Xiao Ling

What I didn't know was that only father, mother and I would be going to the palace while the rest of the family waited at our house in the capital. Both my siblings are too young for such gatherings, which told me just how boring it would be.

Fortunately, I planned to use this gathering to find out more about noble society. Hopefully, that would help my future novels.

Oh yes! I was already planning some of them: I wanted to write an action-packed thriller for men, and maybe an epic romance for girls. I had already created the main characters, but I needed to know how much was appropriate and what I could get hanged for, before publishing them.

I was hoping the royal family would have a library I could raid.

The travel from our house to the capital took over two days by horse, but since mother was traveling in a palanquin with my siblings, they became four days instead.

Fortunately, I could choose to ride in the palanquin or a horse with my dad. Which I did every other day, so I could maximize my time with both parents.

It was night of the fourth day when we finally arrived at the capital. Only then did I understand how important father really was. He had his own mansion in the capital city, with the symbol of our last name engraved in silver on the main doors of the state. There were many servants waiting for us at the door, and we were quickly led to our rooms.

Instead of bathing and going to sleep like everybody else, I decided to investigate the place.

Although more opulent, this place was smaller than our main place of residence. There was no training room, and the stables were on the smaller side. I found the horse that carried me here and handed him a carrot which he made disappear from my hands in a moment. I patted him on the side of the head and went on my way, colliding with something yet again.

"What are you doing here?" a shrill voice demanded. I found myself having to look up at a girl, who was glaring at me.

"Looking at the horses?" I answered unfazed. Raising an eyebrow at her.

"You can't be here! Only the masters and stable hands can touch the horses!" She must have been one of the servants of the house, and since it was the first time I came here, she must have thought I too was a servant. I couldn't blame her, with the amount of dust on my clothes and face.

She grabbed my arm and tried pulling me forcefully. Unfortunately for her, I had been well trained by my masters and she ended up looking up at the stars from the ground. She looked up at me with bewilderment, as a grinned down at her.

"You ok down there?"

Her glare intensified at my grin. She picked herself up and put her hands on her hips. "Just wait until the lead servants know what you did! I hope they flog you!" Seeing I was not afraid of her, she invoked the higher powers, but all I did was raise an eyebrow.

She tried grabbing me again, only to find herself biting the dust again.

I couldn't help but laugh as she glared daggers at me from her sitting position on the ground.

"If you ask nicely, I might decide to accompany you to see the lead servants."

I think I broke her.

She stares at me as if I grew another head.

I turn around and took a few steps toward the main house before looking back "are you coming?"

I hear her huff and walk behind me. Her legs are longer than mine, so that's a feat, I guess.

As soon as we reached the house, she jumped at the chance of calling her boss to punish me.

I couldn't help but smile at her face when the lead servant appeared and bowed to me.

I asked if my bath was ready, to which he responded affirmatively. The old servant turned to her and ordered her to lead the young master to his bath.

On our way, she kept sending timid, apologetic glances my way, probably thinking I was going to punish her for shouting at me. But truth be told, I'm not a petty person, and early on, I knew she was making a mistake.

Not that I couldn't tease her for it.

"I never got your name" I asked when she opened the door to the bath for me.

She grimaced. "This servant's name is Ling, young master."

"Very well Ling. You may leave." I smiled at her disbelieving face "don't go jumping to conclusions at every turn." I closed the door behind me, leaving her alone in the corridor.