“Fine,” I replied simply.
“I see. Well, do you know why you’re here with me tonight?” Ren asked in a light tone, his eyes never leaving my face. Ren has not eaten at all. Clearly food was not on his mind right now.
“Yes. I know why I’m supposed to be with you tonight…but…I don’t know why it has to be me,” I replied honestly. Out of all those women, why must it be me?
“Good question. To be honest, it doesn’t matter to me who is sitting opposite me right now. It could be you…or it could be any other woman,” Ren replied emotionlessly.
“Then…can you please just send me back home? Please” I pleaded with some hope in my voice. If he has no interest in me, and I didn’t think he did, then I can go, right?
“That’s not entirely for me to decide. Just to cure you a bit of your curiosity. I didn’t pick you or anything like that. This whole thing was the emperor’s idea and precisely because it was his idea, you’re stuck here with me until we produce an heir,” Ren said dispassionately as if this was completely normal.
“I’m stuck here. With you?” I asked incredulously. This is insane.
“Didn’t my harem manager explain this whole deal to you already?” Ren asked with clear amusement in his voice.
“Did you just call Auntie Chen your harem manager?” I asked the first question that came to mind. Shit, that was clearly a slip of my tongue.
“Senior manager of my inner court. Yup, she’s my harem manager,” Ren replied without a care.
I was at a loss for word as I stared at him. Seeing my reaction Ren started laughing softly. His face relaxing the first time ever since I’ve seen him in the palace.
“I’m sure you dislike this whole harem thing and trust me; I hate it too. It’s so troublesome to maintain and manage. So troublesome that I have decided not to deal with it at all,” Ren explained, still laughing a little.
“That’s besides the point. What do you mean I’m stuck here with you?” I asked more seriously this time.
“In this empire, the crown prince must produce at least one heir before he can ascend to the throne. The role of Lady White Lotus is to spend every night with me until you conceive my child. You are now officially my favorite concubine and the emperor and other high ranking officials expect me to treat you as such,” Ren explained.
“I don’t…” I began protesting.
“I don’t want this either,” Ren interrupted my protest with one of his own.
“So…you’ll let me…” I began hopefully.
“I can’t let you leave. If you leave, you’ll be branded as a traitor to the empire. You will be hunted, humiliated in public before being burnt alive. After that, everyone from your town will be executed and then your town will be burnt to the ground. That is the law of this empire. Still want to leave?” Ren asked mockingly after his horrid explanation. The laws of this empire are clearly barbaric.
I’ll leave after I kill you, I thought bitterly to myself.
“You don’t want to sleep with me, right?” Ren asked quite bluntly.
“Right. I don’t,” I replied back.
“Good. Therefore, I’ll keep you as my favorite concubine,” Ren replied, clearly please.
“Wait…why is that?” I asked, not quite catching on.
“Because it is simply annoying and a pain to keep a desperate woman from trying to crawl into my bed. Actually, make that women. If you don’t want to sleep with me, then you won’t find ways into my bed, and I can focus on other more productive things than trying to keep you out of my bed and my life. Perfect!” Ren declared proudly as if his idea was pure genius.
“I’m not going to help you. You and your disgusting ways of using people,” I spat at him as I looked away distastefully. There is no way I’m helping this man become the next emperor.
I heard Ren let out a loud sigh as he slowly stood up from his seat. The next thing I knew, he was already standing right in front of me and pulling me roughly to my feet. Ren held my shoulders firmly in his manly hands as he bent down until his face was level and close to mine. Too close.
“I’m not just helping myself. I’m helping you too. Unlike you, the alternative to this proposal isn’t all bad for me,” Ren said in a low voice, his fingertip traced my lower lip seductively as his face inched even closer.
By reflect, I shoved him away. I didn’t need to worry if Ren would be mad because he started laughing at me immediately. I felt my face getting hotter and hotter.
“I will never help someone like you. You waged war on my village and murdered so many people! How dare you use me for your war tactics! How dare you use me to kill people!” I yelled at him as I felt tears of anger sting the back of my eyes.
“So, you’ve made your decision. Well, let me know if you’ve changed your mind,” Ren said calmly as he faked a regrettable smile.
“What are you doing?” I asked in a panic as Ren grabbed my wrists before pulling me against his hard chest.
“If you don’t agree to help me then…you’ll be my favorite concubine. Nothing more and nothing less,” Ren stated firmly before he forced his warm lips on mine.
Ren is kissing me. This realization left my body frozen in shock. Unable to get my body to move or respond, the next thing I knew, Ren cradled the back of my head in his large hand as he changed the angle of his aggressive kiss, pressing his lips harder against mine. His other arm circled my waist, pulling me tighter against his tall frame.
--To be continued...