By the bedside was a beautiful white flower in a glass vase.
An alarmed Ye Dequan barged through the doors. It was afternoon and the prince wasn't awake yet.
"Your Highness, are you alright?" He asked, sitting casually on the bed. The prince had never waken so late before.
Khan Bojing's body stirred awake. "What's going on?"
Ye Dequan's eyes widened. "Your Highness, your neck..."
Khan Bojing froze. Oh no. He had totally forgotten. Yesterday, Li Wei...
"Bojing, what did I tell you about sleeping outside? Mosquitoes will still bite when there's meat, even if it's royalty."
"Is that so?" He let out a low chuckle. Right, his meat wouldn't be spared by a certain mosquito.
The loyal man took out a bottle of ointment. "Why don't I apply medicine for you?"
"N-no need." Khan Bojing backed up and jumped off the bed. To avoid Ye Dequan's eyes, he directly went to the opposite side and put on proper outer clothes. "Have Li Wei arrived yet?"
"The royal advisor's daughter? She's been here all morning with the young princess."
"You stay here. Inform me if anything happens," Khan Bojing patted his friends' shoulder.
Ye Dequan suspiciously eyed the prince, "Your Highness, where are you going?"
"Just shortly going to get revenge on those mosquitos."
"Wait, don't leave yet! Your medicine!"
"The mosquitos have the medicine. Guaranteed to be affective immediately." Khan Bojing slyly ran out the door.
"Ah...?" Ye Dequan was confused with the prince's response. Since when do mosquitos heal their own bites? And immediately effective?
He had got to study on this more.
---
In the princess' study, Li Wei drew a cute bunny with a brush. "Princess, what do you think?"
"Wah, it's adorable!" Khan Nazha smiled dazzlingly. "If you allow it, I'd like to hang this painting on my wall. I want to see it everyday!"
The princess' innocence brought a smile on her face. Li Wei didn't expected it'd be so easy to get along with Khan Nazha. How did they always bickered before? If only she knew how simple and kind the princess was, they could've been friends a long time ago.
"Princess, you are so kind," She blurted honestly.
Khan Nazha smiled shyly. "Thank you... That's what Song Yishan said too."
"Yishan? Right, what do you think about him?" Li Wei casually asked. This boy better thank her later.
"We're friends and he's kinder than the other boys his age. He always thinks about me, bringing back gifts from his travels. Last time, he made me a flower crown. Sometimes he come play with me so I'm not bored. Song Yishan is very good to me."
Khan Bojing happened to hear this. His eyebrows raised, "Nothing about this brother? Don't I play with you?"
"Brother!" Khan Nazha ran towards her brother, her eyes shining like jewels. "Of course, you're still the best."
He proudly patted his younger sister's head. "Good, you still know who treats you best."
Li Wei wanted to roll her eyes at the shameless man. Really, how could such a gentleman be so thick skinned sometimes?
"Brother, now that you're here, I'll go have lunch. You talk to big sister Biya first," The princess knowingly announced. To his brother, she quietly said, "Brother, you owe me one."
Khan Bojing tapped her cute nose, "How smart you are."
"Of course!" Khan Nazha giggled out the door.
Once the princess left, Khan Bojing sneakily sat beside her. "What are you doing here?"
"I just came to get revenge on the mosquitoes," He shrugged then purposely brushed his leg against hers.
Li Wei's eyes narrowed. "Watch where you're putting your legs."
The corners of his lips curved up, "How can you be so cold in the daytime?"
"I--" She was about to refute back. It's just, she couldn't. Those marks on his neck... Was it that bad last night? "Are you alright?"
"You're the second person to ask."
Horror splashed across her face. "You mean, someone else saw it...?!"
"Eh, now don't you think you'll have have no choice but to take responsibility for me?" His elbow nudged her arm.
Li Wei's cheeks turned pink. She couldn't believe how wild she behaved last night with him. On one hand, she was embarrassed of her actions. It was definitely not proper for a woman do act like she did, especially with a man whom she hadn't wed.
