Won't you believe me? (Servant no more - book 2)

Chapter 58

Lan Xichen finally made it out of the mansion and was looking all around. Since he could have not checked Wei Wuxian's position from the inside the Cloud Recesses Manor on his way as there were no windows from the hall leading to this direction, he would have to find the boy the old way. The problem was that he could not see him where he had been – that was only natural, Wei Wuxian had been going somewhere, seemingly with a clear destination in mind – and the boy was nowhere else in sight.

It almost looked like he had disappeared. However, that was not possible, he must be somewhere nearby, it had not taken Lan Xichen so long to run outside. He just had to look further.

He started circling the place where he had last seen the boy. He was pretty sure that Wei Wuxian had not been going in the direction of the mansion, on the contrary, he had been sneaking away from it. That was where Lan Xichen's steps were now leading. He could only hope that he was not running around in a sort of a goose chase. He had no time to lose since he had to prepare for his departure.

Luckily, it did not take too long and he spotted the familiar looking black robes disappearing behind a tree. So Lan Xichen had guessed correctly. As there was not much in this part of the Lans' property but the dog kennels, he thought the boy could be going there. And he had apparently been right.

"Young Master Wei," he called quietly after the boy's back. He did not want to startle the other by approaching too suddenly. If Wei Wuxian did not expect anyone to be around these parts of the Cloud Recesses compound, which he surely did not, it would be a great surprise for him to find Lan Xichen of all people here.

Just as he had been afraid, Wei Wuxian immediately completely stilled and stopped on the spot. He hunched his shoulders and they started shaking. Lan Xichen sighed internally. Of course calling out to the boy, this suddenly no less, had given him a scare. He had wanted to avoid this but it had been literally impossible to do so. No matter what method he would have tried, Wei Wuxian would have still been surprised.

The boy slowly turned around, all hunched into himself and apparently fearing what he had done wrong this time. It was hard to see him like this again, especially after experiencing the change he had accomplished this morning. It looked like they have gone back several steps or the entire way altogether. But there was no helping it now. Lan Xichen wanted to know why the boy was out of the bed when he was still supposed to be resting and nursing his fever.

For a second, he wondered if Wei Wuxian had come here of his own will. Lan Wangji had mentioned that he had gone play with the dogs on his first day, but Lan Xichen did not quite believe this to be true. It was hard not to think that the boy had come here because he thought he had had to.

He was looking especially scared and nervous right now. It could have of course been because Lan Xichen had called out to him suddenly, but he did not believe that was the whole reason. From what he already knew about Wei Wuxian and his behaviour, it was very unlikely that he would do anything he had not been ordered to or did not think it was his duty. Which case could this one be? Had someone in the mansion told him about the dogs – or ordered him to go see them – and he felt like he had to go to their kennels despite having a fever? Lan Xichen was sure that one of those two options was right. Knowing Wei Wuxian, it was surely not to play with the animals but to take care of them instead.

All this passed inside of Lan Xichen's head in a split second. He did not even give the boy time to bow to him and he was already calming him down: "Young Master Wei, do not worry, I am not angry with you."

It seemed to have done the trick. Although Wei Wuxian did not stop trembling all over nor looked up, it was clear that he was not so nervous anymore. Unfortunately, he still seemed very little at ease. Could it be because Lan Wangji was not here with him to calm him down? Lan Xichen marvelled at how big of an influence his brother had on the boy.

Suddenly, there was a sound of barking in the distance, behind the boy's back since he was now turned towards Lan Xichen who had followed him from the mansion. Wei Wuxian tensed immediately and his body started trembling even more violently and he rolled his shoulders even tighter to form a sort of a defensive stance.

Lan Xichen was confused at once. The boy looked so scared right now, even more than he had seen him until now, and that was something to say. He was terrified out of his mind, he could not find any other word for this. Lan Xichen scowled a little, why was he suddenly so spooked? And then it hit him, it had been the barking, there was no other explanation, there must have been a correlation.

Lan Xichen was not sure this was going to give him any answers to his numerous questions, but he still had to ask. He also wanted to distract the boy from thinking about dogs if possible. "Young Master Wei, had someone ordered you to come here?" He kept his voice gentle, pretending that his insides were not boiling, he had a pretty good idea who had told the boy to go take care of the dogs despite the fact that he was terrified of the creatures.

For a second, Wei Wuxian looked confused, as if the question did not quite make sense to him. And perhaps it did not. If Su Minshan had truly ordered him to do this, he probably assumed that Lan Xichen must have already known about it, perhaps even supported the subtle torture. Lan Xichen scowled internally even more but he did not let anything show on his face since he did not want Wei Wuxian to misunderstand and start thinking that he was mad at him.

Although Lan Xichen had not really been expecting any reply, the boy surprised him. He nodded a little hesitantly and then withdrew into himself even more. It was clear that he was fearing Lan Xichen's reaction.

The young master of the Cloud Recesses Manor could only silently pity the boy and be angry at Su Minshan. Wei Wuxian came here because he thought he had been ordered to do so. This could not be. If he was trembling with what looked like pure terror with just hearing a dog's barking, Lan Xichen's heart was breaking imagining his reaction to actually coming close to one, never mind taking care of the creatures for a prolonged time.

He did not even need to double check that his assumption was correct. However, he thought that the boy would perhaps understand his next words better if he would do this. And so he asked ever so gently again: "Do you want to go any further?"

Once again, Wei Wuxian looked at a complete loss. Lan Xichen was paying intense attention to the part of the boy's face he could see behind his banks, trying to read his expressions. Wei Wuxian was so confused that he even stopped shivering.

"Young Master Wei? I promise not to be angry no matter what your answer may be," prompted Lan Xichen patiently.

In the end, after another several seconds, the boy shook his head. This was answer enough for Lan Xichen. He was sure that Wei Wuxian was still terrified of telling him what he wanted or did not want. His refusal now was a very strong signal of just how much he was afraid of going anywhere near the dogs.

Even though his heart was breaking for Wei Wuxian and he wanted nothing more than to hug him and show him that he cared, Lan Xichen only smiled gently and proposed: "Let us not go there then. Please come with me."

When he turned towards the mansion, the boy seemed only too eager to follow him.