Chapter 319: Untitled

His gaze was filled with surprise and observed her once more. He could not tell that she was a princess for any angle. Even so, she continued her lie sincerely. “I am ill. My mother doesn’t like me. She has never once touched me or hugged me and placed me in the care of the servants instead.”

That young man quietened down, and the pain in his eyes was evident. After a while, he commented, “I’ve heard that the youngest daughter that the Xuanji Empress has is 8 this year.”

Her head started to hurt. ‘Why is this young kid so hard to fool?’ she thought, exasperated.

“Didn’t I tell you that my mother doesn’t like me? My name isn’t on the ancestry book, I’ve been hidden away.” She sighed as she continued spinning her lies

That young lad glanced at her with amusement, thinking that this interesting kid did not resemble an ordinary child. After some thought, he asked, “What’s your name?”

She shook her head and put on a pitiful expression. That young lad stared at her suspiciously. In his eyes, it was clearly written that ‘I don’t believe that you don’t have a name no matter how unloved you are’.

With no other way, she could only gesture him to the scour mattress. He was a little hesitant, but even so, he still searched. After a while, he held a small lotus in his hand and turned back, looking at her, confused.

Beaming with pride, she looked up and declared, “I am the only princess in the Xuanji family that was born with a lotus.” Imitating the snobbish and proud princesses she had seen in historical drama from her previous life, with her nose in the air, she announced, “Auspicious matters would always fall upon the ones with nobility in their blood.”

Clasping the tiny lotus in his hands, he suddenly smiled – a smile so radiant that it dazed her. And then, she heard him agree. “Hm, yes, the noblest princess.”

With a smile, he bent down and unfastened the fabric that tied her legs together and carried the ‘noblest princess’ and placed her on his knees. She was, needless to say, extremely uncomfortable. After all, in these last couple of years, no one had carried her at all. And even more so, she had the soul of a 22-year-old lady, which made it all the more harder to be treated as a child and placed on ‘a man’s knees’.

The chest behind her back was really warm. His hands were soft and gentle, the perfect hands to play the strings, brew tea, and write poems. In those hands, she could not help but relax, allowing herself to be surrounded by the warmth.

He allowed her tiny head to lean against his shoulder as he stretched over to grab a comb. Carefully, he meticulously unentangled her hair that had not been washed for ages. For hair as tangled as hers, no matter who tried to comb her hair, it would definitely hurt. And yet, with his gentle hands, she did not even feel an ounce of pain.

Somehow, the situation was a little funny. Looking at him, he was probably only about 10 years old. From what she could recall from her previous life, wasn’t this the rebellious age where they would act as a nuisance for no apparent reason and attain joy from going against girls? But this young child, was calm, still and gentle like water. She sat there comfortably, tilting her head as she tried to sneak a peek at his face. She turned back slightly to his straight nose bridge as well as his exquisite chin and rosy cheeks. She wanted to take in all his beauty, but he gave her a soft knock on her head and chuckled, “How disobedient.”

She returned the smile. Suddenly, she felt that this person was different from the rest. He was someone mature, someone that had long lost his innocent and energetic self. He was probably the same as her—their hearts were both frozen cold. They were probably the same, both with a smile on their face. Yet, in that smile hid loneliness and darkness—a smile filled with pain.

Perhaps, his gentle treatment towards her was because he felt that they were the same?

He combed through her hair and attempted to braid it. For this noble prince, combing some hair was still a manageable task, but as for braiding, it was indeed a big test. His flustered attempt resulted in a messy and hideous braid and as the cherry on top of the cake, he pinned the tiny lotus on her hair, albeit very slanted. He looked at his failed product, heaved a sigh, and decided to attempt it once more. She quickly stopped him, touched her braids, and gave him a bright smile.

“It’s pretty,” she said softly. “No one has ever braided my hair for me.”

He looked at her, his gaze was filled with pain and shock. After a while, he carefully asked, “This kind of life… Don’t you want to escape? Shall I ask the Emperor and Empress for you?”

“Who are you? How are you able to talk to the Emperor?” she questioned, feigning ignorance.

“I am from a neighboring country.” He pointed to the south and continued, “I followed my Teacher’s Brother here. He has gone to visit an old friend, and I’m strolling around while waiting for him. But I can also go directly to find the Xuanji Emperor.”

