12 Contentment

Zhen Feng had been reading missives in his study for the entire morning. Once in a while, he would take a peek at the garden near the building to check if a sneaky mermaid had dared to make an appearance again.

Strangely, he had felt disappointed every time he came back without catching a glimpse of her. The servant that had come back to collect the food plates noticed his master hadn't had much of his lunch but didn't dare to comment on it.

"Have you seen the female guest from Cloudy courtyard today?" The prince asked, in a peculiar mood.

"This servant hasn't seen her, but it will be easy to ask the maids in Cloudy Courtyard."

"No need. You can go." Zhen Feng ordered.

He wondered what the silly woman was up to again. Was she making trouble once more? He knew she couldn't have gotten out of the estate since he had ordered Hu Cheng to set up a barrier around the premises in order to detect anyone coming in and out of the household.

As much as he was certain she couldn't have escaped, he was still very curious as to what she was doing. However, her sudden appearance in his yard the previous day had made his afternoon less dull.

Now that he recalled the prior afternoon, he remembered that she had expressed an interest in the library. With this in mind, Zhen Feng got up and strolled toward the library room.

As soon as he tried to open the door, he realized that the devious mermaid was probably inside. Unlocking the secret mechanism that was programmed to keep any intruders inside, Zhen Feng walked inside the room and spotted the woman he had been waiting to see.

She was sitting on the floor close to one of the desks, her head laying over her crossed arms on the table. The female was breathing deeply and calmly in a peaceful sleep. A scroll was standing next to her with the title "The tale of the wolf and the deer". Zhen Feng took the scroll into his hands and looked at the bamboo slip with nostalgia. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and when he opened them again, his usual blank expression had once again taken over his face.

He put the storybook back on the desk and unintentionally touched the mermaid's arm in the process. He glanced at her to make sure she hadn't woken up. Her sleep was slightly disturbed so she shifted her head to the opposite direction, still resting it on her arms. He was gazing at her beautiful profile when she said "Zhen Feng if you flog me I won't let it go…".

Hearing her threatening words, Zhen Feng couldn't help but want to laugh. "You won't let it go, you say? What will you do then? You really don't know your place." He affirmed, his lips almost curving into a smile.

He allowed his impulses to reign over him as he took a lock of her dark brown hair that was covering her pale face and gently pulled it back, securing it behind her ear. He stood next to the beautiful woman for a while, observing her. At that moment he felt peaceful, he felt content.

♔ ♔ ♔

Opening her eyes, Lin Mei was reminded that she was still locked inside the library. A bit disoriented, she looked at her surroundings and nearly fell back when she saw the crown prince sitting on a desk next to hers.

Noticing she was now awake, Zhen Feng asked:

"Had a pleasant nap?"

"I… You didn't say I couldn't come in when I asked yesterday."

"…" He looked at her expressionlessly.

"You shouldn't punish the ignorant. You ought to discipline the culpable and teach the unknowledgeable."

"Oh… How are you ignorant of the rules if you are aware that I might be punishing you for entering the library?"

"I… I didn't know the rules but since the door locked on its own after I came in, I inferred… That maybe no one is supposed to enter…?" She pretended to guess.

"How clever." He remarked icily. His eyes left hers to return to the scroll he had been examining.

"I apologize… I won't be coming here in the future Your Highness." Lin Mei pleaded with a pitiful look that she was used to putting on whenever she ran into trouble with her father and older sister since she was a child.

"What do you think of the wolf and the deer?" Zhen Feng asked, his eyes not budging an inch from the bamboo slip he had in his hands.

Lin Mei was surprised by his unexpected question and pondered on it for a while. She noticed that his desk was filled with a few blank as well as written bamboo slips, a brush, and an inkstone. He had been there for a while, attending to his regular tasks.

"Wasn't that desk on the other side of the room?" She wondered before disclosing her thoughts on the storybook.

"I believe that the deer was also waiting for the wolf. For the wolf to ask for forgiveness. It's just that it didn't trust the wolf enough to ever come close to it again…" Mei spoke.

Zhen Feng finally shifted his eyes from the scroll to her orbs and stared at the mermaid for a while. He stayed silent for a long time, before questioning:

"What about the wolf?"

"I don't know… He probably had his reasons for what he did, but he will never be forgiven."

"Reasons? Ahahah" Zhen Feng laughed with scorn.

Lin Mei felt a shiver dispersing through her body. She breathed in with difficulty, afraid that even the sound of her breathing would irritate him further.

"Why won't he be forgiven then?" He inquired further.

A little reticent about answering, Lin Mei looked down before replying honestly:

"Because one of them died before the wolf could even apologize. Whether the wolf felt regretful or not, whether the deer was willing to forgive or not, neither of them would ever know. One will forever remain unforgiven and the other will forever not be able to forgive."

"The wolf bit the deer because it is in its nature. If the deer had returned to the cave, the wolf would still have eaten it." He declared with a hint of loathing still lingering in his voice. His eyes returned to the book in his hands.

Lin Mei looked up at him with a saddened expression, feeling an uncomfortable surge of pain spreading in her chest. She remained quiet for a few minutes, trying to disperse the pain in her heart. She wondered why he looked so upset, why he asked for her opinion on the story and why she was now feeling so unhappy.

"I still think they were just waiting for each other. One for forgiveness and the other for a heartfelt apology. It's just a tragedy that they will never meet again." Mei added in a low voice. A trace of her sadness seeping through her tone. She got up to leave, feeling that she shouldn't stay any longer.

Zhen Feng caught the sorrow in her voice and glanced blankly at her standing figure.

"Are you fleeing from your punishment?" He asked.

"I… Am I really going to be punished for not knowing this rule?"

"Your punishment is to come and serve me here every afternoon."

"Serve? How should I serve you, Your Highness? I'm not very well trained in the art of serving others. I have told you that I come from a noble family."

"You can serve me tea. You can also grind the ink stick for me. As for the rest, you only have to seat there quietly. Did you not insist that you wished to read the books in this library?"

Sensing that the mood was lighter again, Mei sat back in her place, the pain in her thorax vanishing.

"I am fine with that, Your Highness." She smiled cunningly. Her punishment had been relatively tame.

And thus began the days of the mermaid princess "serving" the human prince.