He did not expect her to be so proactive. Wrapping his arms around her, he slipped into an embrace.
As he rested his chin on her shoulder and held her waist with his huge palms, he sniffed the light floral note on her. "You're getting out of hand," he chided softly.
"You, my Lord, are my husband. Is it wrong for me to get intimate with my husband?" She could hear the gentleness in his tone and thus shot a quizzical look at him with her lips pouting.
His heart turned warm and fuzzy at her words. No woman had ever uttered such romantic words to him before.
His concubines were in no position to speak such words to him. Although he was a prince and the Fujin was the official wife, she had never spoken these words before; this was a first.
She saw him looking at her with a start. Saying nothing more, he merely held her tighter as he fixed his gaze on her.
Time stood still as the man embraced the woman quietly in this manner. His arms clenched around her, drawing her tighter and closer toward him. He was simply hugging her like a precious, delicate baby.
She, too, allowed herself to be held in this way without a word or interruption.
After about 10 minutes or so, the man gave a peck on her cheek and got up to leave.
Right now, it was four in the afternoon and it was already past his nap time. Unfortunately, it was not time for him to have dinner either. He had come over just to have a look at her, only to be unexpectedly delayed by the woman.
Ruoyin sent him to the door, looking as if she demurred.
The man saw her look of reluctance and his lips curled into a quiet smile.
He leaned his ramrod-straight torso slightly toward her out of the blue. Barely touching her skin as his breath lingered between her nape and earlobe, he whispered, "I'll go back to my study room for now but I'll return for dinner later. You go and get ready as well."
He already had the intention to return. Nevertheless, he thought he should inform her now after catching her forlorn look.
There was no need for her to get ready if he was there only for the meal. She could leave that to the kitchen.
It was clear that the man was hinting he was to have a date with her later.
Her ear was still reverberating with his deep and magnetic voice just as his warm, moist breath continued to tickle her earlobe.
All she did was express the emotion that a woman ought to display to her man when he was about to go away. So his words really took her by surprise.
Is my acting so convincing now?
She dipped her head with a coquettish look. "Understood. I'll prepare myself well tonight for my Lord's arrival…"
"Eh." His gaze lingered on her for further three seconds before he turned around to leave.
After he left, she started to plan the menu for him for the night.
Although she could rely on the memory of his former wife, she could sense that the man was not particularly enthusiastic over the food. Based on what she could remember, he merely picked at the food with no true interest.
Of course, there were certain dishes he liked, such as spicy fried garlic mussels, chicken cooked with rhizome shoot or bamboo shoot, pork loin cooked with bamboo shoot in thin slices, duck tongue cooked with salangid, etc.
But each of these exquisite dishes required a number of complex steps of cooking preparation which were too much to reckon with.
She did not see the need to go to such trouble for a simple meal, but she could not tell what he liked, either.
In the end, she selected a few dishes from his usual favorites, and then a few others from her list of favorites, before she got Qiao Feng to instruct the kitchen.
When it was finally six in the evening, she had taken her bath and was waiting for him in full preparation as per his subtle directive.
At this moment, she was busy painting her nails. She was using the nail color given by Lord Fourth in a glossy red tone. It smelled like a balam plant.
The nail colors over here were mostly in shades of red. Even those gifted by Lord Fourth belonged to the same series, too.
Someone like her who used to visit the manicurist for nail services in her former life did not want to restrict herself to this color alone. Hence, she got her people to collect flowers of various colors such as purple, blue, white, etc.
All who came with something for her received a reward. After that, she got Qiao Feng to create some new nail colors for her.
She could not get hold of glitters over here, but luckily, there was plenty of gold and silver shimmering powder. The shimmering powder was made from crushing gold and silver.
And in this extravagant manner, the woman mixed the two shimmering powder into the nail colors that she liked, to create her own brand of Westernized nail colors.
She was just drying her fingernails by the stove when the man arrived. What else could she do except to improvise with whatever she could find here since this era did not have a manicure heater or an ultraviolet light beam?
The man was rather surprised, as expected, to see her warming her hands in April season. Although it was true that the weather was somewhat cool this month, the place had a good house heater.
Striding forward, he walked up to her and said, "We can ask the housekeeper to add more coals if you're feeling cold."
"No, my Lord, don't. Don't get the servants to put in more coals, I feel warm enough." She knew the man had mistaken her intention so she hastily waved her ten fingers in front of him. "Look, my Lord, I'm warming my hands not because I'm feeling cold but because I want the nails to dry faster."
He took a quick glance at the nails and was so intrigued by what he saw that he reached and took her fingers in his hands for a closer look.
Her nail beds were painted over in glossy red while giving off silvery shimmers. The top layer also had sparkling elements like stars and moons, looking exquisite and elegant.
He nodded slightly in agreement, acknowledging her good taste. "Is it silver powder that's giving off the shimmers?"
She took a peek at his face sneakily. Will he reprimand me for being wasteful?
Unfortunately, she could not distinguish his mood. In the end, she could only nod her head in quiet admission. "Yes, this is silver powder. The nail color was given by you, my Lord, and I like it very much." She then prepared herself for a scolding after her confession.
He stole a look at her petulant face under the candlelight, took her snow-white hands into his, and gently commented, "I'm good as long as you like it. You look good in these colored nails. If you change the base color to blue, it would look like the night sky. In fact, you don't need to stick to silver powder alone, you can use gold powder, too. If you don't have it, I'll get someone to deliver a big pot to you."
She blinked her eyes in disbelief. This was not the outcome she had imagined earlier. She thought the man would tell her off. In the end, not only did he pamper her, he even wanted to give her something more opulent!
"My Lord, it's not necessary. I've got the gold powder here." She looked up, stared straight into his eyes, and decided to pop the question to him when she could no longer suppress her curiosity. "Aren't you going to scold me for my extravagance, my Lord?"
Cocking a brow, he snorted. "Your husband here isn't that petty to deny you some gold powder. These are merely physical assets. You can wear the nail colors inside the house, but you better put on the nail cover when you go out."
With that, he raised her fair hand, lowered his face, and planted a soft, loving kiss on the back of her palm.
"Alright, I'll listen to you." The back of her palm felt ticklish. However, as she did not want to spoil his mood, she did not retract her hand.
Actually, she knew what she had to do without his reminder. She might be able to have her way inside this room, but once she stepped out of the house, she would need to behave like a Fujin. She would be watched by many.
Even though it was only a ceremonial kiss, she almost got the impression that the man before her was a thorough gentleman.