Maomao calmly stepped outside and inhaled the fresh, yet still burning summer air into her lungs.

Three days had already gone by since Jinshi had suffered that accident and lost his memory, and it was the very first time after said events that she was setting foot outside his residence where she had been constantly taking care of him together with Suiren (and Gaoshun had also come by from time to time to see how his lord was doing). Those three days felt both like eternity and at the same time like three seconds to her. A strange feeling that she couldn't really describe.

The evening sun, that wasn't even thinking about setting yet, was still sending merciless heat waves onto the earth. While walking, Maomao absent-mindedly wiped away the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, before palpating her clothes for the small scroll she was carrying in their folds. Just to make really sure that she hadn't forgotten it.

It was a written permission to enter and leave the inner palace whenever she pleased. Signed by none other than the Emperor himself and delivered to her by Gaoshun. Without her even having to ask for it.

"Surely His Majesty has a pretty bad conscience after having scared Master Jinshi like that, huh?"

she thought and a light anger promptly found its way into her usual neutral facial expression. It made her clench her hands into fists, since she still couldn't forget Jinshi's panic attack, caused by the Emperor's visit. Fortunately, at least the marks left by His Majesty's fingers on the young man's shoulders had already faded away. Maomao had rubbed some ointment into them in order to speed up the process.

While musing over all that, the apothecary accelerated her steps a bit. She wasn't allowed to dawdle too much, since she still had quite a lot to do.

Right now, Jinshi was taking a bath with Suiren's help, and since Maomao currently wasn't needed, she decided to use the time to pay the Jade Pavilion a visit and finally get her things. Especially her herbs and tools, since the medicine she had brought with her had slowly but surely started to run out and she had to produce more as soon as possible. Mainly the pain remedy, for Jinshi was still having headaches.

He knew about her little trip, since she had informed him that she would be gone for a while. And as long as she did that and also told him when she would approximately be back, it wasn't that much of an issue for him. Because he trusted her unconditionally, as he himself had said.

Though Maomao honestly didn't understand why, he still didn't remember her (nor anyone else) after all, but she refrained from questioning it either. Mostly, to keep her own feelings of guilt from invading her mind again the best she could.

And yet, it was only possible to leave him alone during the daytime. At night, it was an entirely different matter.

It was almost as though someone flipped a switch as soon as the sun had set, making the Moon Prince's mind at least ten years younger all of a sudden: he was still absolutely terrified of the dark, cried, trembled and clung to Maomao even more than he did during the day. They had already tried leaving lit candles and lanterns in his sleeping chamber, but it was for naught. No amount of them helped him. Only Maomao did. When he wasn't holding her in his arms while lying in bed, he either wasn't able to sleep at all or having nightmares. And sometimes even when she was there with him. That was how bad it was.

And every time it happened, it usually took him a long time to calm himself. However, it luckily still helped when she hugged him tightly, gently massaged his back, and hummed her sister's lullaby to him. So she did that every time he awoke from one of his bad dreams.

Maomao let out a deep sigh. She had already begun to despise the night... for nighttime meant a scared and crying Jinshi... and even though she could soothe his fear, she just wasn't able to defeat it for good, to make it never return again. And that fact troubled her greatly.

To her own bewilderment she had to admit once again that it almost caused her physical pain to see him suffer like that. No, it was actually even more than that, since she could endure actual physical pain a lot better than most people. A highly unfamiliar feeling that never ceased to confuse her. The only explanation she found for it was that it probably was her guilt still tormenting her. Yes, that had to be it. She refused to even consider the idea that it could be something else.

"Hey, aren't you... Stop right there!"

Suddenly, a female voice tore her out of her thoughts and made her look up in surprise. Immediately starting to frown, once she spotted the small group of court ladies heading right towards her with energetic steps.

Whether they were the same ones who had wanted to harass her shortly after she had started working as Jinshi's personal maidservant, she didn't remember, however it wasn't as if she truly cared, anyway.

"The hell do they want?"

she thought, annoyed, and narrowed her eyes.

"I don't have time for this."

But she still obeyed and stopped briefly, because the women looked like they would surely follow her if she didn't.

"Urgh, let's get this over with..."

"How can I help you?" she asked, tucking her hands into her sleeves.

However, instead of replying, the ladies just gave her unfriendly stares. Until one of them suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders.

"How is Master Jinshi doing? Has he already recovered from his illness? '

Maomao blinked a few times, taken aback, after having heard those questions. Ah yes, right. Since Jinshi could neither leave his residence nor do his work in his current condition, it had become clear that an explanation for his prolonged absence had to be invented sooner or later. Thus, it had been decided to tell the people at the Imperial Palace that the "beautiful eunuch" had gotten sick, if they should ask about his whereabouts. Without specifying which sickness it was, of course.

