Chapter 44

When Wen Biesang was carried down from the carriage, his face was full of displeasure.

“Your Highness, the hot water is ready.”

“Hmm.” Cheng Yun walked toward the bedchamber, with Pang Qi leading the way. Pang Qi glanced up and noticed the Crown Princess continuously poking and pressing the Crown Prince’s lips with a distinctly dissatisfied expression.

The Crown Prince turned his head several times to avoid her, but it only prompted her to press even harder.

She even deliberately pinched his lower lip into a little pout.

Cheng Yun said, “...Let go.”

Perhaps because his expression turned fierce, Wen Biesang obediently released his grip but then hugged his neck and asked, “Why won’t you kiss me?”

Pang Qi nearly tripped over the unusually high threshold.

Cheng Yun gave him a glance; his face remained clean and innocent, his eyes equally so, showing no hint of self-reflection.

Cheng Yun laid Wen Biesang on the long couch and said, “First, take a bath.”

After a whole day of running around, Wen Biesang did need to wash up, so he temporarily suppressed his doubts.

With the Crown Prince’s help, he changed out of his banquet attire, then suddenly asked, “Are you going to help me bathe?”

“...” Cheng Yun’s gaze fell on Pang Qi, who promptly turned and left.

The door was closed, and Cheng Yun looked at Wen Biesang, saying, “Why should I help you bathe?”

“Don’t you want to take the opportunity to touch me?”

“...” Cheng Yun suppressed the urge to press him down on the couch immediately and said coldly, “Today, I’m not in the mood.”

Though the words were deftly spoken, his eyes seemed glued to Wen Biesang. Wen Biesang kept staring back, his gaze hinting at disbelief, as if still waiting to be held, kissed, and caressed.

Cheng Yun struggled to tear his gaze away, clenched his fingers tightly, then turned and strode out.

Only after the door was closed did Wen Biesang belatedly realize that the other truly wasn’t in the mood.

Slightly disappointed, he got off the couch, stood up, and walked behind the folding screen.

Cheng Yun leaned against the doorframe, brow furrowed and arms crossed, wishing he could focus on serious matters, but his mind was filled with that eternally indifferent yet exceptionally innocent face.

Sounds of water being stirred came from inside, followed shortly by the wet footsteps on the floor.

After standing a while longer, Cheng Yun knocked on the door and called out more loudly, “Are you done?”

“Hmm,” came the reply.

He opened the door and entered; Wen Biesang had already moved to the inner chamber.

Behind the screen, a faint fragrance lingered, and the round bathing tub was faintly covered with foam. Cheng Yun stood for a moment, then yielded to his own feelings, stepped inside, submerged his body, cupped some water in his hands, and splashed it heavily onto his face.

Immersed in the warm water, he felt as if he could still see the figure that had just bathed here. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and suddenly he plunged his face under water, tightly closing his eyes.

All sounds instantly receded, leaving only the gentle rush of water in his ears.

The Crown Prince held his breath and only after a while did he suddenly emerge from the water. His hair, darkened by the moisture, clung to his protruding neck and Adam’s apple. Water droplets adorned his handsome features; as the splashes flew, he suddenly noticed someone leaning on the edge of the tub.

Wen Biesang’s eyes were large and crystal-clear, shining amber under the light. When he stared, his expression was as inscrutable as a cat’s.

His brow bones weren’t particularly prominent, but his eyebrows were finer than most men’s. The spacing between his brows and eyes gave him a somewhat childlike innocence. His nose bridge didn’t rise above his brow bones but gently curved upward, ending in a tip both high and rounded.

This was a face like a mountain beast transformed into a spirit.

It held a coldness untouched by mortal affairs, a rebelliousness against worldly norms, a touch of adorable fluffiness, and a dash of innocent mischief.

It was both clear and clever, indifferent yet captivating, both frustrating and heart-stirring.

Cheng Yun stared blankly at that face.

Suddenly stepping back, his pupils contracted slightly. “What are you doing in here?”

“Watching you bathe.”

“Watching me... what’s wrong with you?”

Wen Biesang shook his head and said, “Because you didn’t change the water, I guessed you must miss me.”

“...” Cheng Yun was momentarily speechless, then after a while said, “I ran around all day today, I’m just too tired, so I was too lazy to change it...”

Suddenly, Wen Biesang slipped his hand into his mouth as he spoke.

Cheng Yun unconsciously bit his finger. Wen Biesang squinted his eyes, showing a somewhat pleasant expression, then pushed his fingers further into his lips.

Cheng Yun: “...”

He grabbed that hand, saying, “I’m asking you, are you trying to seduce me?”

“Mm.”

“...” Cheng Yun was rendered speechless again, then said, “If you keep this up, I’m going to think you like me too...”

“You can think so.” Wen Biesang didn’t care at all. His hand, held firmly, still gently stroked the skin of Cheng Yun’s wrist. “Just don’t really believe it.”

A heaven and a hell in one sentence.

Eyelashes, still wet from bathing, twitched silently. Cheng Yun suddenly grabbed his hand and bit down on his wrist.

