A smile

"Zhen Feng… You shouldn't be holding me like this. Isn't it inappropriate for unmarried males and females to be this close?" Mei tried to reason.

She had attempted several times to escape the powerful man's grasp but to no avail. Zhen Feng wouldn't budge so she wasn't able to move either.

"There's no need for you to worry about that." The prince murmured by her ear.

Unfazed by the mermaid's clumsy efforts to evade him, Zhen Feng continued to hold her waist comfortably and breathed in her scent. He sighed in content, pleased with their current proximity.

Lin Mei, on the other hand, was starting to feel irritated by his sudden advances. Was this man shameless? He hadn't even answered her question about the other night but was daring to act so intimately with her yet again? What was wrong with this demon human? Was this usually ascetic man suffering from an age-induced craving for the other gender? And was it also affecting his reason?

She lacked knowledge on humans' reproductive habits and cycles but she was at least aware that most human males at his age would normally already be married and possibly even have a few children, yet Zhen Feng hadn't accepted an official wife or any consorts.

Lin Mei was aware of this because it was a recurring topic of conversation among the maidservants.

A few weeks ago, Lin Mei had accidentally overheard two maids speculating about their master's relationship with a minister's daughter named Zhao Xiuying, who was supposedly the perfect match for the Crown Prince. However, the conversation had ended with both of the house girls agreeing that the prince had not shown signs of being interested in any women until the arrival of their new guest: herself.

Lin Mei had even begun to wonder if her species was so irresistible to human men that even the most disciplined of their kind would succumb to lust if they remained close with a mermaid for long enough. Before their kiss the other night, Zhen Feng had mostly behaved respectfully towards her. The majority of their daily interactions until then had not involved physical contact whatsoever.

Their shared time would usually be filled with comfortable silences and pleasant discussions mostly concerning the interpretation and lessons of the tales sitting in his mother's library. She had grown very fond of the afternoons she'd spent with him. So much so that she had even forgotten her mother's warning words.

On that night, however, the both of them had had an ugly disagreement, one that had reminded Lin Mei of her place as an ordinary guest in his house and as just a stranger in his heart.

She had worried over the prince's health for days, to the point of even losing sleep. She had been so anxious that she could only console herself by waiting for him in the library until it was late in the evening.

Now that he had finally come to meet her and she could feel reassured of his well-being, Lin Mei was finally able to think rationally. She knew she had to return to the sea. As soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the demon man had now turned lecherous.

Mei was somewhat accustomed to dealing with lascivious human males. Since she was not too keen on drawing attention, she would usually smile politely when encountering perverted men. Then, when they weren't expecting it, she'd discreetly pour some poison on them. The concoction she used had been supplied by Li Chunhua, Mei's elder sister. It could be absorbed by any mucous membrane, including the conjunctiva, and it would keep a normal human man in the bathroom for at least a day and at most a week.

Sadly, Zhen Feng was no normal man. Lin Mei was clueless as to whether the drug would achieve the same effects if administered to an overpowered human such as him. And if the demon discovered that she had poisoned him, she was certain that her back would suffer terribly.

Lin Mei shivered just from remembering Liu Ting's terrifying injuries that had not yet healed. She had been personally applying her special healing ointment on them twice a day, but the wounds were simply too deep to heal as quickly as Mei had expected them to.

Amused by the array of expressions in the beautiful mermaid's face, Zhen Feng watched her in deep thought. Her dark delicate eyebrows were frowning in what he assumed was worry. He felt her shivering in his embrace and wondered what she could be thinking about.

A thought he had kept in the back of his head suddenly emerged and he voiced it with a curious expression on his visage:

"Have you been waiting for this crown prince in the library for the past two days?"

"Your Highness, would you please release me?" Mei ignored. "Are we not breaking the rules? I'm not too familiar with the regulations, but I'm fairly certain that this level of intimacy between two strangers of opposite genders is not allowed." She calmly explained in a challenging tone. "I wouldn't want to be punished."

"You sure can hold on to a grudge." Zhen Feng concluded, a roguish glint blooming in his eyes. "It must be true that mermaids are vengeful creatures. This crown prince should personally keep an eye on you, lest you pursue revenge in that maid's stead."

"Your Highness, I wouldn't dare!" Mei interjected, pretending to feel wronged by his assumptions.

"Ni Ni, I've already told you that I'd rather you call me by my name in private." The prince said in a demanding yet soft tone of voice, next to her ear.

Surprised by his words and familiarity, Lin Mei turned her head to look at him.

The mermaid was legitimately stunned when she found a smile on the lips of the demon man. Feeling both bashful and flustered, the mermaid resumed her struggle to leave his embrace, this time choosing a different approach.

Zhen Feng froze for a few seconds, startled by her choice to bite his neck, just enough time for the mermaid to escape his hold.

Lin Mei stood up and walked a few steps away from Zhen Feng. She stared at him with incredulity. The man had his right hand on his neck, his fingers lingering on the place where she had bitten him. His expression was calm and the smile Lin Mei had discovered on his face still remained.

"Ni Ni, you bit this crown prince's neck. How should this crown prince punish you?" Zhen Feng asked with a mischievous grin plastered on his handsome face.

"Zhen Feng… You… You're smiling!" The mermaid exclaimed informally, still shocked by the unusual sight.

Taken aback by her observation, the prince was left speechless for a few moments before he started to laugh quietly but heartily, which made the mermaid feel even more flabbergasted. Her heart skipped a few beats at the unfamiliar view.

Noticing her shy and aggravated expression, Zhen Feng felt the urge to draw closer to her once again. As he was taking the first step in her direction, he stopped in his tracks and turned his gaze to the door. Someone was approaching from the outside.

"Your Highness, I apologize for disturbing you but there are matters in need of your attention."

Zhen Feng walked towards the entrance of the library and pushed the door open, his face immediately returning to its normal cold and empty expression.

"Hu Cheng. What is it?" The prince asked with his usual stern tone.

"Your Highness." Hu Cheng gave a slight bow with both his hands raised in front of his bowed head. "An envoy arrived with a message from the emperor."

"Did you bring it with you?"

"The emissary was instructed to deliver the message only to Your Highness and no one else." Hu Cheng informed as he straightened his back to look at the prince. Noticing the sore spot on the prince's neck, Hu Cheng became alarmed. "Your Highness, your neck…!"

Ignoring Hu Cheng's words of concern, Zhen Feng further inquired:

"Where is he?"

Still anxious, Hu Cheng peeked through the half-open door to the library, finding a familiar figure. Roughly understanding the situation, he regained his composure and hurriedly answered the prince's question:

"Replying to Your Highness, the envoy is in Your Highness' study."

"Let's go." The prince commanded. Without looking back, he strode towards the study.

Once again, only the stunned mermaid remained behind as the two men walked away.