Foster Son, Don’t Be So Crazy (32)

The night of the royal grand ball, Song Jia paused in front of the wall mirror and took a glimpse at her reflection.

She was dressed in a simple white dress with only woollen petticoats underneath. Her figure was slight and fragile, like a Dresden figurine. Song Jia had only done the most basic of preparations...even her hair was only brushed back and tied with a white silk ribbon, leaving only a few golden locks to frame her face.

"You are so beautiful," Su Liang sighed, watching her. "I wish I could never grow old too."

The eighteen-year old girl was sitting on Song Jia's bed, wearing a shimmering lavender gown. The years of nurture and care made her thin body grow healthy, with ample curves on all the right places. If Song Jia was a Dresden figurine, then Su Liang was a Rubens painting.

"I grow old," corrected Song Jia. "Just slow enough for it not to matter."

She walked towards Su Liang and briskly tucked a wayward strand behind the other girl's ear.

"Besides, staying young forever has its own disadvantages. If everyone you know has moved forward, and you're the only one stuck in the past, it would become a very sad thing to experience."

Su Liang pushed her lower lip forward into a sullen pout. "You can only say that because you'd never experience growing old. You'll never understand how the rest of us feel. It's even sadder to lose your youth, you know? You can only do everything once, because your time is limited."

Song Jia's sky-blue eyes flashed with a smile, "And isn't that what makes life so exciting?"

Actually, Song Jia was speaking nonsense this time. It was because this was not her original body, that was why she could not appreciate immortality. If this body was hers...eh, no need to say anything else, she would immediately create a bunch of fake IDs and go travel the entire galaxy. She even heard there were a bunch of handsome men on Kepler-468b.

"Come on, let's go. Nian Shou is waiting to escort us downstairs."

The two girls linked hands, one fair and slender, the other dark-haired and curvaceous. If one didn't know their situation, the two of them would have been mistaken as best friends that grew up together.

Nian Shou was also dressed like a noble gentleman, and his eyes lit up when he saw the two of them come down. Su Liang subtly glanced at Song Jia. As expected, she was as dense as ever.

Su Liang knew that before Nian Shou married Qiao Huan, he gave a marriage proposal to Song Jia. However, Song Jia rejected him. Su Liang was not as easily fooled as Song Jia, and she did not think that Nian Shou's feelings for her foster mother had faded at all. He only married Qiao Huan so that Song Jia wouldn't worry about him.

"Your collar is crooked."

Song Jia was assessing Nian Shou's outfit with a critical eye and immediately found out a flaw. Without thinking twice, she went down and adjusted it for him.

Their bodies were intimately close. Nian Shou's eyes glanced down and saw Song Jia's eyelashes, thick and slightly curving upwards. Her eyes were focused on his collar, her slender hands patting it down after she was done adjusting it. He swallowed with some difficulty.

"How many times have I told you about a noble's etiquette? Didn't you know that after I taught it to Xiao Feng once, he didn't need any more instructions afterwards..."

Song Jia's voice that was scolding Nian Shou trailed off.

Nian Shou saw sadness flash across her eyes and quickly regained his lost composure. He gently captured her wrist and moved it away from his neck.

"Jia, if we don't go now, we'll be late to the grand ball."

Song Jia's eyelashes fluttered as she blinked. "Ah, that's right, it'll be bad if we're late."

This grand ball was an important event in their plans. There couldn't be any mistakes.

"Did Huanhuan stay at home?" Su Liang saw that the awkward atmosphere was gone and brought forward another topic.

"Yes. I didn't want to bring her to the ball because it would be too dangerous."

As soon as he said this, Nian Shou stepped back from Song Jia and led the two of them to the carriage that was waiting for them.

Su Liang pursed her lips. Did he really not want to bring Qiao Huan because the plan was dangerous, or was it because he wanted to give Qiao Huan and her new concubine some time alone?

Qiao Huan was still young, so there was really no hurry for her to take up another husband aside from Nian Shou. But from the moment they arrived in the capital, Nian Shou persuaded Qiao Huan to take a concubine. He reasoned out that this was because he didn't want her to get lonely as he would be too busy to take care of her.

But to Su Liang's ears, this just sounded like a lousy excuse. If he had the slightest affection for Qiao Huan, he wouldn't be able to tolerate any man touching his wife. Even though this society accepted polyandry, deep in their hearts, those men wanted nothing more than to have their wives for themselves alone.

Su Liang then glanced at Song Jia who was still lecturing Nian Shou about etiquette. It was obvious that Song Jia didn't notice anything wrong with Nian Shou. Looking at their backs, she felt that the two of them could be a great couple if only their circumstances didn't prevent it.

Su Liang shook her head and smiled.

Then again, maybe the fact that the two of them didn't end up together was simply the workings of fate.

...

Meanwhile, in the royal palace, the grand ball had officially began.

Princess Bai Xue sat next to the Queen and King, wearing a blood-red gown that clung to every inch of her body. The chair which belonged to the prince consort next to her was empty. Instead, there was only a silver plate of sliced apples.

The Queen noticed her daughter's look of boredom and asked, "Xue'er, why aren't you dancing? Look at your concubines standing over there looking at you. You've been ignoring them long enough."

Princess Bai Xue's forehead wrinkled as she complained in dissatisfaction, "I don't want them. I want somebody else."

She picked a sliced apple and ate it, her expression softening as the sweet flavor filled her mouth. She unconsciously licked her lips, making the concubines who were looking at her grow tense with arousal. They didn't even hide their bulging erection as they stared at the princess' lips, filled with sexual hunger.

Princess Bai Xue noticed their intense stare and clicked her tongue. Why are these idiots the ones that are attracted to her? If he was the one looking at her with that look...

Thinking of this, Princess Bai Xue's mouth dried, and she subconsciously rubbed her thighs underneath her dress. She unexpectedly became wet. As expected, it was only him who could satisfy her sexual appetite.

"That cold and aloof masked man who is always by your side?" The Queen frowned. "Xue'er, what do you see in him? There are more qualified candidates for the prince consort's seat that are eagerly asking for your hand."

She couldn't understand why her daughter was so fixated on someone who was as cold as ice.

Princess Bai Xue bit into another slice of apple.

"He's a passionate man beneath that cold exterior," she said, not willing to say anything more.

Their past was theirs alone. Even to her mother, the Queen, Princess Bai Xue did not want to share anything that was related to him. The memories that belonged to the two of them alone, how could she let other people meddle?

Princess Bai Xue didn't realize that her desire to monopolize him was slowly getting stronger and stronger.

After saying this, Princess Bai Xue frowned.

In her previous life, his nightmares were not this bad. He had dreams of the same woman, but it was not as frequent. And because she had a similar face to her, he easily agreed to be her lover. As time went on, he gradually began to forget about that woman in his dream. His utmost devotion to her could even be described as second to none.

What triggered those nightmares this time?

Princess Bai Xue remembered the other woman that he was fixated with and her eyes darkened.

"It could only be her..."