13 days
"Do you hate him?"
Ling is bound to his bed for the next two weeks, and Lan Fan refuses to leave his side for more than a second. He's started to worry about her, her sleepless nights and refusal of food and bath- she'd deny oxygen if she thought it would save him- but she can distract him easily with a plate full of food or a jigsaw puzzle and she uses that knowledge to her advantage.
As it is now, she's sitting in the plush orange chair next to his bed, somewhere between sleep and consciousness, and he's asking-
"Lan Fan?"
"Hate who?" she asks, her eyes opening against her will because she has to speak to him. She will deny herself sleep for as long as it takes for him to feel better.
"Him," he says, as though that clarifies it any further. "Greed."
She blanches at the name, the word, the concept. He notices and does not say anything about it.
When she answers, she answers too quickly. "No. I don't hate him, my lord."
He seems to believe her. She is left to her thoughts.
YOU ARE READING
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Fanfictionin which lan fan cannot protect ling from everything (was "a catalog of interactions between an emperor and his most loyal servant"!) (being revamped- dec 2021)
