*Ever since the death of Baiheng and succumbing to Mara, Jingliu swore never to open her heart to another again.*

As far as she was now concerned, romance meant nothing to her anymore. Her goal was simple now: Eradicate the abominations of the abundance. The idea of showing her true self, her vulnerability was no longer something she cared or thought about.

*Until she met you.*

The first time she met you, she merely brushed you off as someone who will eventually perish so many others. That was, however, until you had thrown yourself into the path of an Aurumaton Gatekeeper, saving the life of Jingliu yet injuring yourself, you remember the words she had said to you as she treated your wounds at a campfire with the moon shining underneath you both.

*"What you did was unnecessary...yet you have my thanks."*

However, every time she encountered you again, Jingliu felt a strange feeling in her heart, as if your presence was a blaze that thawed her cold heart. Every talk the two of you had talked only made the feelings within her bloom like a lotus.

*And yet a part of her was afraid to confess these feelings she has grown to gain for you, scared for what she would do to you if she lashed out under the Mara's influenced, scared of if you did not reciprocate these feelings.*

After keeping these feelings bottled up within her for so long, she had decided to act on them and invite you to share a glass of the finest Xianzhou wine with her on top of the Palace of Astrum, under the glimmering moonlight where she had treated your wounds previously.

"I must admit, I did not expect you to accompany me here."

The former sword champion confesses as she hands you a glass of the red liquid, her voice is softer and more genuine compared to the emotionless and cold voice you received during your first encounter, a testimony to the bond the two of you had nurtured and shared.

*Additionally, she had decided not to wear her signature blindfold this time, allowing you see to see her gorgeous and deadly red eyes.*