22 First Blood

With his other hand, he began undoing my dress. He did so almost purposefully, biding his time as he pulled apart one knot after another, pausing in between each exaggerated motion as if to torment me even more.

Suddenly, he pinched my jaw and twisted my head, forcing me to face him while swiftly switching the blade to the other side.

I would never forget the cold look in his eyes, nor the terror that gripped me.

The dread grew ever stronger, coursing through my veins as his dirty hands slithered over my skin, staining every last inch of flesh for just a brief moment before passing on to the next. There was no lingering nor longing, only intentional taunting and humiliation.

"Princess, take a good look at me." His hand rested on the last button of my gown. "This is the part when you scream for help." He motioned to undo it, threatening to reveal my most personal dress.

His Chen accent was thick, an inherently soft undertone to his voice despite the menace of his actual words. But at this moment, this gentleness was most ironic as his actions were much more barbaric than any Northerner's.

By then, I realized that he was no mere hooligan lusting after my body. No, he was a soldier following carefully staged orders, and I was just an object used to fulfill a mission. His objective was simple—

It was to ruin me and snip this alliance before it even budded.

He wanted people to know that he was there. He wanted to wake every last Sui soldier and have them barge in to see this lewd scene between a Liang princess, a would-be Sui bride, and a citizen of Chen. Whoever sent him wanted me gone from the political scene—for good.

I don't know what exactly held me back from screaming as I watched this stranger apathetically break through the last of my self-esteem, but after that realization, it was almost like an invisible hand was clamped over my mouth.

Even when my teeth bit into the sides of my mouth, I refused to give him the scene that he wanted. Liang needed this alliance. I couldn't let myself ruin it. As much as he had a mission, I had mine.

"If you don't scream now, princess, it'll be too late," he tore my outer robe away, resting his palms against the thin fabric on top of my chest. Intentionally, he let his touch linger there, and for all the shame I felt, my face turned ashen white.

The room was dimly lit, and the candlelight swayed to the wind, casting dancing shadows across the walls. How much longer would it be before the Sui soldiers keeping watch saw through the abnormalities?

No, I had to think of a plan. And I needed to do so quickly at that.

If I could reach for a hairpin and drive it through his neck… No, this man was way too carefully trained to allow me to move, much less to let me reach for a potential weapon. The blade that was pressed to my skin was a testament.

But if I could find a distraction…

"I suppose they can hear you beg for me to stop then," a snarl unfurled across his face, and a sharp beam of light flicked in his eyes. "I wonder how a princess is like in bed. I doubt being a princess would muffle your cries of pain." He gulped, and a thread of saliva trickled down the sides of his mouth.

He licked his lips, a hint of lust inching into his eyes as he stared through the thin fabric, my red undergarment peeking through the white.

The initially loose touch he kept on my arms turned into a solid squeeze, and I gasped in surprise.

My heart thumped as I could no longer tell what an empty threat was from what he was actually going to do.

"They said not take it this far, but if Your Highness wants to go through the entire sequence, then be my guest. Just don't say that I never gave you your chance." His breathing grew heavier by the second, and he near-growled the last few words.

He began unbuttoning his own shirt, struggling with taking off the pieces of clothing and finding one hand not to be enough to free himself from the gown's sleeves. Briefly, as he tried weaseling out of the other sleeve, he let go of the blade.

I took the chance to reach for my hairpin, striking and moving as fast as I possibly could. But instead, a sharp pain in my wrist immediately foiled my plans.

"You don't think I can see through your simple schemes?" He spat, immediately bringing the blade back up, only this time, it was pressed against my neck. " But dammit, you just had to ruin the perfect mood!" He cursed, fumbling around as he jerked my hair backward.

Shock jolted through me, and every part of my body screamed in pain and protest. But my mouth was sealed shut, my teeth digging ever-deeper into flesh as I suppressed any noise.

Desperation hit me as he pulled every last hairpin away, tossing them onto the floor in a careless pile.

Yet little did he know, I kept a pouch of silver needles in the lining of my gown in case of ever encountering a medical emergency. To think, I had transferred them into my inner dress to prevent the maids from tossing them out along with the rest of my belongings. Now, they would save my life.

This was my last chance. I couldn't waste it.

The needle would be much smaller than the hairpin, but if I could find the right place in his neck, it should be enough to make a grown man faint.

Hiding whatever shame I had, I looked him straight in the eye, trying to mirror best the seductive look of prostitutes that I had once seen on the streets.

I masked my sense of disgust with a saccharine-sweet smile.

Bringing my hands up, I lightly trailed them across his chest. He grabbed my wrist once more, by I continually let my fingertips trace circles across his bare skin, and he drew in a breath of cold air.

I wasn't sure if it worked, but an animalistic look gradually overtook his cold one from before as he licked his lips in temptation. A subtle flush crept up his cheeks, and I felt his actions become more and more frenzied, drowned in his own impure desires.

"If Her Highness is so eager, who am I to refuse to indulge you?" He immediately reached for his pants, eyeing me to make sure that I wouldn't attempt anything again.

For the first time in seemingly forever, I spoke. My voice tremored with every word I whispered, "Can I take off my clothes myself?"

Taking his silence to mean agreement, I slowly reached inside my inner gown, feeling around for the pouch of needles and attempting to mask it under sensual temptation. When my fingertips finally met cold metal, I looked at the man and smiled.

I let my eyesight wander from his face downwards, lingering at the exposed spot at his neck.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion, but he ultimately said nothing as my other hand continually ran down his body.

That was when the needle met his neck. With all the force I could muster, I stabbed it into the acupoint, seeing his look of disbelief as his hands fell limply to his sides.