She rolled her eyes. ‘Even if he is a prince, he is still the prince from another country. How can a passing prince intervene with Xuanji politics? To let that henpecked Emperor risk his wife throwing a tantrum and promise to give her a normal life? That’s impossible. In fact, it is more likely that my mother and I would be murdered by the Empress.’

“It’s alright.” She shook her head and lied, “My nanny said that Mother has asked about me. I can probably go out. If you were to ask, it might anger her instead.”

He nodded, asking, “When is your birth date?”

This was something she knew. Her mother had repeatedly told her about it, afraid that she would forget all about her own birth date. She whispered it to him. After some thought, he stood up and searched the room. Finally, he found an almost bald brush and a stale piece of ink. But no matter how much he searched, he could not find a piece of paper. He then decided to take off his outerwear, tore off a piece of fabric and scribbled over it.

He wrote and paused, wrote, and paused. It seems as though he was writing a lot of numbers. Curious, she peeked over, and her eyes immediately widened.

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Xuanji Diagram!

In front of her was a diagram that contained some military tactics. She scanned through it and spotted some clever war of art tactics.

Who was he? How could one be so talented? Even scribbling down poems would be hard enough, what’s more, military tactics that could be read vertically, horizontally, diagonally and alternately?

Probably her surprise alarmed him. He looked over with doubtful eyes. She immediately replaced her surprise with a confused expression. After all, a young child like her should probably not know of the Xuanji Diagram, nor understand the subtleties of it.

When he was done writing, he tore it into half and gave one of the halves to her. Muddled, she took over the diagram. To that, he smiled and said, “Engagement gift.”

‘What engagement gift? From now on, you will be living your luxurious life while I’ll be squatting in the cupboard, tolerating the days without sunlight. What interactions will we even have?’

She turned back to the cupboard. Now that she had finally come out, she did not want to go back in. “Bring me out to take a look, I want to see the view outside!” she requested.

Her plan was to escape while he wasn’t paying attention once he brought her out. And from then on, she would be free.

He promised, covering her with his cape and carried her out. From the small slit between the cape, she could see that the place she had been in for 5 years was a tiny vestibule. In front of the cupboard, there was a curtain covering over it. In the palace outside, there were an entrance and pale yellow walls with a dark red door.

She was elated at the prospect of freedom once they got out of the palace. But suddenly, he froze.

And then, he stood still, as though listening to something. She writhed with unease in his embrace. He pressed down on her head tightly, and she immediately stopped moving.

Then, she heard a low, hushed whisper. “I have something to do, I’ll send you back first. I’ll fetch you later… alright?”

She was a little disappointed, but her freedom was in his hands, and she could only nod obediently. He sent her back to her tiny accommodation, and she stood by the window and watched as he soared over the tall palace walls. Her eyes filled with envy for the freedom he had. Suddenly, he turned back in mid-air.

She could see his mouth moving, and she read his lips.

“Wait for me.”

The autumn sunshine was bright, reflecting in the sincere eyes of the young man. She looked into those eyes and nodded her head trustingly. She believed that he would do as he said. And so, she looked around her surroundings, took off that lotus on her head, and for the very first time, crawled back into the cupboard willingly, waiting for his return.

Alas, he did not return.

He never did.

Because that night, she lost herself.

… The breeze brought with it a strange stench of metallic blood… that smell… that smell…

In the dark, she hugged her knees, losing hope by the second. Suddenly, she heard footsteps and was eager and ready to rush out towards him. But then, she heard an unfamiliar female voice. “Didn’t they spot that person here? Where is he?”

More footsteps could be heard. She was absolutely frightened, and she dared not even breathe normally. Vaguely, she could hear someone replying to that girl in a low, muffled voice. Then, a crisp slap could be heard.

“I don’t even know why the Xuanji even has trash like you all? Even using the word trash is too polite,” that girl said haughtily.

It seemed as though that girl was in a bad mood and ordered all the men to retreat. The surroundings quieted down as she hoped for that girl to leave quickly. Otherwise, if he were to come and see a stranger, he would not be able to take her away.

The surroundings remained quiet for a long time. She thought that the girl had left and just as she was about to move, she could hear footsteps heading into the room. That girl actually entered the room.

That girl paced around the room, seemingly annoyed. “Uncle Epsilon said that he came. Why did he not come to the palace? Doesn’t he know I’ve been wanting to see him for a very long time? Shouldn’t the most renowned prince in the Five Regions Continent meet the most honorable princess of the Five Regions Continent?”