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

Chapter 75

Wei Wuxian was basking in feelings or unparalleled happiness and bliss. He was laying in the comfortable bed still and had Lan Wangji by his side. The exhaustion of the morning and afternoon had already left him since he had been resting for a while and only pleasant drowsiness and laziness were left.

It still felt so foreign to him; he had never been allowed to just sit back, or lay back, and relax like this, completely without a care in the world. Even since he could remember, he had always had too many things to do to be this idle. Back when he had been living on the streets, it had always been a battle of survival for him. Later, when he had been taken in by his family, he had to work hard to learn lest Madame Yu would call him an ungrateful burden. In the end, it had still not been enough and he had only one way left to repay his debt to the Jiangs: to become a servant that would help improve their financial situation.

It was not as if he had hated the job in the very beginning. Back then, before having been sent over to the Nightless City Manor for the first time, things had actually been quite fine. He only had had to do his best and work as hard as he could. After all, he had much to thank his family for: he had a roof over his head most of the time and he got to eat more or less regularly. He was not starving or freezing to death anymore.

However, getting to know someone like the Lans after so long was a very conflicting and peculiar experience. They did not behave like any of his previous masters and were treating him so kindly and preciously that he wanted to cry and kowtow in endless gratitude every time he saw them. They took care of him and showed him respect as if he was in fact a young master. They did not give him too many duties either and even let him enjoy some free time and meals with them. Was this perhaps a true paradise?

And the best of all, Lan Wangji was sitting beside his bed, holding his hands and patting his head. Wei Wuxian felt incredibly spoiled. He wondered if he had ever been this pampered in his whole life. He could not remember the time when his parents had been still alive so he could not compare with that period but from what he could remember, there had never been such moments. Even the memories of Jiang Yanli taking care of him were somewhat falling short to the times Lan Wangji was with him. Wei Wuxian felt a little bad that he could not put his sister's affection and care on the same level with his master, but he could not lie to his own heart.

"Thank you for talking to me."

Lan Wangji's whispered words did not escape Wei Wuxian's attention and he melted. They were everything he could have asked to hear, his master was truly not mad at him for speaking, he apparently was even happy with this turn of events. For some reason, hearing them felt like Wei Wuxian had just been praised.

He could not stop his lips from spreading into a wide and perhaps a little foolish grin. He was over the moon with happiness that Lan Wangji was indirectly encouraging him to try and speak to him more. All of a sudden, he felt shy and somewhat embarrassed. He did not know from where those feelings originated but they were definitely present.

His cheeks grew hotter by the second, until Wei Wuxian was sure he was blushing. Could it be being praised had made him so happy that he could truly not contain himself and control his reaction? Yes, he could not lie to himself, it was exactly this which made him hide his face behind Lan Wangji's hand that he was still holding in his own. Once again, his master had managed to stir the deepest parts of his heart and make him feel incredible, all warm and fluffy inside.

He could not believe that someone appreciated him to this extend. Madame Yu had taught him speaking was the gravest mistake he could make, no master wanted their servants to be chatty, talk back and ask useless questions as he had done when he had been younger. It seemed like while Madame Yu had found him completely infuriating and would punish him even for breathing too loudly, Lan Wangji would most probably have no problems with Wei Wuxian talking to him. Would he maybe even be happy to hear his voice?

No, surely not. Wei Wuxian knew himself the best that his voice was all rusted and coarse from not using it often enough. No one would ever want to listen to it. Moreover, he knew that once he would let himself slip that far, he would not be able to hold back his happiness and would want to chatter nonstop. This could make Lan Wangji annoyed as he seemed like a quiet person who loved their own peace, and also, it would be exceedingly hard to restrain himself once he would have to inevitably go back to Lotus Pier.

He was still convinced that his good fortune could not last and he would have to leave the Cloud Recesses Manor sooner or later. Preferably later if he put all his efforts into being good and pleasing his masters. He had to make sure he would not anger Lan Qiren anymore, then, everything should work out just fine. He would be careful and nothing would go wrong.

As Wei Wuxian was starting to feel emotional again, and still quite shy from receiving the praise, he wanted to hide away. He could feel Lan Wangji still looking at him and patting his hair and he could not bear showing him what exactly was in his heart, it was too embarrassing. In the end, he hid his blushing face in in their joined hands. And Lan Wangji was still soothing him gently. It was so good, he was surer that if he was a cat, he would have been purring loudly.

The next second, his eyes flew wide open though, the hand which had been steadily running through his hair had disappeared. He glanced up at his master, checking for the reason. He could not find any signs of annoyance or anger and it calmed him down considerably even before he could start overthinking everything. Still, why had his master stopped petting him? It had felt so good too.

At once, Wei Wuxian realized he was actually pouting. Pouting! This was another completely new concept for him. All the times in the past, he would just assume that he had done something unrequired and would fear a punishment. Or, after coming to the Cloud Recesses Manor, he would start berating himself for not behaving properly and angering his master. However, right now, he had checked for Lan Wangji's reaction and he felt strangely aggrieved and pouting at the same time. Wei Wuxian could not find anything wrong with his own behaviour either, so why would his master stop?

He quickly schooled himself. If his Lan Wangji decided that he did not want to interact with Wei Wuxian anymore, who was he to want something more? That would be exceedingly rude and demanding, he had no right to demand anything more than what he was offered. Nevertheless, he could not help himself to be just a little greedy deep in his heart where no one but him would ever find out.

"Wei Ying, would you like to eat something?" Lan Wangji asked and it made Wei Wuxian's head whip up to look at him.

His mind immediately cleared of all negative thoughts and he was in that warm and fluffy headspace once more. It turned out that his master had only been worried about him getting hungry! Now that Wei Wuxian was thinking about it, he could actually stand to eat something. His fever had gone away and the half portion he had had for lunch was now proving to had been just enough to sustain him comfortably until this moment and was all but used now. His stomach was not rumbling quite yet, but he could tell that it was a close call.

Without thinking, he nodded his head enthusiastically to agree with Lan Wangji's suggestion. He was dumbfounded a moment later when instead of being told to get up from the bed and come eat dinner in the dining room, his master stood up and rushed away. He had not even been ordered to follow so he stayed where he was. Was Lan Wangji perhaps about to go bring him food here?

Wei Wuxian ease into the bed and turned on his back. He stared up at the ceiling and was wondering in what kind of place he had found himself. Which master would run and fetch dinner for their servant, or companion? Not that he would object though, he was beside himself with happiness and he was already thinking about what kind of delicacies he would get to taste this time.