The Cruel Prince

TERRITORIAL

Prince Jian walked inside the room unexpectedly. He halted by the door, for a fleeting moment he seemed lost whether he stumbled in the right room that he almost turned around and apologize for his rude intrusion.

His glance moved in slow motion from Lord Chua to Ying Yue, then to bouquet of freshly picked flowers grasped in her hand. One can tell the prince was a territorial man.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" He said lips thinning into curious line. 

He was not happy, not happy at all especially walking in to his own bedchamber seeing his wife in blithe conversation with another man - alone.

Lord Chua groaned while the smile on Ying Yue's lips vanished. 

"Leave." commanded the prince and Lord Chua needn't have to be told twice to take his exit, walking briskly out the door, avoiding the pointed look the prince was darting at him.

The tension dissipated as soon as there's only one man left in the bedroom. Prince Wang Jian loosened his hard face with a single smile. He walked right up to his wife, his hand confiscating the flowers Lord Chua had given her and replaced them with his own.

It appeared he'd done the same thing, stopping by the garden to clip flesh flowers on his way to see her. Except, Prince Jian knew how to pluck the right flowers and arrange them handsomely.

A smile tugged on her lips while Prince Jian simply tossed Lord Chua's flowers in shamble on the corner like they were trash.

He took a seat on the edge of the bed. Stiff and tensed while she already predicted his temper.

"What is he doing in the bedroom alone with you, Ying Yue?" He asked sharply, his voice a reprimanding scold.

"He came to apologize for almost killing me last night." She returned with the same aggressiveness. She might be injured, and he might be a prince but she's not going to sink under his presence. "Yes, he came to apologize for not knowing who I was, while you watched him almost choked me to death well aware who I am." 

She exhaled sharply while Prince Jian said nothing more, resting his hand on her leg with the softest touch. "Forgive my jealousy, no man like to see his wife in their bedroom with another man."

"What is it to you? You threw me out of the palace years ago."

"Let's not forget, you did come to assassinate me. If I were so cruel as you said, I could have done worse things. You would be tied in some torturing device right now if I were some other prince." He said, no emotion in his cold face, only fact.

She said nothing, she has no retort, no response. She didn't even move her leg avoiding his gentle touch.

Her finger played on the petal of the flowers while the silence descended upon them. The raging silence that sometimes occupied most of their time together. Ying Yue never truly learned to speak up to him, voice her opinion until now. Now that she's stronger and she no longer has a need for him.

He sighed. His eyes danced, soaking her while she admired the flowers unaware of him. "Ying Yue, let's not waste our time on the silly exchanges. I let you in the palace because I wanted you to come back. Come..." He rose to his feet making his way the closet she has yet had a chance to inspect.

Prince Jian opened it, and a symphony of colorful hanfu hanged on display.

She almost gasped, she hasn't had any luxurious clothing since the day prince Jian threw her out of the place, the robe she wore is the same robe she's been wearing for the past two years, washing it by the rivers whenever she has a chance.

"What exactly do you want me to do with them?" She frowned, unwilling to admit she was somewhat allured and pleased with her husband.

"I want you to wear them, I spent a lot of money on them, waiting for the day you finally return."

She burst out in laughter. "You must be out of your mind. I came back alright."

"But you did come back."

"I guess, I did." She murmured softly to herself.

She laid the flower down on his side of the bed and turned away. "I'm a little too sore and groggy for a date, if you don't mind, I think, I'll pass on it."

He couldn't hide his disappointment. A half smile, not so pleasant, he's a prince unused to being turned down and he expected cooperation even by his unwilling wife. "Fine, then I shall have dinner brought here and we are having a dinner like husband and wife."

She turned over her shoulder amused at his perseverance, but that's not going to change how she felt, at least, not yet. "Is that all you want? To have dinner with me?"

"No, I want more than that."

She snorted, turning away with a wave of her hand. "Good luck with that one."