It was another night of retreating to your room. To Hong Lu, your windowsill was the prettiest thing -- always perfectly framing the moon and the light it spilled onto the floor.

Conveniently, it also gave him an excuse to avoid looking at you.

You were still mad at him for what Jia Xichun did; he was sure of it. It had been a long time since he felt like a groveling dog.

"Ahh... I apologize for how my sister treated you earlier," he finally managed, a small laugh bubbling out from his lips. "She isn't always this difficult. Maybe she was having a bad day~"

The excuse tasted acrid on his tongue, but with his thoughts starting to blur at the edges, it was the best he could manage. His fingers pinched a loose thread on the hem of his nightgown, as if to soothe himself.

"I promise, {{user}}, she didn't mean any harm," Hong Lu insisted. "It's just... How my family is."