Qing yuan stared down on the bed, at the unconscious princess lying on it. His brow knit in curiosity as he replied to the event that happened almost a day again.
Flashback
Shui sat on the edge of the boardwalk, his bare feet dangling over the lotus lake. As his toes now and then, brushes the cool surface of the water. His mind in buggled with a lot of questions, mainly questions that he can't seem to find about Li Jen. She was a whole mystery, and Qing yuan can feel it in his bones that something beyond the eyes. He must know, he is a Prospector afterrall. And soul searching is one of the most important things that his kind does. But Li Jen was just bizarre. Her attitude has changed, she is now more feisty and more outgoing. But her martial arts skills are at beginner's level, when she should have mastered it already. But what got him thinking was how she quickly adapted to his moves. The techniques he used were basic Prospector martial arts, but somehow, they came naturally to Li Jen. When they should have been challenging. And her aura, there was something off about her aura. But it is hard for Qing yuan to get a read off it. It was like something was blocking it. All those mind boggling questions swim around in Qing yuan's head, but what has him in a turmoil is how smitten and captivated he feels when he is around Li Jen, and that gets him worried.
Qing yuan sighed, looking up at the night sky. It always calms him down whenever he is overthinking, or if he has a big decision to make.
So he is there still skimming his toes over the water, when he smells smoke. He stopped his movements, confused from the sudden change of smell. He sniffed the air again, and the scent became more prominent. He looked towards the part of the palace and hurriedly scrambled to his feet, he didn't have time to put his boots back on, as he grabbed them and took off towards the direction of the fire. That was Li Jen's room, and his need to protect her had kicked in.
When he got to the room, a crowd had gathered there. Drogan's disciples were there trying to break down the doors, but it wouldn't budge. Someone had put a blocked spell on the door, and whoever did it was very powerful if none of the disciples could break it down.
Qing yuan pushed through the crowd, and stopped in front of the doors. He stood in front of it, focusing on the ears around it. Before pulling his sword from his side, and swiftly slashed it in an X pattern, and did a full blown high kick. Knocking the door in.
The whole room was engulfed in flames, and Qing yuan stood at the threshold searching the room for any sign of Li Jen. He finally spotted her lying on the ground in the middle of the room, and a familiar figure holding her neck.
He charged in, using his fire elemental energy to block off the scorching heat from the fire.
He grabbed the perpetrator in a wristlock, twisting his hand anticlockwise. Bringing as much pain to the perpetrator, so he would let go or loosen his grip on Li Jen's neck. Which he succeeded in downing. The perpetrator spun around and charged at him, and he almost got distracted when he saw the sinister face of Feng Gao.
"You!" Qing yuan whispered- yelled,but he wasn't shocked by Feng Gao's behavior. But what got him confused is why he would want to hurt Li Jen.
Feng Gao smirks at him, spinning around and doing a side kick. Shui barely dodged the kick, but he did. Grabbing Gao's foot and spun it around, making him fall flat on his back. Shui took out his sword, and flashed it to the side. Making a burst of white energy flowed from it towards Gao. Feng Gao blocked it with a slightly invisible force field, and did a front flip to his feet.
"You think you know her, but she is not who you think." Feng Gao chuckled. "But take heed, for I will be back. She has something my master wants, and he will do everything in his power to get it." And with those words said, he started to laugh as he opened the window and escaped.
Qing yuan didn't waste any time, and ran over to Li Jen, taking her in his arms. Her eyes fluttered open, and he saw something that got him thinking over and over again what Feng Gao had said. For when he looked into Li Jen's eyes, he saw someone different.
Li Jen's eyes fluttered open, and she squinted, trying to adjust her eyes to the bright light.
When Qing yuan noticed that she was awake, he quickly jumped from the chair he was sitting on and rushed over to her.
"Li Jen, you are finally awake." He said in a relieved voice, but added a little nonchalance to it to make him not sound soft.
Kai tried to speak, but his throat felt like he had swallowed a whole desert. Qing yuan saw that Kai was struggling to speak, and went to pour out some water for him.
Kai took the water, and greedly gulped it down. The cold water trickled down his throat, and the sensation from it felt good. Cool down his once parched throat. He smiled gratefully at Qing yuan, and he received an even brighter smile in return.
Kai looked around the room, and realized that he is no longer in Li Jen's room. He started to freaked out a bit, wondering if his cover had blown. And Qing yuan is just here to tell him his punishment. He quickly glances down, and sighs in relief when he sees that he is still wearing Li Jen's dress. But then his thoughts became paranoid again.
'What if my cover was blown, and they still had me in Li Jen's dress? I don't have a mirror to look at myself properly. What should I know?' He questioned himself, before an idea popped up in his head. 'I will just pat myself down. Simple as that.' He left his hand to pat down his body, but immediately regretted it when he felt a sharp pain in his joints. He placed his hand down, confusion overtaking his body. He tried again to move, but this time his whole body. But it was even worse. His entire body was sore, and it felt like a whole brick wall had tumbled down on him.
'What is happening? Why am I not in Li Jen's room anymore? And why does my body feel like I have been trampled by a herd of cows?'
He turned his head to face Qing yuan, but felt a slight headache coming on. But he ignored it. He has to know what happened to him.
"W-w-" he opened his mouth to say, but felt himself getting out of breath. He took a deep breath and tried again, this time making sure to start off slowly. "W-what…happened?"
