You Didn't Do Anything

After assuring himself that the princess really did know how to float on her own, Prince Qui left for less than a minute and ran to the shower area and quickly dried himself and changed his clothes.

He pulled out a few towels and a robe for the princess for when she gets out of the water. When he got out to the pool again, he saw that the princess had managed to get to the middle.

She was so still you would mistake her for someone who was dead. If it weren't for the steady rising and falling of her chest, he would think the same.

Dry and unwilling to get wet yet again, the prince took a seat on one of the lounge beds. "Hey, don't fall asleep there, okay?"

The princess did not give any reaction that she had heard him. The prince swiped a finger at the top of his Linker. He was going to get the princess after fifteen minutes. That should've been enough time already.

She would need to get back to her senses at some point.

He had no complains in having to spend some quiet time. Heavens know he needed it. He crossed his arms over his chest, conserving his heat while thinking about all the things that he had to get to the following morning.

They still haven't received word from the princess' family. He was honestly hoping that it would come soon. Or NEVER sounds good as well. Tomorrow, at the top of his priority list was talking to the emperor about his divorce with the princess.

He was reminded by his mother's words that he should not even think that the divorce with the princess would be possible because the emperor would do everything in his power to keep the princess in their family.

He was in the middle of his reverie when the princess spoke up again.

**

The peace and the quiet made way for other thoughts in Tianshi Xue's mind. She was going in denial perhaps, because all of the thoughts in her mind composed of thinking about how it was not her fault that Lady Nia had to die.

"I mean," her mind told her, "she was the one who had a filthy mouth. It was not me."

"It was the emperor," another voice in her head said. "It was the emperor who gave the order."

Then the negator-like voice came in. "But he only acted with your decision."

"Something got lost in translation," countered the other voice. "He was the one who misinterpreted things."

Another voice consoling her said, "It's alright, princess. You weren't the only one who could only watch. There were about a couple hundred people in that hall and no one batted an eyelid while the guards were dragging Lady Nia out of the room."

Tianshi Xue's eyes opened and she came face-to-face with the white ceiling of the swim area. There was nothing there. She was no longer seeing Lady Nia's face—but she doubted that it would last very long.

She was pretty sure that she was going to be dreaming about the lady in the next few days to come.

"You didn't do anything," she said.

A voice answered her, muffled through the water. She knew that it could be only one word and it was, "What?"

"You didn't do anything," she repeated and put weight on her feet. Her feet touched the floor and she pushed her way towards the prince's direction. "With Lady Nia."

Prince Qui's face gave no emotion. "There was nothing to do. The emperor's orders are absolute."

"You wanted me to apologize to her. Then you just stood there as the order of her death came. You didn't do anything."

Prince Qui's face grew tight. "It seems like you're forgetting something, Princess. I am only a general. He's the emperor. There was no way that my orders would go above his. And didn't you just also stand there like the rest of us?"

Tianshi Xue's face burned as the blood crept to her cheeks. Yes, she should be ashamed. She should've fought for Lady Nia's life even when she had been the one who had been cruel. Nobody deserved to die like that. "How do you do it?"

"How do I do what?"

"Kill people? It's unavoidable, isn't it? When you're out there."

Prince Qui averted his gaze from her. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, can't you lend a hand in this situation? I feel bad."

"You must feel miserable," he said.

"So how do you do it? How do you get over this?"

The prince scoffed. "Sad news, Princess. You never get over it. There's only getting used to it. Getting used to carrying all of that… grief, guilt, and regret—I suppose. You just get used to it so much that's it's like a normal thing in your life."

Tianshi Xue looked at her hands. It was not like she had been the one that tied the lady's neck with a rope. But she felt it, heavy in her chest, like a rock that was not going to move. She didn't get blood in her hands but it felt like that.

Nevertheless, in the emperor's way of viewing things, she was the one who had killed the lady. It was his truth over everyone else's.

"We should go," the prince said.

Tianshi Xue was freezing and did not hesitate to get out of the pool, her gown clinging to her limbs.

The prince tossed her a towel and placed another on top of her head like a veil. "You're a princess. You have to get used to it. I doubt that hers would be the only life that you're going to take."