That Sounds Like A Plan

Tianshi Xue almost choked at what the prince said. "You mean h-here?"

His beautiful eyebrows frowned a little. "I just want to make sure that you're going to be fine throughout the night but if it makes you uncomfortab—"

"No, no!" she said. How dare I defy a prince?! her mind screamed in panic. He could have my head chopped off in the next twenty minutes! "I was just surprised that you offered. Thank you, Prince Xiaodan (2nd Prince)."

He gave her a smile. "I hope you'll feel better by tomorrow." He sighed a heavy breath. "My brother is returning."

Tianshi Xue was confused.

"Yang Qui? The 3rd prince?" he offered, looking troubled. "Are you really okay? Maybe we should have your head checked."

She shook her head. "I am fine." She was going to be gone by morning. Now that the prince would be staying with her throughout the night, she would just have to wait until he was asleep before she could launch herself off the balcony. "Sorry, what did you say? I didn't catch that."

"Yang Qui," he repeated. "He's returning home tomorrow."

It was as if Tianshi Xue's heart (the princess' heart) dropped to her stomach. "You mean… The Conqueror?"

Prince Xiaodan held her hand reassuringly. "We'll do as we always do. We're going to stay out of his way and he'll stay out of ours."

The hairs on her arms and thighs stood up. Nobody wanted to get in the way of The 3rd Prince. Everybody feared him. He was known as The Conqueror, the youngest general (23 years old) in the Emperor's Army. He was the reason why the Heping Empire grew every year.

From what she heard, he burned cities to the ground and took in slaves—continuing the unending nightmare since The Wars. The burned lands would now then be under the Heping Empire to renew and to rebuild, expanding its territories.

Along with the rest of the royal family, the 3rd prince was someone Tianshi Xue had never sighted in real life. It didn't help that when he was out in the city, everyone cleared off the streets, closed their doors, and shut their windows. In family portraits, he was the one who had the least pictures and in all of them his face looked like stone.

Every year the palace releases a family picture and in the last one, his face was expressionless as if he could turn your soul into ice with one look.

Tianshi Xue shivered. "So what's going to happen tomorrow?"

"There's going to be a small get together to welcome him back. He had been gone for almost a year."

"Is he bringing back slaves again?"

Prince Xiaodan's lips pursed. "We'll just have to see, but in his last message he already told the Emperor of a new triumph."

Tianshi Xue took a sip of water and pulled up a smile. "Let's not ruin our night. Our worries can wait until tomorrow."

Tianshi Xue did not know about Princess Yingyue's opinion on the 3rd Prince, but listening to Prince Xiaodan—the princess and him seemed to be pretty close--it looked like the Princess shared the sentiments of the people.

After dinner, she changed into a more comfortable sleepwear. It was a silk pair of white pajamas. Prince Xiaodan excused himself for a few minutes and came back to her wearing a light blue pair.

Tianshi Xue did not know what was going to happen when she gets in bed with the Prince. The Princess was meant to save herself until she was married, right? The Prince had been the perfect gentleman since she woke up in this body. It was safe to say that they really did sleep innocently.

She made an effort to stay in the bathroom until she was sure that the prince was already in the room. When she got out, she saw that he was reading something from his Linker (a flexible bracelet that could create holograms that functions the same as what we called cell phones). The Linker only works inside the walls of the Empire.

Tianshi Xue looked down at the princess' wrist. She didn't have a Linker. Now that she came to think about it, there was no T.V. in this room either! What did the princess do in her passtime?

"What are you looking at?" she asked and cautiously got on the right side of the bed. The Prince was occupying the left part. The Crown was in charge of what goes on in every media platform. There was nothing that it would not know.

Prince Xiaodan made a gesture in the air and the hologram went out. "The announcement of my brother's return went live a few minutes ago."

She nodded. Everyone needed to be prepared for the 3rd Prince. It was best for people to stay at home so the chances of commotions would gradually decrease. "We should rest."

"Yes, we do," said Prince Xiaodan. "Why are you all the way there?"

"What do you mean?"

His lips curved, exposing his white teeth. "Come close." The prince turned to his side. "Come closer."

Tianshi Xue inched closer. Even if she were in her own body, she would be a little scared to get near the prince. When they were less than a foot apart, Prince Xiaodan reached for her arm and squeezed. She suddenly felt bad for the prince. Here he was thinking she was his princess.

The moonlight behind her made the prince's face look whiter and the rest of his features even darker, like he was someone from an old movie. "Good night, Princess," he said, his thumb caressing her skin.

"Good night, Prince Xiodan." She closed her eyes, wishing that the prince would be a heavy sleeper. He did not release her. Tianshi Xue counted in her head.

The moment she reached five minutes, she cautiously opened her eyes in slits and saw that the prince had his eyes closed. She gently tried pulling her arm but the prince's hands tightened a fraction so she stopped moving and closed her eyes.

Having her eyes closed made her feel like she wanted to sleep too. So after ten minutes, she tried again but the prince's hand went up to her bicep instead. She cursed in her mind.

Guess killing herself have to wait until tomorrow.

Tomorrow when everyone would be busy for the party, she would jump from a balcony and die. Then she would wake up and she would be back to her own body and she would forget about this dream.

Yes, her mind whispered, that sounds like a plan.