And as fast as news was spreading among the many women living there, Maomao was more than sure that the entire inner palace and at least a part of the outer one had already heard of it.

"Ah, that's why I saw so many flowers in front of the entrance..."

Since it was more or less well-known that Jinshi was her direct employer, it was only logical that she was the one they would ask about details. Oh, how very troublesome...

"How he's doing? A bit better," she merely said coolly. They would not get any detailed information from her, that much was sure.

She could see the relief on the women's faces. Well, not very surprising, considering how much they all venerated the "eunuch".

"And when will we be able to see him again?"

Maomao had to put in a lot of effort to keep herself from letting out a loud snort.

"I do not know that. And now I would like to excuse myself, if you don't mind. I still have to carry out important matters for Master Jinshi."

She wanted to start walking again, but was soon stopped once more.

"Wait! Can you at least tell us which illness he's exactly suffering from?"

"That's not your damn business!"

Maomao growled in her thoughts.

"Just leave me and him in peace!"

But then she got an idea about how to get rid of those annoying pests quickly and efficiently.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you that," she said in a perfectly calm tone and gave them a mean grin. "But it's contagious, and since I'm spending quite a lot of time near him, I wouldn't recommend you to touch me."

The woman removed her hands so fast from Maomao's shoulders as if she had burned herself, and very soon, the apothecary was able to resume her path.

Of course, she wouldn't be allowed to walk around freely if Jinshi's illness really was contagious, but she hoped that she had scared the ladies enough that they wouldn't question her words and discover that she had lied to them.

But one fact had not been a lie: even though he still couldn't remember anything and despite his nightly fear, Jinshi was indeed a bit better already.

To her immense relief, he had survived the first night after his accident and also the ones that followed, so it was more or less a given that his life wasn't in danger anymore. As soon as Maomao had realized that, she had become a lot calmer, even though her feelings of guilt still refused to leave her alone, especially at night when he was suffering.

And his wound was also healing well, as she and also Luomen had seen for themselves. The old man had received a letter from Maomao depicting Jinshi's symptoms on the second day and had come to examine him himself. With permission from the Emperor, of course. And in spite of agreeing with her that said symptoms and also Jinshi's still ongoing memory loss were indeed concerning, he had told his adoptive daughter that unfortunately, nothing could be done right now except for keeping an eye on the young lord and waiting for what would happen next.

Plus, he had recommended to grant Jinshi a few days of rest first and then, when the patient himself was feeling ready for it, to start trying to bring back his memory by showing him rooms and objects once familiar to him and telling him about his former life. Slowly and with small steps.

That was exactly what Maomao had been planning to do in the first place, since the young lord had often been feeling sleepy and tired during the first days after the accident. Which had honestly worried her as well, since that could also be a symptom of brain damage. But even if it was, she still could do nothing but continue to give him medicine and stay with him. And she did.

And thus, Jinshi had spent a good chunk of those days resting, taking naps and cuddling with Maomao. As it seemed, he had developed a preference to wrap his arms around her and press his head either against her shoulder or her chest. Maomao didn't have the slightest clue why he liked doing the latter so much, since her chest truly left much to be desired and was probably not a very comfortable pillow. But she decided not to waste any time wondering about it and just allowed him to do it without any complaints.

Maomao took a deep breath and shook her head, accelerating her steps once again. Now was not the time to immerse herself into her thoughts.

For Jinshi would probably soon return to his chambers and start waiting for her. And she also still had to wash his hair once she got back

The apothecary had asked Suiren to skip washing Jinshi's hair during the bath and to leave that task to her, since his wound mustn't come into contact with water and let alone soap. In general, it had to be treated very carefully while it was still healing. Of course, it wasn't that she didn't trust the elderly lady, she absolutely did and knew that there was no one more suitable than Suiren when it came to taking care of Jinshi. But Maomao still preferred to do such things herself, because if something should happen after all, she would at least know what to do.

But that aside she was really glad that Jinshi was still getting along very well with Suiren and also Gaoshun even now and allowed them to help him without any objections. Even though he still failed to remember that they were the ones who had raised him. But maybe he could sense it at least a bit.

Yet the biggest mystery concerning his behavior was to her that she continued being the only one he was truly attached to. Even more than he used to be...

He really seemed to want to spend every free minute with her. And he did: the two of them were now almost constantly together. Morning, noon, evening, and night. Exceptions were only when they needed to do things that required privacy like using the bathroom, washing themselves or changing clothes (however, Maomao did still sometimes help him with the latter).

