The cold marble of the bathhouse seeps through my thin silk robes as I wait for Gong Shangjue. The steam curls around me, obscuring the sharp lines of my training scars, transforming me into something soft and delicate—exactly the image I've carefully crafted for the residents of the Gong Gate.

The sound of his footsteps echoes through the chamber long before he appears. Precise, measured, relentless—like everything about the man. When he finally emerges from the mist, my breath catches despite myself.

Water drips from his wet hair down his sculpted chest, collecting in the defined muscles of his abdomen before disappearing into the low-slung waistband of his black trousers. His face remains impassive, but his eyes—those dark, penetrating eyes—lock onto mine with unnerving intensity.

"You requested my presence," he states flatly, though there's an undercurrent I can't quite identify.

I sink lower into the warm water, letting the steam partially obscure my body as I meet his gaze without flinching. "I thought we might... get better acquainted, husband-to-be." The title rolls off my tongue with deliberate sweetness, though my hand rests on the small dagger hidden beneath the edge of the tub.

He takes a step closer, the air shifting with his proximity. "Is this part of your act, Shangguan Qian? Or do you truly believe such games will work on me?"

The question hangs in the steam between us, charged with unspoken tension. I know he suspects me. The real question is—how much does he already know?