The Princess said that she was thirsty, so I brought over a pot of wine. She immediately took a hearty swig.
I finally got the Princess to reveal why she thought I was into guys after I continuously pestered her, "I contemplated and hesitated about teaming up with you to deal with Jin Wangsun for a long time. Therefore, I investigated you before I approached you. It's a shame to say this, but I couldn't find out anything about you in the pugilistic world, so I had to ask the people within the vicinity of the Imperial Palace."
And so, the Princess' information on me was learnt through the people I'd met and conversed with before.
Below is the insider information that she dug up.
"He likes men. I, personally, witnessed it before. Not only were there sparks between him and his colleague, but he even… k-… me… he… Cough, cough, in short, he likes men. There's no question about it." - General Manager Bai
"Oh my, that would never escape these eyes of mine. I scanned him with my eyes at first sight. My, my, his toughness is just his front to hide the emptiness he feels in his heart." - General Manager Wang
"One-hundred percent! I can vouch for it with my life!" - Person with the surname Liu from Liu Shan Men.
"Ming Feizhen? He's a sly one. He's always scamming me for wine. Being generous, I let him have his way. Huh? Does he like men or not? Well, that's hard to say. Erm, but he's always coming and going with men accompanying him. Does that count as a clue?" - Cleaner Huang from Liu Shan Men.
"I get along very well with Big Brother Ming. We eat and sleep together every day. Hmm? He lives next door to me. That counts as sleeping together, doesn't it? Hahaha. Oh, that's what you were talking about? Mm… I strongly suspect that he and Tang Ye have something going on between them, because they always discuss things behind my back and claim I cause trouble. In my opinion, that's just an excuse. I'm sure that Big Brother Ming and Tang Ye have something going on." - Person with the surname Su from Liu Shan Men.
'God, that's a lot of fucking bullshiiiiiiittt!!!'
'Your Highness, I'm amazed by how you managed to pick every single bullshit artist for questioning! The first two you asked were wrong! I admit to the incident with General Manager Bai, but as for Eunuch Wang, that's clearly his own imagination, okay?!!'
'Don't go judging Liu Yuan by his upright and honest appearance. He's jealous that Su Xiao won't give him attention! He's the one that's gay!! Gramps Huang, don't take advantage of the situation to seek revenge on me just because I beat you at dice games!! Liu Shan Men's constables move together, and the female constables move together, too. What's so strange about me being with other guys?! Su Xiao, you're the biggest bullshit artist in this story! How in the world did it become Me X Tang Ye?! If that was the case, it'd be Me X Su Xiao, too! Wait, what the fuck did I just say?! I'm not gay!!'
"Really?"
The Princess, who was holding a cup of wine, was somewhat drunk. She widened her eyes to look at me then she suddenly giggled as she usually would.
'That was you mocking me! You're the serious as a judge type. Why did you suddenly giggle that way?! It must be the wine, right?! You're a horrible drinker! That was less than three cups!'
"You're a funny one. You like him, yet he don't dare to admit it," the Princess' face was flush. She looked into my eyes. In a slightly sad tone, she said, "But I'm in the same boat."
'… Our circumstances are different!'
'You have a crush on your nemesis, while I'm falsely accused of liking men by you people!!'
The Princess ignored me. She began to drink even faster.
"Did you know that my Second Brother… Orange Prince, used to always bully me when we were kids. He said that I'm only good for training with a sabre, a dull brat. He tossed bugs into my clothes and pushed me into a pond."
'I know that. He still loves bullying people, doesn't he? His bullying escapades went all the way to the Imperial Palace last month, and almost killed your dad. It was a big task to lock him up in prison. His pranks when he was young were quite cute, on the other hand. My Second Brother was the same when he was young. He'd throw all sorts of stuff at people, push people off mountains and what have you. It seems that children are the same no matter where they are.'
