I will listen to my bride's wish

My body feels good as new. Even the old scars are gone. I try to listen to the time crystal. It's dead silent. The uneasiness doesn't go away. I concentrate and try to time travel again. Nothing happens. My ability is gone?

I go to the river and drink the water. The sun is at the top. I have no idea where I am. I can only tell one thing. I only traveled 10 hours in the future to this unknown location since the moment I escaped from the purple smoke.

I am not afraid. I am sure that this is temporary. It has to be temporary. My aunt is burned out, but she will be able to use it in the future. With time crystal, this should not be happening to me. I can still feel the time crystal inside me. It's not gone. It only stopped making any sound. It probably needs some time to recharge itself.

By the way, why I am not wandering randomly in time? If time crystal was gone or dead, I should become how I was.

I walk for a long time by the river. Usually, the villages aren't situated far from the water source. I walk until I see the rays of sunlight again. I don't feel tired or hungry. Now, I am afraid. A human being should feel tired after walking for a day and night.

***

The capital is in the uproar. The fifth prince is getting married. Again. This time, the girl is the long lost daughter of a lower noble family. Feng Lingxin.

At the Feng residence, Yoori is sitting in the room with a sullen face. Never in her dreams, she could guess that her task is to marry that damn sly snake. As soon as she agreed, he told her to pretend to be the long lost daughter of the Feng family. When she declined, he declined to give her the antidote. In the end, she had to agree.

The Feng family knows that she is not Feng Lingxin. They are unusually fine with it. They don't bother her or come to talk to her unless it is something important. The food is delivered to her room. There is always a silver needle next to the plate. She isn't allowed to leave the room until the wedding. She is sure that it's that creepy prince's work.

There is a knock on the window. She frowns. His messengers? The wedding is freaking tomorrow. She is already having cold feet. She opens the window.

Wu Yixing jumps inside the room. "You aren't dead yet. It's a good sign."

"Why are you here?" She crosses her arms. "Leave."

"Why can't groom visits his bride?" He flicks her forehead. "I was missing you, Feng Lingxin."

"Missing me?" She laughs at him. "Fifth prince, I am a man. You keep forgetting that. If anyone finds out that you are marrying a man, we are both going to lose our heads. Literally."

Wu Yixing smiles. This woman still thinks that he doesn't know. He is fine with that. It's more fun this way.

"You are doing a good job." He pokes the bosoms on her chest with his finger. "Who will ever find out? By the way, what kind of material did you use? They feel as good as the real thing."

He keeps poking them with his finger. Flabbergasted by his actions, she steps back and covers her chest. Her face becomes livid and red. At this rate, she will be caught. "Wu Yixing, if you do this again, I will not take the antidote even if you give it to me. You can forget about our deal."

"Don't be mad." He sits on the bed. "Am I not handsome enough? You told me that I can seduce anyone with this face. I don't mind men. Come to bed. Come, come."

She walks backward to make more distance between them. "I don't like men. I like women. After the wedding, I don't want to share the same room with a perverted guy like you."

She is pretending to be a man who is pretending to be a woman. One would hope that it wouldn't become crazier than this, but it has. Her task is to get closer to the empress. The hell! That's like walking into the den of the lion.

"Alright, I will listen to my bride's wish." Wu Yixing doesn't push her. "My people are keeping a watch. I promise that nobody can harm you."

Yoori bites her lower lip. Wu Yixing is already protecting her. But, she is in this situation because of him. It occurs to her that the timekeepers can't come close to her either if his highly trained people are guarding her. This deal is not necessarily bad.

He sees her calculative eyes. When she bites her lips, she is thinking about something hard. This girl is unusually simple about complicated things and complicated when it comes to simple things. He gets up and says, "Sleep early tonight. I am looking forward to seeing you in the wedding dress."

He leaves before she can retort.

She closes the window. He must be excited because he is finally getting married. He is so desperate that he would fool his emperor father and marry a man. Though she isn't a man, he doesn't know that yet.

It's not a real marriage anyway.