Night enveloped Lilac's courtyard as silk curtains billowed around the carved bed.
"My lord!" she whispered urgently, pressing against Ethan's projection. "This humble servant can endure no longer—won't you make me yours tonight?"
"This is not open for discussion!" Ethan's voice carried imperial finality. "We swore to wait until your sixteenth year. Continue this, and these nightly visits shall cease."
Lilac's eyes danced with cunning as she shifted tactics. "If my lord won't take me to his bed, might he grant another favor?"
Ethan's eyebrow arched. "Name your request."
"They say the Confucian Order emptied its coffers to secure you," she murmured, fingers tracing circles on his robe. "That your brush births world-shaking verses—tell me it's so!"
"Naturally," came the smug reply. "Th