Qing yuan raised a brow at Li Jen, wondering why she was asking what had happened. Did she genuinely forget, maybe he should alert the practitioner. Maybe the smoke inhalation had done some damage to her nervous system, resulting in her to lose some of her memory. But, yet again. He wanted to observe her a bit more. He had considered using his powers on her, but refrain against it. Saying that it wouldn't be noble of him to pry into someone else's mind. He would be also breaking rule one hundred and eleven of the Prospector's guide. 'Never intrude in a person's mind, unless it's necessary.' So he decided to watch her keenly while she was unconscious, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. He just felt a sense of protection, longing and possession. He has this desirable urge to protect Li Jen, and also to…well, that is left for the next chapter of their relationship.
He had never felt that way towards Li Jen before. He didn't even see her fit as his significant other. He wanted to follow the Prospector's way of choosing the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with, but no. He might be a Prospector, but he is also a prince. And next in line for his father to pass on the throne to him. Even though the seven kingdoms have a strong alliance, his father wanted to have an even more stronger alliance in case a munity should occur.
"You don't remember?"
Kai shook his head, wondering what Qing yuan was talking about. Did something happen to him? Well clearly that's a stupid question to ask himself. If he was all fine and dandy, he wouldn't be lying in a bed with his entire body in pain.
"Well, there was a fire-"
"A fire!" Kai interrupted Shui in alarm, his heart beating really fast now. Wondering if anyone was hurt badly. He realized that when he woke up, Qing yuan was the only one he saw until now. "Was anyone else injured?" He held his breath, anxiously waiting for whatever answer Shui would give him.
He looked up at the young Prospector, trying to get a read of the emotion on his face. But like always, his face is serious. Kai sometimes noticed that he didn't even blink that often like most people do, and that smile he got to see on rare occasions. He wished that he could see it more often. His handsomely beautiful face should not be serious or void of any emotion, even though the tough guy act suits him, and makes Kai disobey him just to get punished by him- but this is not the time to think about Qing yuan's looks. He needs to know what started the fire, and if anyone else is hurt.
"No one else got injured, it was just you." Shui slowly lifted his hand towards Kai's face, he hesitated for a minute before caressing his cheek with the back of his fingers. 'I Love how soft and smooth Li Jen's skin is.' Qing yuan thought, as he mentally smiled goofily to himself.
'I wonder if when he ever finds out that I am not Li Jen, if he would still like me? Or would he be the first one to cast the first stone?' Kai looked up into Qing yuan's eyes, and sure enough, he saw a hint of admiration in them. He smiled up at him, and Qing yuan returned it.
"How did the fire start?" Kai's voice was a little hoursed, and through the roughness he could hear his own masculine voice overtaking the replica of Li Jen's voice. And that got him scared.
"Someone tried to hurt you." Qing yuan said, but didn't mention that it was Feng Gao. He looked at Li Jen's expression before continuing. "But he didn't succeed.
"Oh, that's good then." Kai mumbled, clearing his throat to hide the roughness in his voice. But all that was running through his head was why would someone want to hurt him?
Qing yuan and Kai didn't speak for a while. Kai lost in his own thoughts, and Qing yuan watched him like a hawk. Studying his movements, and secretly trying to get a read on her aura.
Feng Gao's voice echoes throughout his head, and all the strange things that Li Jen had done replays back in his memory. He used his thumb and ran it across his bottom lip, before an idea crossed his mind.
"Li Jen, do you know this?" He took out a small white jade from a pouch that he kept inside his right sleeve and held it up to let Li Jen see.
Kai didn't hesitate, and said no. Why would he lie, he doesn't know. And it might be a key importance to the fire and whoever tried to hurt him, so he is not going to lie and say that he does. And besides, he is tired of all the lies. And it is taking a huge toll on him. Every time he is about to tell a lie, it's like his whole body just freezes over. He became nauseous, and it's like a weight just crashed down on him. He sometimes has to bite his tongue and step on his own toes to not blurt out the truth. He missed his old self, his old life. And being here everyday, he is losing himself more and more.
Qing yuan stare intently at Li Jen, his lips in a thin line. 'How could she not remember? She was the one that gave it to me in the first place.' He thought as he remembered the day she gave it to him.
They were about eight, and his family had come for a conference at the Drogan's palace. Him and Li Jen were in the garden, staring at the cherry blossoms. When Li Jen turned to him, taking his hand in her tiny ones and placing the jade in it.
"This jade is the symbol of our love when we get older." She had said to him. "Promise me that you will always remember my words, and promise me that you will always take it with you."
Shui remembered the little memory, even though he knew that he would never love Li Jen like a significant other. But he still had promised her he would, and he never broke his word. But here, right now. She didn't even hinch to say no, she didn't even look at the jade for a minute. And Qing yuan knew that she wasn't lying. He continues to look deep into her soul, he can see her twitching a bit. Maybe from him clawing at her mind, at the barrier blocking it. Feng Gao's words echoed in his head louder and louder until it finally became deafening, and his eyes became wide. And he jumped up from the chair and sat down on the bed in front of her.
"You are not Li Jen." He blurted.
Kai's breath hitched, but he quickly composed himself. Maybe Qing yuan was just teasing him, he thought. But on the other hand, Qing yuan isn't a person that shows friendliness. But still, he couldn't cave in so easily. "What are you talking about, yes I am Li Jen." Kai laughs, but he cringes at the fakeness of it. And Qing yuan noticed, and his lips curved up at the side in a small smirk.
"I guessed I hit the nail right on the head, haven't I Li Jen…..or should I say…Wang Kai."