"W-what are you doing?" She stammered. She'd never been in such an awkward position with a man before and that was enough to make her freak out.

  "Collecting the interest from your debt, what else?" The devil said with amusement in his voice. He reached out to grab some locks of her long hair. "Miss Tang, don't you think it's overdue now?" He murmured as his eyes watched his fingers tangle themselves among her soft locks.

  When she made a sound of surprise, Feng Tianyi looked at her. His eyes were slightly lidded and his whole attention zeroed in on her.

  Within these past few weeks, Tang Moyu realized that she was getting more familiar and comfortable with Qin Jiran's company. She must have gotten used to seeing him whenever she came home from work and she hadn't been aware that he had easily settled in with her small family of three.

  Was the sudden change unsettling? She wondered. Perhaps it was nothing worth mulling over as they both welcomed the change.

  Did she want to be with him? Tang Moyu wasn't sure yet. It had been over three months since she first met him and she never thought that they would end up like this.

  Tang Moyu cleared her throat and looked away. She knew she should slip out of his lap before her children saw them together. She hadn't thought about how she would explain this sudden change between her and Qin Jiran.

  "I-I don't know what you are talking about."

  "Do you really believe that lie of yours? Just like how you pretended not to know why I was upset with you?"

  "Hey, I wasn't the one who suddenly stopped talking. You could have just told me what upset you?"

  He stared at her like she'd grown another head over her shoulder. Was she serious?

  "When Grandpa Gu and Gu Yuyao asked you about us, you neither confirmed nor denied it. I'm starting to wonder what I am to you, Tang Moyu."

  "I don't know… you tell me……"

  Tang Moyu listened in a trance as Qin Jiran spoke in a low voice, telling her what he'd thought of her throughout the weeks they'd been together. On how he enjoyed not only the little buns' company, but also looked forward to her return from work so they could have dinner together.

  What had stunned her was the man's admittance to certain things, things she thought men would find repulsive in her, such as her cold demeanor and intimidating aura.

  Qin Jiran's fingers lightly brushed along her jawbone, fully aware of the slight blush that bloomed on her cheeks. The fact that she listened to him attentively and didn't pull away from his touch encouraged him to continue.

  "I want to take you out for dinner sometime if you don't mind, Moyu."

  "Why? Isn't that what boyfriends do for their girlfriends?" He leaned forward gently, bumping their noses together, causing the empress's face become redder than it already was. "You said that you don't have any experience. So Moyu, why don't we learn together? What do you think?"

  He wouldn't admit it to her, but Tang Moyu's rejection affected him more than he knew. Her rejection stung him as if several needles pierced him at the same time.

  He wouldn't hold it against her if she truly didn't feel anything for him, but he knew he wasn't seeing things when he noticed the sadness and hesitation in her eyes whenever she looked at him. As if something was stopping her from taking a step forward and accepting him.

  If she was truly not interested in him, that was fine. It was better for him to know the answer earlier than let himself be caught in a web of false hope. He didn't like the feeling of her ignoring him just because he made everything awkward and complicated between them.

  Meanwhile, Tang Moyu felt her whole face heat up. She wasn't sure what to say to him, but going over the past weeks of being together, and how Qin Jiran had treated her and her little buns, she couldn't deny that she was also attracted to him, which confused the hell out of her.

  She had asked Li Meili if she noticed something different about her and Qin Jiran and her best friend had been positive that she'd seen the reclusive author looking at the empress with a glint in his eyes, like she was the only one he could see whenever she wasn't focused on him.

  "He's really into you, Moyu. Why don't you give it a chance? Help each other recover from the pain of the past so you two could move forward together. Feng Tianhua isn't worth your time and attention, Moyu. You don't have to single out all men just because a jerk broke your heart." Li Meili added. "Do you feel something for him?"

  Tang Moyu looked away and refused to meet her friend's teasing gaze.

  "I'm not sure myself…" she admitted, "……but his presence isn't unwelcomed, unlike the other men who had tried to pursue me."

  Li Meili nodded her head in understanding. Since Tang Moyu hadn't had any previous experience with men before, she couldn't understand what she felt for Qin Jiran at all.

  "Then that's a good sign. As long as you're willing to take this risk for you to be happy, I don't see why you shouldn't be with him. He loves your children, he likes you. What else are you worried about?"?Her best friend asked.