“Will that be all?” asked Collette, as she pressed a cotton ball against her skin and clenched her bicep.

At her question, Wuzhi offered her a kind smile and replied, “For now, yes.” He placed the vials of extracted blood on a stand next to him and said, “Remember to take those pills, placed on the tray next to you, after you have your dinner. You’ve given me a lot of blood today and it is important that you regain it as soon as possible. Those pills will help in nourishing fresh blood.”

Collette wanted to tell him that seeing him smile at her was all the nourishment that she ever needed. However, not wanting to sound too crass [Translation: She was too embarrassed to say those words] she only shyly nodded her head.

Jumping out of the reclined chair, Collette felt the world spin for an instant. She instantly felt herself tilt but quickly managed to react in time and restore her balance. Just as she was admonishing herself inside her mind, a warm hand touched her back and asked worriedly. “Are you okay? Did you lose your balance for a second? Do you feel dizzy?”

His touch and words of concern immediately sent an electrifying shiver down her entire body. Collette felt her hormones rush out of her brain and felt her heart race from the excitement. ‘Heavens! A mere touch on my clothed back makes me act like I’m about to explode with excitement. What would happen to me when we ki-! Ki-! Ki-!!’ For some reason, Collette was too embarrassed to even complete that word.

“Collette?” Wuzhi’s warm and gentle voice brought her back to reality. “Would you like to sit for a moment?”

The young, buxom maiden-in-love nodded her head. She then returned to the seat that she had just gotten up from.

After she had seated herself, Wuzhi moved to retrieve his hand while saying, “You can sit here until you feel comfortable enough to return. Now, I’ll just--!”

“Wait! Stay!!” Collette suddenly made an unreasonable request. She then immediately flinched and covered for herself. “W-what I m-mean is that I-I want you to s-stay u-until I recover my b-balance.” Her explanation did not make any sense whatsoever. However, it was the best cover that she could come up with in that instance.

In any case, she had already spoken and it was too late to take back her words.

Her words caused Wuzhi to imperceptibly frown. He quietly retrieved his hand -much to Collette's dismay and confusion- shook his head, and replied with a tone that was noticeably colder than his usual warm and genial tone.

“Collette, I will admit that I find our conversations and interactions to be pleasant and fun. However, there are priorities to everything. And right now, my priority is to find a way to save myself from dying an early death.”

He wheeled back his chair and coldly finished, “So, if you will excuse me now, I have to return to finding a cure.” He turned back and returned to the main table with the test-tube rack in his hand.

It wasn’t that he was against romance but rather that now was the absolute worst time for him to be distracted by literally anything else. It was HIS life that was on the line; not anybody else’s.

Wuzhi keenly understood that his words might have permanently damaged his relationship with Collette. However, he scarcely cared about that; especially now that she was starting to hider him.

With less than a week to live and no real solution in sight, the young scholar realized that there was very little that he cared about. To live and achieve heaven’s will was his only concern.

Collette knew, even before he had finished speaking, that she had royally screwed up. She realized that in her pink-coloured chase for excitement and romance, she had completely forgotten the situation of the other party.

She wanted to scream her apology and beg him to forgive her for being a stupid, love-struck girl. Alas, when she opened her mouth to scream, no voice came out. Only salty tears fell from her eyes.

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She jumped from her seat and ran out of the lab, leaving Wuzhi alone amidst the scratching of his pen and the buzzing of his machines. The latter had hardly even noticed her leaving.

Collette ran and ran and kept running. The world around her blurred into oblivion as her strength and cultivation meant that she could move with a speed that was no less than the speed of sound!

She ran and ran and ran until she could not anymore. When she came to a stop, she found herself unable to repress her grief and let out a heart-wrenching cry at the heavens. The voice that she had lost before had returned.

She screamed and roared and cried; only the cold ice fields provided her with company. She cursed herself for her stupidity and insensitivity and berated herself for being so dazedly ignorant.

Was it a secret that Wuzhi’s time was numbered? No! In fact, she was amongst the very first people to know!