And to her own surprise, Maomao had to admit that she had already managed to get used to it. Interesting, indeed... had someone told her in the past that one day, she would spend almost all of her time with Jinshi and even sleep in his bed at night, she would have surely grimaced and hissed like an angry cat. But now...

The apothecary raised her head and stopped. She had reached the entrance to the inner palace.

***

About thirty minutes later, Maomao had already returned to Jinshi's residence and was heading to her room, carrying her belongings. She was a bit out of breath since she had almost been running on her way back (while silently cursing those court ladies for stopping her and wasting her time earlier). Well, but at least, the air outside had luckily started to get a little bit cooler.

Letting out a soft groan, the apothecary took the heavy basket with her most important herbs, medicines, and tools from her back and placed it on the floor, together with the bag she had stuffed her clothes and other personal things into. Then she briefly rubbed her slightly aching shoulders and immediately began, still breathing a bit heavily, to pull out what she was intending to take with her to Jinshi's sleeping chamber.

Clothes... a comb (during the previous days, Suiren had allowed her to use Jinshi's)... a few handwritten notes about medicinal herbs... but on the other hand, she should better leave them in her own room, since it was the place where she would prepare Jinshi's medicine anyway... a sachet with two, no, three pills of the pain remedy... very nice, but she would still make more the next day, just in case... and...

Maomao's hand with which she was rummaging around in her bag froze for a second when it touched something odd. What was that?

She took out the object with slight confusion. Huh? A book?

Then she remembered: it was a copy of that novel that had made its rounds through the inner palace some time ago. After she had briefly informed Lady Gyokuyou and her ladies-in-waiting about the situation shortly after her arrival, the worried women had given it to her, because she was the only one of them who had still not read it and also to "cheer her up a bit" in her difficult situation (together with a bunch of sweets that Maomao planned to pass on to Suiren later).

Since Maomao had neither the time nor the desire to refuse that gift that in reality didn't interest her in the slightest (it wasn't a book about poisons or herbs, after all), she had merely put it into her bag and taken it with her without much thought.

And there it was now. Oh, whatever. The young woman shrugged, placed the things she had taken out onto a cloth, tied it up into a bundle and then hurried to Jinshi's chamber.

He himself wasn't back yet (before she had left, Maomao had made it clear to him that he could take his sweet time while bathing), but should return soon, she assumed. Maomao came to a halt and opened her bundle in order to calmly take out her things and place them on the table next to his bed where her other remedies were already standing. As if it had already become her own place. A familiarity that felt somewhat odd even to herself.

"Maomao! You're back!" The apothecary turned around towards the chamber's door as that cheerful voice reached her ears, and spotted a Jinshi, who was basically beaming with joy. "Did you get everything you need?"

He looked so happy as though they hadn't seen each other in years.

"I did, sir," she merely said.

"I didn't wash his hair, Xiaomao, just like you asked me to." Suiren, who had accompanied the young lord, let go of his forearm. She was still terribly worried about him and always held him by his arm when walking together with him in order to support him a bit. It wasn't really necessary though, but since Jinshi himself never objected to it, Maomao didn't comment on it either.

"Thank you very much." The apothecary gave the chief lady-in-waiting a little bow. "I will take care of it in a moment."

"Very well, then I'll go fetch the water."

In the meantime, Jinshi had approached Maomao as if drawn to her like a piece of metal to a magnet, put his arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer, bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Maomao had gotten so used to being almost constantly showered with his affection since the day of the accident (well, no wonder, after all, she had already slept three nights in his arms) that she didn't even change her facial expression and continued to put away her things with perfect calmness.

He smelled of soap and perfume, and his face was a bit red so that he didn't even need humid hair to make it evident that he had just come out of the bath. While Maomao silently reached out to arrange his sleepwear that had slid down a bit during the hug, revealing one of his shoulders, his collarbone and the immaculate skin of his neck, a certain thought crossed her mind, like every so often in situations like those: not a single outsider was allowed to see Jinshi like that. Ever. Under no circumstances. And especially not in his current condition which made him basically defenseless and unable to keep unwanted "admirers" away from himself.

Those were the thoughts currently hidden behind her perfectly neutral expression.

From the corner of her eye, Maomao could see that Suiren was smiling at them mildly and watching them without saying a word. That was another change Jinshi had gone through, the apothecary found: he had become able to show her his affection in front of other people without a trace of embarrassment. The old Jinshi used to get red cheeks every time he had been caught hugging her like he did now, not to mention that, back then, he could barely call her by her name without stammering. And now it all was absolutely no problem for him anymore, to the point that he not only hugged, but even kissed her completely naturally and freely any time he wanted (not on the lips though, of course), not caring about a possible "audience" at all.