On the other hand, it didn't worry her too much. The pendant dangling from her waist was a constant reminder of what they promised together.
Khan Bojing hid her burning face in his chest, "Xiao Wei, don't be shy. It's not bad to be like that more. In fact, I quite like it."
"You act like a gentleman, but your thoughts are dirty," She hit his chest.
Silence.
He didn't deny it.
Li Wei looked up at him, but was met with his lips. He kissed her gently, slowly melting her in his arms.
Eventually, she forgot the shameless words he had spoken...
Khan Bojing's thumbs tenderly brushed her cheeks, "After we visit my parents, my father will hold an engagement banquet for us. Xiao Wei, by then, everyone will know that you're mine."
"Such a good man like you, many women won't be happy to hear it," She muttered under her breath.
Khan Bojing broke into laughter. "You're right, there are a few that fancy me. In particular, there's one who relentlessly followed me around whenever I returned to the palace."
Li Wei pushed him back unhappily. "So you like whoever chases you?"
"Of course not, I'm not an easy man to please," He pulled her back. "Besides, loving someone is complicated. You may meet the same person twice but fall for different reasons each time."
Meeting the same person twice, but falling for different reasons?
"Yebai, you tell me something." She slowly studied his face. "Let's say, you met me under different circumstances and I was very mean. Very evil and jealous like a villainess. Is there a tiny chance you would fall for me...?"
He lightly ruffled her hair, "Hmm, so my Xiao Wei was very mean. Maybe she was jealous of another woman, maybe she was just lonely because the world had been rough on her. Maybe no one saw that her little heart was bleeding too. Whatever it was, something broke her apart and to keep living, she tore things apart before they could break her again."
Her eyes stung and she clutched his sleeves. She was afraid of how deeply his eyes could penetrate into her soul.
"Do you know that the hatred in people's heart used to be love? If you hate deeply, it means you once loved deeply too. If you act mean, it means you once cared. If we were to meet and you're the complete opposite of who you are now, I'll say this to you." He waved her closer.
Li Wei nervously arched her head up, her heart beating wildly. There was no way he would truly fall for her. If he had met her when she was her previous self, he would run the other way. No one would love a person like her.
Was she in denial or rejection? Her heart still wasn't big enough to encompassed Khan Bojing's thoughts and feelings. He whispered to her, "My little sweetheart, I would do everything for you as I'm doing now. No matter in what circumstances we meet, no matter which lifetime we live, I'm sure I will fall for you. Of course, if you have a kind heart, it'll be easier and happier. However, if you have a heart full of darkness, I will still keep loving you until I fill it with sunshine."
Why was he so good? She didn't understand it at all. The things he had done for her, she wouldn't do it back. If she was Khan Bojing, she would never love someone like Li Wei.
Never.
Li Wei was a selfish woman who would only give her love to someone worthy of it. She wouldn't be able to love an evil man. "How is that possible? What if we had a child and I didn't care for him? What if--"
"Shhh, for me there is no what ifs. There's only now." He touched her soft lips, "But if you're unsatisfied with my answer, let me explain. If we have a child, I would love our child because I love you. If you love me too, then you would love our child. We can talk about it before our marriage. The pace of our relationship is up for you to decide because I'm always ready for you to come to me."
Li Wei happily kissed him, deeply until she was satisfied with the sweetness of his mouth. Before she pulled away, she licked his lips. "Mmm, Yebai you're truly the best in the world."
"Is that right?" He smirked amusingly.
Suddenly, a question popped up in her mind. "Khan Bojing, would you ever have sex with me if you don't love me?"
Khan Bojing flicked her forehead. "What's that little mind of yours thinking all the time?"
"It's a serious question. It's life or death!" She pecked his cheek to encourage him.
He was skeptical. "Truly?"
"Hurry, hurry and tell me now," She ushered.
"No," He said honestly.
She suddenly found it to hard to breathe.