Too Much to Take

Zhang Zhangyang robbed his forehead, he sat next to Zhao Xing's bed, thinking about the recent happenings. Zhao Xing had been unconscious for three days, the first poison had gone undetected, he could only feed her both the remedy the poison master had prescribed as well as the one prescribed by the physician. It was the second time this had happened. The previous time the physician had said it was because of stress, and now she had been struck by a poisonous arrow right before his eyes.

Xiao Chen stood before his master with his head bowed, "Master it was this servant's incompetence that lead to this situation-"

"So you know." Zhang Zhengyang turned to him, frightening the other party with his expression.

Xiao Chen went on his knees, "This servant knows he's wrong, Master please punish me."

Zhang Zhengyang sighed. Xiao Chen had been by his side for years, serving faithfully, protecting him at all times. That day he had asked him to stay with Zhao Xing, he didn't want that little silly girl to go running about, because of the dangerous situation, but Xiao Chen was used to protecting only him, and was sure to get anxious when he wasn't by his master's side. Zhang Zhengyang understood this. He sighed and turned to Zhao Xing who lay in bed.

He knew she had gone through a few terrifying situations since she came to this world, this should be normal for those who were close to him, he just hoped that she wouldn't end up dying too soon. She was someone with no family, no name for herself, nothing under her name in this world it wouldn't be easy being by his side and having no identity. It would mean she was easily disposable. She was the Grand Tutor, the person his Master had summoned to help him achieve his goals. She shouldn't die, she couldn't die, at least not yet.

He recently discovered she had the same ability as his master, she could predict the future. Zhao Xing had complained to him recently that she couldn't make use of her ability, he doesn't know why, he wasn't sure how his master had controlled this power.

He could only be patient and see what happens. But before then no harm could come to her.

"Go first, I'll handle affairs concerning your punishment later." He finally said, his eyes still on Zhao Xing.

"Yes." But before he could leave, the Crown Prince turned and added, "I shouldn't tell you what you have to do the next time I order you to protect someone other than this prince."

Xiao Chen knew he was wrong, and quickly responded before leaving.

His master was angry with him, and it was his fault. He hadn't thought about Zhao Xing, he thought no harm would come to her since the enemy's target was his master. He didn't want to protect her, he only trusted himself to be next to the Crown Prince and protect him. He knew the Crown Prince indulged the Grand Tutor, and didn't have anything against it. It was just that his Master would always be number one in his heart. That day he had already tried his best to not come out until he saw the situation had calmed down, and yet something like that happened.

Xiao Chen left and it was only the two inside the room. The Crown Prince was deep in thought, having a lot in mind.

"Zhang Zhengyang…" A weak voice came from beside him.

Zhang Zhengyang turned, Zhao Xing was awake.

Seeing her looking at him with big wet eyes, he didn't know how to feel. He had thought it'd take longer for her to wake up, now she was awake it seemed a bit unreal.

"You're awake?"

The girl tried to sit up, and Zhang Zhengyang helped her. Zhao Xing inspected him, seeing his complexion looked normal, she sighed in relief.

Zhang Zhengyang had watched her while she did so and smiled, "What?"

"You were covered in blood, I thought you were injured."

Zhang Zhengyang chuckled, "I told you that day that wouldn't easily get hurt, but you won't listen, in your eyes am I a child that needs taking care of all the time."

Zhao Xing looked him up and down, not a single scratch on his face, he did seem tired but it was the kind of tired she was used to seeing, everything seemed ok. "I can't say for sure."

In the end that was her answer. Human beings were like that. If they were alive they could be anything, do anything, but death was so easy, she couldn't be at ease just because he had escaped danger this time around.

Zhang Zhengyang found her words amusing. "Let me get you something to drink, you must be thirsty."

Zhao Xing nodded. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, and felt a bit disoriented. Her last memory was the bloody scene of corpses scattered on the ground, with Zhang Zhengyang and some other people still standing covered with blood.

She sighed, this situation was really serious, and involved the lives of many, she suddenly felt very insecure. One day she could be one of those corpses.

Zhang Zhengyang returned and handed her a cup.

"What are you sighing about, after this you should rest, after you recover we'll be on our way back to the capital."

Zhao Xing's eyes widened, "Aren't you going to leave first? There's no need to stay and wait for me."

Zhang Zhengyang's eyes narrowed as he inspected her expression. The last time she was unconscious and woke up, she was still very troublesome, and did whatever she wanted however she wanted it.

"What?"

"This prince just thinks that Grand tutor is acting strange."

"Me? I just woke up, I still feel a bit dizzy." She replied.

Zhang Zhengyang suddenly remembered something, "That day, I asked you not to come out, now look what happened, a little girl like yourself must have been frightened to death by the scene." He intended to tease her a bit to cheer her up a bit from her dullness, who would have thought Zhao Xing's eyes would become teary.

Zhang Zhengyang was speechless, wasn't she supposed to get annoyed and scold him like she used to? He really wasn't used to seeing her like this, and felt flustered.

"…w…why are you suddenly crying?"

Zhao Xing hid her face in her knees, and refused to look up.

It would be a lie if she said she wasn't scared. That day there had been too much blood, it was so much, she couldn't take it.

All her life she had lived carefreely. Even after her father left, she still had family and lots of friends she could rely on, and so she could do whatever she wanted without really caring much for the consequences. Everyone around her protected her. To many she was a strong and happy girl without any worries. Even she thought so. So she never allowed anything to get to her, when she went through hardships, she always believed that she could overcome it, and even if she couldn't she just needed to forget about it, she could always deal with it later, right?

But now she was here, away from her family and friends, the only person that could protect her was the Crown Prince, but they weren't really related, their relationship was based on interests. If she really couldn't return home from now on that would mean she would have to rely on him for the rest of her life.

But what if he didn't need her anymore? Would he dispose of her? What if he didn't, but she still ended up dying a horrible death?