"But after he bullied me, he'd bring me some nice foods or fun things. Although he wouldn't say anything, I knew that it was his way of apologising. He's still the same now. He occasionally wrote to me. He didn't write much, but he'd always send me things I like."
'Damn, he's a tsundere! I told you he was a tsundere!'
"That's why despite everybody hating him now, I know that Second Brother, he… isn't bad by nature. The main reason he committed such an atrocity was because Father gave him the cold shoulder when he was young. I, myself, don't know why Father treated us that way. Father doted on us, but for some reason, rarely spoke to my brothers. I know that he loved them, but when he went to express it, he'd say something else. He's doing the same thing again with my marriage. Father doesn't dare to look at me after deciding that he'd betroth me to Jin Wangsun. He knows that his decision will let me down, and hence why he can't face me. But I know he's in a hopeless situation.
'Your entire family are all tsunderes! By the way, Your Highness, why have you suddenly brought up your personal story?"
"Do you know why?"
The Princess is terrible at holding her liquor, yet she finished the pot of wine in one go, "Because we're born into royalty! That's why we're forced to do things we don't want to!"
'Listening to her made me sigh, as I remembered the outrageous things I did in the past, whether it was as the head disciple of Mount Daluo, as Lord San Shen of the Divine Moon Sect, or as the master of Night Fortress. I was never able to act according to my own will in any position, and hence my sighing.'
"Noblesse oblige. Life consists of things beyond one's control, so don't pay it too much mind."
'I have no clue why, but I suddenly remembered Shiyi. Second Brother and company came, so she will probably come to, won't she?'
A faint heartache sensation instinctively surfaced.
With a helpless smile, I said, "One cannot act according to their will in the pugilistic world. That's how it's always been."
However, the Princess looked at me. She was already totally drunk. She looked as though she wasn't listening to a thing I said. She aggressively pointed at me and said, "Even when it comes to marriage, I have to… marry a gay first."
'Hey! Who you calling gay?! Who likes men?! Make yourself clear!'
"You don't like men?"
The Princess wriggled her seductive hips and looked at me with her intoxicated eyes. Her snow-white small face was red from intoxication. Even her breath became a mellow scent. She laughed, and then grabbed my chin and lifted it similarly to when you tease a girl.
"Prove it to me."
"Huh?"
The Princess suddenly leaned in. Her hot lips exuded an alluring smell. When her breath hit my face, an intense urge I'd been having all night from the bottom of my heart surged up.
'I want to strip this beauty before me.'
Her hot lips came closer. We could feel each other's breaths. She went in for the kiss, but I caught the back of her collar and pulled her away a centimetre before our lips made contact.
The Princess didn't react with surprise. Instead, she laughed aloud, "Hahahaha, and you claim you don't like men?"
'The usual serious and stern Princess undergoes a change in personality when she's drunk, I see. Luckily for you, I'm still rational; else, you'd have been taken advantage of.'
Feeling sorry for her to some degree, I stated, "Your Highness, I am not your crush. You are drunk."
She laughed, "I'm not drunk. I know that you don't actually like men, correct?"
"Huh?"
"I know that not only do you not like men, but are also actually heroic and incredible. You are hailed as a god in the Western Region. You must have countless beauties throwing themselves into your arms, right?"
The Princess gently took her eyes off me. Her gaze was akin to a gentle pair of hands gently caressed my face. Her voice sounded similar to mumbling in one's sleep, "I'm not drunk. You… You're Lord San Shen… You're Lord San Shen…"
'How would I have ever imagined she'd see through me now?!'
I instinctively let go of her. She immediately threw herself onto my chest, but judging from her look, something didn't feel right.
Her face was totally red. Her heroic eyes were now narrowed into slits. She looked pitiful. There wasn't a tinge of a heroic aura from her.
Her entire body was burning and limp as if she didn't have bones. She was firmly plastered to my chest. Her breath was hot. She suddenly pulled my collar apart and furtively gave me a kiss with her tender lips. And then she kissed me again. Soon, my chest was alight with hot lip marks. While she was doing this inadvertently, that only made it that much more seductive.