Her reprimands eventually turned into loathing as she questioned herself; just how self-absorbed could she be for thinking only about her affection and about how it made her feel when the very object of her love was desperately searching for a cure? Hell, even her entire sect was working desperately to help him.

And yet, here she was. Her role in the matter was simple; donate her blood and cells for study whenever he asked for it. However, never once did it strike her to do something, anything to assist him further.

Was this love? No, even someone as blind and stupid as she realized that what she felt for Wuzhi was not love. Had it been love, she would have never acted the way that she had.

She cried until she had no more tears to shed. Dehydrated and exhausted, she laid down on the cold snow bed and gazed up… only to see a face staring at her with an awkward expression.

Like a tense spring, Collette shot up. She pointed at the figure with fright and stammered. “W-wh-what are you doing here!?”

Baixue looked at the girl as if she was looking at an idiot. She then pointed to a spot behind Collette and said, “My cave of residence is right behind you.”

Collette froze, positively mortified.

The tall and buxom young lady was generally friendly and well-liked. She was mostly on good terms with all her friends and fellow disciples. Well, all except for one: Baixue.

To Collette, Baixue had always been an arrogant, stuck-up, and aloof ice princess who viewed everyone and everything beneath her.

There was once a time when she had desperately tried to make friends with her, only to be ruthlessly turned down and humiliated in front of everyone by the Sacred Snow Heart Sect’s Ice Princess. Ever since Collette had always disliked and even hated Baixue.

Just when she thought that her day could not get any worse, she ran into her worst enemy. What's more, she was certain that her enemy had seen and heard her screaming and crying.

Collette felt the urge to kill herself appear inside her heart. However, before her thoughts could turn any darker, the Ice Princess spoke.

“You… seem like you are in need of somebody to talk to. Do you want to talk?” she awkwardly asked.

Collette was dumbfounded. The ever-aloof Ice Princess had actually taken the initiative to talk first! And that too, to her!!

Had this been any other situation, Collette would have scoffed and jeered at her, telling her that it was no business of hers. Today, however, perhaps after having her crush ruthlessly and coldly cut her off, she desperately craved some company and advice.

Even if it came from her worst enemy.

“Yes,” she replied, nodding her head.

Baixue also nodded her head and said, “Come in. Leave your shoes at the door.”

---

“… and so, I understand that it was my fault all along. I also know that he is entirely correct in his anger. I mean, who wouldn’t be in that situation? Still… I don’t want him to hate me. I really, really, really do think that he is someone special.”

“Whenever I’m with him, I feel the world become a little brighter; the air feels fresher and smells like Netherfrost Lilies when they bloom. I feel my heart race with excitement at every moment and even my steps feel weightless.”

“But I’m afraid! I’m afraid that I’ve ruined everything! I’m afraid that if I say anything to him now; even an apology, then he would come to utterly spurn me. I sincerely want him to like me, or at the very least, not hate me.”

“Elder Sister Baixue! Please tell me; what should I do?”

The perpetually aloof Ice Princess inhaled deeply. She saw Collette’s pleading gaze, looked at the mountain of used tissues before her, and finally thought about her request. Truth be told, there were many questions that she had of her own that required answers.

Like; what do you mean Wuzhi is here? What do you mean that he only has a week to live!? What date was it today!?!

However, before she could seek an answer to all those questions, she had to first give a reply to her junior. And while Baixue was generally a nice person at heart and sincerely offered help to whoever asked her for it, facing this question, she felt a little sour.

Baixue did not understand why she felt this feeling of sourness and bitterness, however, for the first time in her life; she decided to be a bad person.

“Collette,” she began, putting on a severe expression, “…this matter; I think you should let go. If you don’t want him to hate you, that is. I’m afraid that it’s too late for you to make amends.”

Baixue did not understand why but she did not want this junior sister of hers to pursue Wuzhi. It was she who had met him first.

No one, except her, was allowed to be ‘friends’ with Wuzhi.