Maomao honestly had no clue what to think about that...

The apothecary cleared her throat and returned her attention to her herb sachets. She could still feel Jinshi's arm around her shoulders and his warm breath near her ear and assumed that he had bent down into her direction once more and was watching with interest what she was doing. He did that quite often whenever she was handling her remedies and herbs (sorting them or brewing them into teas for him, for example), and Maomao just let him. It didn't bother her.

"Do you need something right now, young master?" she heard the elderly lady ask. Apparently, Suiren was about to leave the room.

"No, thank you, Suiren. And also thanks for your help earlier."

Yes, even though Jinshi still couldn't remember anyone, as already stated, he had already started calling Suiren and Gaoshun by their names as well, as soon as he had learned them. And becoming quite familiar with them (though still not as familiar as he was with Maomao). Maomao was really, really glad about that, for she clearly noticed how happy it made the chief lady-in-waiting and that it was giving her hope. And Gaoshun too had put on a little smile once he had heard his name from Jinshi the first time after his lord had lost his memory.

"I hope this is a good sign that he's not going to stay like this forever after all,"

the apothecary thought.

"Oh, this is a book, isn't it?" Jinshi suddenly asked, and Maomao could see how he stretched his free hand out towards the table and grabbed said object that was lying atop one of its edges.

Geez! So she had taken that thing with her without even noticing once again. Great...

"Yes, sir. This is a novel that was given to me today." She let out any exact explanation in order to not confuse him.

"What is it about?"

"I don't know exactly, but if I understood correctly, it's a love story."

"Oh, really?"

Jinshi let go of Maomao, and she turned around to him, seeing that he was about to open the book, clearly curious to find out more about it. She quickly took it out of his hands.

"Maomao?"

"You're not allowed to read yet, Master Jinshi. It might strain your brain too much. Please wait a few days." Her voice sounded strict, as always when she forbade him to do something, leaving no room for objections. Well, for the current, obedient Jinshi, at least. The former one would have protested without a doubt.

"Oh..."

The disappointment was written all over the Moon Prince's face. She did feel sorry for him, but he still suffered from frequent headaches, and she was afraid that they could get worse because of the reading. That was why she preferred not to take any risks, not to mention that he would surely find such a novel pretty boring anyway. Even though she couldn't say it for sure, of course, since she wasn't familiar with his literary preferences.

Thereupon, she saw the still smiling Suiren approach them instead of leaving.

"Hm, how about you read it to the young master, Xiaomao? Then it wouldn't be a problem anymore, right?"

Jinshi immediately widened his eyes and slightly opened his mouth.

"Well..."

"Please, Maomao!" he interrupted the apothecary and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking directly into her eyes. His gaze reminded her of a little puppy begging for food. "Please!"

She exhaled deeply.

"I don't mind, but I still have to wash your hair first."

And before she knew it, she found herself in another tight embrace.

"Thank you so much, Maomao!"

"I could wash his hair for you, Xiaomao."

"Lady Suiren? But..."

"I know you're worried about his wound, but I can assure you that I will be really careful with it, after all, I have washed his hair since he was a little boy. And if something should happen despite everything, you are here now."

After having heard such convincing arguments, Maomao was left with no other choice than to let out a soft sigh and finally give in.

***

A bit later, Suiren had already fetched a tub with water and everything else she needed for the hair-washing (both Jinshi and Maomao had wanted to help her carry, but she had refused) and stepped behind her lord, who was obediently sitting on a chair and waiting for the procedure. She lifted his hair and placed a towel on his shoulders.

Maomao put the bandages she had wrapped off his head on the table and stuck the book under her arm in order to grab another chair with both hands and leave it next to his so that she could sit down to read. She had to admit that she was even a bit curious how he would like that (in her opinion and judging by what she had heard from other women) extremely sappy and overly poetic love story.

"Maomao."

Just as she wanted to reach for the chair, she heard his voice and turned around.

"Yes, sir?"

With a gentle smile on his lips, Jinshi stretched out his arms into her direction.

"Please come here."

Not really understanding, the apothecary raised an eyebrow.

"Just a moment. I'll grab this chair real quick."

"That was not what I meant..." The young lord scratched his cheek and averted his gaze for a second, blushing a bit. Now he did look a little embarrassed, after all.

Maomao understood even less what exactly he wanted from her.

But then she saw him give her another pleading gaze and pat his lap with one of his hands.

Oh. Now she got it.

And didn't really know what to say.

Suiren covered her mouth, apparently to hide a chuckle.

"You know, the young master has missed you, Xiaomao."

"I was gone for less than an hour..."

Maomao thought, however, took the book into her hand and headed to Jinshi. Without the chair.