She removed her tender lips from my chest, and replaced it with hot breaths when she muttered, "I don't know what the matter is with me. I thought about you day and night ever since I first met you. I know that it's wrong. I'm the Second Princess of the Imperial Court, while you are the Demon Sect's Lord San Shen, but I can't forget you."
'This isn't the first time a young girl has straight up confessed to me; however, I'm finding a beautiful Princess leaning on me while confessing a little irresistible.'
"I miss you every day. I think of the way you saved me that day. I think of your invincible look. You carried me. You're so gentle. When you held me in your arms, I felt that the sky falling down wouldn't be an issue, because you were by my side. I felt that you could overcome any difficulty thrown at you. I felt so safe in your arms.
I once liked someone, but that was the first time I felt that there was somebody keeping me company, allowing me to feel absolutely reassured.
When I saw your eyes, my heart shook. I couldn't withhold my sadness. Your eyes are filled with… loneliness as though you have gone through countless heartbreaking experiences. I want to understand you. I want to know why you're so lonely."
"… Your Highness, I…"
I couldn't believe that I didn't deny that I wasn't him.
"I don't know if this is liking you or not… I don't understand these things, but I think about you all the time. I now… feel really unwell. Can you touch me?"
The Princess grabbed my hand all of a sudden then placed it on her soft snow-white cheek and rubbed her face against it. She was cute and lovely as a little pet, despite her usual heroic demeanour.
"Your hand is so big…" The Princess looked up in a hazy manner. With a silly sounding laugh, she asked, "Can you… dote on me tonight?"
'I can't take this no more! This is wrong! Who starts acting this way just because they're drunk?! The Princess is usually very reserved. Usually, she'd fly off the handle if somebody just touched her hand, wouldn't she? Not only has she mistaken me for somebody else, but she keeps clinging to me and begging me to pounce her!'
My eyes lit up.
'It's that aphrodisiac again!! When will this damn aphrodisiac quit?! Wasn't the Princess fine just before? She must've been poisoned by it, too, but owing to her profound internal energy, it took longer to take effect than with Su Xiao!!'
The Princess has completely taken me as Lord San Shen. She clung to me and refused to get off.
'While that is indeed my… something feels weird.'
The Princess has been drugged with aphrodisiac; plus, she's drunk, so that sped up the rate at which the drug spread through her blood, thereby making it impossible for her to resist. She's begun to act on her lust.
Before I could speak in time, she tightly gripped me and pulled me over while I was in a panic-stricken state.
Our lips made contact. I felt that her lips were even hotter than her mesmerising body in my arms.
The Princess then squeezed her legs together, locking me into her. I felt numb sensations radiate throughout my entire body. Suddenly, owing to embarrassment, I was slapped across the face.
"H-How could you do this to me…?"
'I'm innocent! It was you that kissed me just now!'
'Also, you mistook me for your crush, and you got poisoned, didn't you?! People get embarrassed in these sorts of situations now?! You sure are a snowflake!'
Afraid that she hurt me, the Princess then shyly said, "D-Don't strip me… Okay?"
I responded as if I was retarded, "Okay, okay, let's get dressed then."
The Princess shook her head, "G-Go put the lights out."
I raised my hand and blasted out a wind current from my palm to put the candles out.
I picked up the Princess. A pleasing, shy laugh and my heavy breathing could be heard in the pitch-black room.
Time slowly ticked by and the room gradually fell into a silence as if the clouds cleared and rain stopped.
A bright pair of eyes outside the window suddenly approached. The owner seemed to want to see what happened in the darkness.
"You finally here?'
I opened my eyes and out of the blue, laughed. I responded, "You've kept me waiting."
Glossary
*Tsundere - A Japanese term for a character who says one thing, but thinks another.
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