He closed his eyes tightly but didn’t bite down hard at all.

His lips pressed against the pulse, as if feeling the beating of the other’s heart.

Thump, thump, thump...

Unhurried, deliberate.

At that moment, the Crown Prince suddenly felt a profound sadness.

How could such a rotten-hearted creature both crave his touch and yet remain emotionally impassive?

The only person he had ever bullied in his life was this very being who had shattered his dreams and upended his entire understanding of himself.

And yet he had encountered a rabbit utterly without guile or compromise.

Opening his eyes, the Crown Prince’s eye corners reddened, and his dark pupils surged with a fierce, swift desire, like a hurricane passing through. In a moment, his entire aura transformed utterly.

Just then, the wrist in his lips was suddenly pulled away. Wen Biesang stood up beside the tub, somewhat wary as he looked at him.

The Crown Prince sat in the water, tilting his face upward. His wet hair clung to his cheeks, one ear hidden beneath the strands, the other peeking out white and clean.

His features were exquisitely formed, eyes narrow with upturned corners. This eye shape should have given him a cruel appearance, and indeed, when in ill intent, the Crown Prince could seem wicked and arrogant. Yet under his eyes, the “aegyo sal” softened this sharp look.

This made him look like a puppy when pretending to be good, a mad dog when enraged, flirtatious and insincere when smiling, and dangerously intense when not.

At this moment, the Prince in the water resembled a monstrous deep-sea creature cloaked in human skin with sharp claws; no matter how handsome his face or how well-toned his muscles, it did not hide his desire to devour.

Wen Biesang turned without looking back, ran quickly back to the inner chamber, rolled twice under the quilt, then wrapped himself tightly like a cocoon, shrinking down to reveal only half a pristine forehead, and began to close his eyes to sleep.

Cheng Yun’s expression darkened. It took him a long time to gradually calm down. He relaxed his body, leaned against the edge of the tub, and vigorously wiped the water droplets from his face.

The muscles of his arms propping him up rippled silently; his throat’s movement betrayed the turmoil within.

He lowered his gaze, staring long and silently at the colossal figure in the water.

Emerging from behind the screen, the Crown Prince sat silently by the fire, quietly drying his hair through the night.

When he went to bed, the one wrapped like a cocoon was already fast asleep.

Cheng Yun sat beside him, stared for a while, then slowly reached out to pull Wen Biesang’s nose out from under the quilt.

The next day, Wen Biesang opened his eyes and immediately realized he couldn’t move.

The Crown Prince, asleep beside him, was holding him like a long pillow, his face pressed against Wen Biesang’s head, breathing softly.

The deep-sea monster was asleep.

Wen Biesang, suddenly energized, struggled hard and finally woke the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince opened his eyes, annoyance coloring his gaze as he looked at the bamboo-wrapped bundle in his arms and muttered, “What do you want?”

“Get up.”

“Wait a moment.” Cheng Yun closed his eyes, embracing him again. “I still have to attend the Heaven Worship ceremony later. You kept me awake half the night yesterday...”

Wen Biesang wriggled again. Cheng Yun furrowed his brows and said, “Don’t move.”

“I’m awake.”

“I’m still sleepy.”

Wen Biesang continued to twist. Cheng Yun took a deep breath and stared coldly at him.

“I’m hungry.”

“It’s not even dawn yet.”

“I feel unwell.”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yun’s face, previously full of coldness, suddenly showed a hint of a smile, though he didn’t let Wen Biesang see it and remained cold: “Who did this to you?”

Wen Biesang said nothing.

“Could it be a monster?”

“There are no monsters in this world.”

“Then who did it?”

“It happened in a dream.”

“Oh?” Cheng Yun asked, “What did you dream?”

Wen Biesang thought for a moment and said, “I dreamed a tiger was eating people.”

“Then why didn’t you curl your head in as well?”

“...” Wen Biesang opened his mouth, thought again, then said, “In the dream, my head was made of gold.”

Cheng Yun laughed out loud.

His chest shook as if about to burst through the quilt.

Seeing that he didn’t seem as frightening as last night, Wen Biesang struggled even harder. “Let me out quickly.”

“Say something nice first.”

“...” Stubborn as ever.

Wen Biesang began to turn in one direction, but just a little way, Cheng Yun pulled him back.

Wen Biesang paused, realizing he wasn’t moving, then continued turning, only to be pulled back again.

Frowning, Wen Biesang turned the other way—into the Crown Prince’s arms—and glared, “If you keep doing this, I’ll like you even less.”

“As if you’d like me if I let you go.”

“I’d like you even less.”

Cheng Yun raised his eyebrow.

Wen Biesang said, “Even more less.”

“...” Cheng Yun grumbled, “Then what would make you like me?”

Wen Biesang pursed his lips and reluctantly conceded, “Maybe not hate you so much.”

“How much do you hate me now?”

“A lot.”

“How much less this time?”

Wen Biesang moved his hand slightly under the quilt but couldn’t reach out.