Innocently Dangerous

Surprisingly enough, that night Tianshi Xue slept well. Well, not entirely perfect but it was a dreamless sleep. She had been a little terrified closing her eyes the night before as she didn't want to see Lady Nia's face again. But it was just plain darkness. It had only been a few minutes before she was drifting to sleep.

When she woke up, her eyes and her chest felt heavy and she wanted to go back to her slumber but the opening of the door made her eyes open.

"Good morning, Your Highness."

Another not surprising thing: the prince was already out of the bed. 

"Morning, Howin," she greeted her handmaiden. "What's on for today?"

"You have the morning free, Princess. Then later in the afternoon—"

"Yes, the party," she groaned. "Can't I just sleep until then?"

"Certainly, Your Highness. I will let the emperor know that you do not feel well enough to attend breakfast."

Tianshi Xue was suddenly sitting up. "Right, breakfast." Then she was off the bed.

She didn't want to let the emperor know that she was still bothered by what happened last night. She refused to be seen as weak.

She believed that she had a heart made of stone and she was not going to back down whatever it was that the emperor wanted to scare her off with.

—

Prince Qui was waiting for her outside of the dining hall. He was already wearing his midnight blue uniform and was slowly pacing from the entryway, waiting for her.

"I'd really appreciate it if you would come on time," he said without looking up at her.

She got closer. "It's not like we begin breakfast immediately. We still have to wait for the emperor."

"Well, you're not the emperor. He's the only one who can be late."

Tianshi Xue rolled her eyes in her head. "But of course, I'm just a mere princess, right?"

Prince Qui gave her a glance but said nothing else further.

The doors to the dining hall opened and in they came. The rest of the family were already there and they took their respective seats.

Tianshi Xue was already used to being ignored at this table. No one should even pay attention to her. She was not someone that was worth talking to. After all, as Lady Nia pointed out yesterday, she was the daughter of the tyrant emperor.

In her other life, Tianshi Xue was used to being scorned by people because of the roles that she had taken in the dramas: mean girls, third parties, the other woman, the bad news… she just didn't think that even in this new life that she has, she would still be discriminated even though there was a crown on top of her head.

But this day must be special as the other princess in front of her spoke. Princess Zhenzhen. The twin of the fourth prince, Prince Zixin. Children of the Second Empress, Hairong.

"How did you sleep, sister?" she asked, her thin and long fingers circling the rim of her glass. "You went to bed early last night. You missed out on a lot of fun."

Tianshi Xue pulled a smile to her lips. When she saw Princess Zhenzhen's picture when she was still but a normal citizen of this empire, she had thought that she must be an angel. All smiles and kind eyes. But when she saw her in person, she knew that there was something wrong about the royal. It was in the way her pink lips curved with malice and a dangerous intent hiding behind the innocent look in her eyes.

"I slept just fine last night, like a baby, thank you for asking," she answered. "I am glad you found the party joyous."

"You look a little uncomfortable about Lady Nia's demise." The princess leaned on the table, like she was trying to get a closer look on her face, trying to see further from the facade.

"Oh, there's nothing you need to worry about, Your Highness," Tianshi Xue replied. "I only needed a place to laugh out loud after what happened."

From the corner of her eyes, she saw that Prince Qui's hand twitched. She didn't know if he was laughing on the inside or thinking that she was crazy.

"Well," said the other princess with a soft smile on her lips. "Let me know when you have some free time. I'm dying to spend some time with you. Now that we are family we should get together and do activities. I've always wanted a sister."

But of course she does, said the silent voice in her head. A sister to torment and torture for sure.

Tianshi Xue pulled a bigger smile to her lips. "Of course, Your Highness. If you have something in mind I'm open to anything."

The princess smiled at her and finally took a drink from her glass. Tianshi Xue's eyes drifted to the left of the table and saw that the second empress was looking at her. The empress looked shocked for a moment before her eyes melted the frozenness and a smile appeared. She looked just like her daughter.

Innocently dangerous.