Wang Li Xun, the Crown Prince, goes out hunting for the Celestial Flower to save his mother from a terminal illness. When he nearly dies from the attack of a mythical beast, he is saved by a mysterious boy who lives in the mountains.
To repay his ki...
She had her head turned to the side, lifting her mask slightly to sip from her cup. But the second she heard what Li Xun had instructed her to do, she choked and spat out a mouthful of tea.
Coughing and spluttering, she only managed to wheeze a word out. "W-what?"
Li Xun blinked once, unable to understand her sudden outburst of panic. "Take off your clothes," he repeated with that innocent face of his. "The man hurt your back, didn't he? You have to remove your robes for me to apply the ointment on your bruise."
"I–" She fumbled for the right words to say, fearing that she might raise his suspicion. "Your Highness, I shouldn't trouble you with such a trivial matter. I can treat myself later."
"Silly, you can't possibly reach for your back. It would be easier if I helped you instead."
When he reached for her arm, she leaped off her seat and scurried over to the other end of the room. Flustered. With her back pressed against the wall, she stared at him with wide, fearful eyes.
"What's wrong with you?" Li Xun frowned at her peculiar behaviour. He stood up and approached her, but with each step he took, she would only move further away. Putting a good distance between them.
They circled around the room several times; him trying to catch her but she ran away.
"Why are you running away? I'm only trying to help – oh!"
Soon enough, understanding dawned on him and he stopped in his tracks, a thoughtful expression crossed his face. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Are you, perhaps, shy?"
She groaned inwardly at his comment. "That's not it!"
If only... If only you know that you are about to undress a woman!
In response, Li Xun scratched his head, perplexed at her abnormal behaviour. "Then what's wrong? There's nothing to hide, we are both men after all."
She hurriedly cooked up a lie. "Do you remember that I mentioned how I was involved in a fire when I was young? To tell the truth, I ended up getting burns on both my face and my back. It's not something that I would want people to see..."
"So that's what you are worrying about."
He dropped back into his seat, the expression in his eyes spoke volumes; tenderness and sympathy. He probably couldn't imagine the pain she must have experienced when she was a child.
"But Long'Er," he assured her, "you don't have to fret about such things. I won't be bothered by your scars. Most men have battle wounds on their backs. It's common."
Underneath her mask, she started panicking.
He made a good point — quite infuriatingly at that.
"I can't help but be mindful about it," she murmured, hoping that he would drop the matter soon. The guilt that fluttered through her was slowly growing by the second, gnawing at the back of her mind.
Drop the subject, drop the subject...
She chanted those words in her head.
Much to her delight, he gave in after a long consideration. "If you insist," he told her. He handed over the medicine and a roll of gauze, which she accepted both gratefully. "But if you change your mind later, feel free to seek my assistance."
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I'll be fine."
He nodded once. "It's late," he said. "You should return to your room."
After giving him a polite bow, she stood up and headed for the exit. However, right before she placed a foot on the other side of the threshold, he stopped her.
"Wait, you forgot something."
He reached under the table and brought something heavy out. "My sister said that these belonged to you."
Long'Er's eyes narrowed at the bundle of books that looked exceedingly familiar, and she instantly got reminded of the explicit content that they contained. The blood rushed to her cheeks and she staggered away from the table in horror.
Why that little mischief-maker of a princess...!
Long'Er tried to rectify the misunderstanding, her wide eyes flitting between him and the books. "Your Highness, it's not what it looked like..."
A playful, knowing grin appeared on Li Xun's face. He didn't miss this chance to tease her. "Are you certain about that? Because strangely, she did mention that reading was a hobby of yours..."
If anything, her cheeks grew a darker shade of red.
"Well, tell her that I'm illiterate!"
Before he could tease her again, she turned and fled from the room
***
At night, the palace grounds were heavily guarded.
Ever since the princess's little venture out of the palace, it revealed the cracks in the current security system. As a result, the ministers had it increased threefold. Guards would patrol every nook and cranny, scouring around the buildings and along the perimeters.
This was making things rather difficult for Long'Er.
It was harder for her to sneak into the Office of Administration now. Even if she could, she wondered how much time she would require to locate her father's name in the hundreds of book records stashed inside there.
The information she had about him was rather lacking. She didn't know his title or the location of his residence. Yes, he had once walked on these grounds, but was unclear if he was still around.
His name was all she knew about him.
Even though she was a child at that time, she could tell that her mother loved him dearly, but why she refused to reveal more of his background was a complete mystery. Perhaps, she thought, her mother didn't want her to associate with him, not after the unkind way she was treated by his family.
Whatever the reason was, Long'Er wanted to find it out herself. Regardless of the kind of man her father truly was, she would like to see him once. To answer the unanswered questions and fill that void in her life.
Tomorrow, she decided.
She would find a way to ask Li Xun himself.
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A/N: Hello, everyone! I hope you guys are enjoying my rewritten version for this book. 😃 Some scenes are amended, sentence structures are improved so that they flow better, and I gave more insight to their thoughts. But plot wise? It will still be the same as the old draft.
To those who are re-reading, thanks for your support! To those who are new here, welcome to my world. 💕
