"Lovers' whispers?" His words had taken Li Ji by surprise. If she thought about it, over the years until this day, the prince had witnessed thousands of quarrels between her and Jian; so what was his assumption based on? She was eager to find out and rectify it.
"Li Ji and I, embroiled in a romance?" Jian said, forcing a laugh. Yet, deep within him it was a yearning hope.
To be convincing he added: "Us, characters of a love play? How ridiculous and hilarious! A tragedy, that sound most likely."
Li Ji nodded. Then giggled awkwardly. Then she did both.
Emika was bored. She laid down on the floor, her face resting on her fluffy paws. She closed her eyes, but perked up her ears and listened.
"Our Li Ji must be quite embarrassed," Jian rubbed the nape of his neck. "Perhaps, could you stop toying with us?" he asked in a tone he would use with an older brother.
The prince saw the heightened blush of his face and couldn't help but let out a thin smile.
Actually, Kiyomi was far more interested in confusing them away from the real meaning of his interruption than dallying with them. Though, he could not help to often wonder how intimate those two truly were? Had they...?
From the moment Jian had returned, Kiyomi had noticed that he was still in possession of the two packets of medicinal herbs, when he should have had delivered them to the magistrate earlier this morning.
This had piqued his curiosity.
For the past four years, Jian had not once missed the monthly delivery of the blend of curative herbs prepared by Li Ji, or else it would cause grave repercussions.
When they first arrived in The Forbidden World they had almost lost their lives, most precisely their heads. But they had found their salvation in the magistrate's providence. From then on, the latter was entwined in their lives and it came at a price.
As long as Li Ji kept his incurable illness dormant, the magistrate guaranteed their integration into this world along with their survival.
Nevertheless, this mutualistic relationship was only obligated for them but facultative for the magistrate. This sword of Damocles was hanging over their heads and could fall at any time. But that's another story and shall be told another time.
In regards to these facts, Kiyomi deduced that perhaps only some unexpected and extreme turn of event could have ever had forced Jian back home before completing his urgent errand.
Moreover, what ever might have happened was undoubtedly the cause for Jian's abnormal behaviour with the rodent—clearly out of character! In fact, Kiyomi had sensed that Jian's customary calm and composed demeanour had lately been tinged with erraticism and restlessness.
The prince said: "All right. I will stop embarrassing our Li Ji, and I promise that I will never interfere in your private lives."
Without giving them a chance to react, he promptly added: "Jian, this morning I saw you leaving for the magistrate's house. What happened that you had to turn back precipitately?"
This unanticipated question threw them off guard, and it took several seconds before their minds managed to form a thought—any thought!
"Oh! Yes, well…" Jian coughed to clear the sudden dryness in his throat. "Well, I was on my way… I was half way there... when I realised I forgot the other packet," he said with an understated smile. "I was sloppy, but I am all set to go now!"
He raised his hand and dangled in front of the prince the two packets tied up together with strings.
Jian was trying his best to look unfeigned, which for him was a losing battle. Not a sliver of deception could be found in this man.
Kiyomi remained silent. Only staring at him.
Emika opened her large eyes. Something akin to scepticism flashed in those brilliant green eyes. [Ha! Such a liar you are Jian!] She lifted her head in his direction and meowed aloud to expose him.
Emika still remembered… At several occasions upon visiting the prince, Jian had been sent to dismiss her. Though without giving any needless cause for vexation, she had always known that those reasons were lies told on the prince's behalf. The faint warble in his voice sold him out every time.
Emika rolled her feline eyes and sighed. [On top of that, Jian never had good acting skills.]
"Well, the magistrate is waiting for his medicine." Li Ji gave a hard tug at his sleeve, "Shouldn't you leave -- now?"
Emika shook her head and humphed. [She is the one with the talent!]
"Yes, yes, I should go..." Jian muttered under his breath.
They bowed their heads, then spun on their heels, trying to leave in a casually manner. As they were striding toward the gate, the prince raised his voice: "The both of you, stop this instant!"
It threw them off their stride, and their whole body felt taut from the nervousness.
Emika had also sprung on her paws.
Slowly turning around, Li Ji and Jian met the dark pair of eyes dissecting them with a luminous intensity. The prince declared: "Jian is the antithesis of sloppiness."
Then he took few big steps forward. His thin lips were stretched into a straight, hard line, and suspicion flickered in his eyes. "I clearly saw you leaving with -- two packets."
Feeling the knots of tension building up, Jian glanced at Li Ji as he screamed in his head for help. He wiped off the beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
Kiyomi regarded the both of them for a while—the silver dark ring close to his pupils seemed to glow and his black pupil appeared even darker.
Jian knew the prince had already seen through him, and wondered why he didn't openly point out his lie.
"Oh? Yes, he took the wrong prescription! A silly mistake." Li Ji explained with an awkward giggle followed with a slap on Jian's shoulder. "He forgot the other packet... the right one for the magistrate."
All the while, Jian was involuntarily rubbing the tips of his thumb and index finger together. This familiar gesture… The prince knew immediately that he was lying to him.
Kiyomi reluctantly gave in and filed Jian's deception away for a later time. Since Jian Nagoya was a childhood friend and also his most trusted bodyguard who had saved his life many times, naturally he would lean towards believing that Jian had solid reasons to conceal something from him. And whatever the hidden truth might be, Kiyomi had no doubts that the lie was uttered out of concern.
Emika's large green eyes narrowed with boredom. [Who cares about some stupid herbs! The hunger is back!]
"Meow!"
She meowed again. And again. But she was ignored.
The prince crossed his arms. His face was tense at their rather poor acting skills. What are they hiding from me? And doing a bad job at that! His slender fingers began to drum on his left arm.
The light tapping made Li Ji and Jian nervous.
A mere few seconds passed, but it seemed to stretch endlessly…
Next, with an air of stern authority, in a clear and moderate tone, he finally said to them: "I have known you since we were children, remember? I know when you are trying to hide things from me? What is the matter?"
Li Ji looked up, and, at that moment, his eyes caught and held hers. After swallowing her own saliva, she forced herself to maintain eye contact and responded to him:
"W-well, Your High—" she stammered. "…Kiyomi, we are concerned that you are not telling us the truth about the state of your health. When your illness flare up you always hide it from us, not wanting to worry us. However, how can we give you the best care, and how can we serve you to the full if you hide the truth from us?"
Nice trick! The prince thought she was being cunning as a fox in the way she had used the truth to deflect from her lies, but he knew better. He knew every characteristics of her face when she lied—the way she fluttered her eyelashes that extra beat faster, the slight twitch her left brow and the way she upturned her top lip when she spoke.
Meanwhile another "Meow!" desperately tried to call for attention.
Kiyomi narrowed his eyes and took a glance at Jian. While Li Ji was talking to save their lives, so to speak, he was scuffing the ground with his boot.
Jian felt his resolve weakening. It was as if he was standing at the very edge of a crumbling cliff, trying not to fall as each rock collapsed from underneath his feet.
Should I tell His Highness that the orb is activated? He glanced sideways at Li Ji who was still spluttering her way through her white lies. Then his eyes grazed the prince's hawkish stare.
The answer to his dilemma was simple: Whose anger scared him the most?