Lord No-Name. But to his utter shock—maybe—he wrapped his arm around Tao Hua's shoulders.

"What I don't understand is how the headman of a town so insignificant knows so much about the relics," said Lord No-Name. Using his other hand, he brushed under Tao Hua's chin, forcing the poor lad to face him. "Don't you find it odd?"

Who—HAH?! Thought Tao Hua, forgetting exactly what it meant to breathe. The audacity!

Even if he wanted to lift his hand and push away the other's, he couldn't quite do it. He didn't even know if that's what he wanted to do.

Friendships were weird.

"Um…maybe? What were we talking about?" Tao Hua stared down at the fingers that rested firmly on his face. "We're talking about that thing? The relic thing. Right. Right?

"Right."

"Right." Tao Hua inhaled loudly, his hands trembling somewhat. "Okay, we don't have one. Ah, wait, you knew that. But, um, Master Tao has a map of where all the relics are located. In the central hall. Hung up."

That was true! In the Tao's estate sat a giant, hard-to-miss map that depicted the entire country, and dotted in silver pins were the locations of each relic.

"Oh?" Lord No-Name retracted his hand and moved back into his chair. It creaked, just as he lifted that very hand and held it to his mouth. As he contemplated, Tao Hua grazed his cheek, exactly where Lord No-Name had touched. The sensation lingered longer than was comfortable.

"How updated is it?"

"Huh?" He turned his head to face Lord No-Name. "What's that?"

"…how updated is the map?"

"Ah, the map. Right." He didn't know, so he did what he did worst. He lied, "Very updated. I think. Looks like it has fewer tea stains than…it…usually has."

"You said he's busy. Why is he busy?"

More questions he didn't know the answer to. Tao Hua just dipped his head into his shoulders.

What did Master Tao's whereabouts have to do with digging up relics? And most importantly—why did he have to touch him in such weird ways?!

It's not like Tao Hua could call him out or anything. He was just as bad with his lies and all.
"He travels to the Imperial Capital every other week."

Lord No-Name's brows furrowed, and an eerie smirk crossed his face. "Nosy. Should be expected of a small town."

"Uh…" Tao Hua looked away, guilty. "Did you want to meet him?"

"I do. But I'll meet him on my own terms, don't worry." The man said, reaching for the books and piling each on each other. When Tao Hua watched him do this, his heart sank into his stomach.

"Go on and bring those to the shopkeeper, I'll join you both in a second."

Chapter end. 

Authors Note
Seperating these has been A TASK. So annoying. I mostly did it because each time I wanted to edit it and the chapter bordered 15k words, it would add in like 400 characters worth of spaces, making it hard to even fix the title