I came back to consciousness with a quilted blanket spread across my legs, feeling the dampness in between and around the back of my legs. I smelled urine and I remembered pissing myself out of terror before I passed out.
Instantly embarrassed, my cheeks heated as I tried moving about quietly, hoping the prince would not notice.
"Your sister left a few minutes ago. I gave her consent to come to see you anytime she wished without my permission." Murmured the prince as soon as he sensed my movement. "She might visit you in your chamber in the middle of the night, or anywhere in the palace where it is dark."
I held still, my fists clamped on the quilted blanked tightly. "That's not my sister. That thing...that creature is something else. She may look like my sister, but that's not my sister." My voice was a low groan. I dare not look at him. Anger, denial, and betrayal resonated in my voice.
"Ying Yue cares for you or else she wouldn't have bothered. Please don't speak so hastily of your sister. The only thing that changed about her is her appearance. She's still the same sweet and tender sister you grew up knowing."
"No, my sister is human. That thing is a demon." I shot the prince an accusing glare. When he told me her story must be told in episodes, I hardly expected to see my sister turned into a demon. "What happened?!"
His jaws tightened and every muscle in his body tensed, I saw the hesitation, the guilt in him even when he chose not to speak of it. "That's merely the consequence of living in the underworld."
"What?!... What're you talking about? How can a living mortal even survive in the underworld?"
"Ying Yue share the soul of her lover." He answered.
I knew there's a lot I don't know, and this world seemed new to me. People talked words of folly about the southern kingdom of Wang but I never understood the reality of it until I saw my own sister.
The prince let out a long exhale. "You should take a bath, He Lian. You can't let yourself soak in your own piss for a long time."
I turned red, I had forgotten about the dampness in my dress, and the dried pee on my legs. I stood up - disoriented for a moment until prince Wang Jian called for a servant waiting from the other side of the door.
A girl skittered quickly inside.
"Help lady He Lian to a nice bath." Ordered the prince.
"Yes, my prince." Squeaked the young maidservant nervously and went on her way to me. She bowed her head and gestured her hand, "this way mistress."
I thought I heard laughter when I walked out of the courtyard. New clothes and freshly out of the bath, I smelled of fragrant oil and flowers. I searched for the rude laughter, gliding my eyes upon the yard when they landed on lord Chua Chanshin. He laid sprawled on the grass, so casually that I hardly noticed him on the ground.
"My, my, lord Chua Chansin, you have the uncanny ability cloaking yourself unnoticed. I didn't even see you out there." I stepped forward to join him.
"Afraid, I don't do it on purpose, my lady. I guess it comes naturally when you're raised to be invisible constantly." He replied.
"Is that so?" I lowered myself to the ground once I made it beside him. "Was fighting demons and other supernatural entities that much harder than humans?"
He stared at me for a second, his eyebrows lifting fondly, his playful simper danced on his lips that made him even more attractive. His manners reminded me of his charms long ago. I remember being enamored with him at ten years old that elder brother Jungjie teased me relentlessly about him.
I reddened and hoped that Lord Chanshin made no notice of my blushing, but I'm afraid he already knew, I'm sure he remember the young He Lian from the house of Yi so vividly. The one who gazed at him dreamily as if he's a prince charming she couldn't wait to marry.
"No..." He grumbled softly after a while. "They're both the same. Demons might be stronger, swifter, and uglier but they're all the same. Humans and demons thought alike, they fought alike, they're after the same thing that it doesn't really make any difference."
I turned to him. "And what thing might that be, lord Chanshin?"
"Richness, power, strength, dominance..." He paused and shifted, inclining up to sit. "What else do you want me to say?"
I grew solemn. "Nothing, I guess. Seemed like it's all too generic."
"It does." He breathes. "It all boils down to one sin."
"You know, the princess whom the husband I was to marry killed her own husband and wanted the eldest brother to replace him instead."
"Sounds like a typical royal brat." He groaned angrily. "I met your brother, he's a talented scholar."
"He's very handsome as well," I added.
"I supposed. I tend not to pay attention to men's good looks." Answered lord Chua Chanshin.
I let out a soft chuckle. "What about women?"
"I try not to get enamored." He answered frankly. "My obligation to the royal family prevents me from getting tangled up with women."
"Oh?"
He grinned. "Hmmm....?" There's a twinkle in his eyes alarming me of more mischief hidden beneath those glimmering brown eyes.
"That so?" I moaned.
He laughed and laid back down. "Uh-hmm..."
"Does the prince knew about your wild adventures in brothels and whore houses?"
His smile grew wider and the glimmer in his eyes shone with such naught that I could only imagine how lush the perpetually single lord and master actually is. "I'm sure he does!" He managed quickly.
I smiled and shook my head fondly. "I need to get back to my brother. I need to find a way to free him from his prison." I continued, reeling the conversation to where it was before I get tangled to a more rambunctious conversation with him that I might regret.
Lord Chanshin started picking on the spikes of sharp grass around him. "I don't think the price is going to allow that, he's not going to risk your safety going north, or back home, especially by yourself. He's more likely to send spies near the Sui palace and find out how he can penetrate it from the outside without suspicion. That's his usual style."
"So, am I a prisoner here now?" I asked.
"The prince is only protecting you, lady He Lian. Please don't think vile of him. You'll find out, prince Wang Jian does things out of the ordinary. He's a hard man to read and he doesn't explain his actions. He does them, there are reasons why he does what he does, but he won't explain them. He'll leave you wondering ceaselessly what's on his mind, hoping to you'd somehow figure him out eventually."
"What about you, lord Chanshin? You spoke as if you had him figured out." I mused.
"He's a prince with burdens and responsibilities weighing his shoulders. I grew up with him and worked closely with him for many years now. I could read him like a book."
"I supposed Ying Yue never knew him the way you did."
"She eventually did." He murmured vaguely, leaving the rest for me to interpret. Lord Chua Chansin regarded me with a solemn stare that made me raise both my shoulders inquisitively. "He Lian."
"What is it?"
"The prince is a guarded person."
No one had to tell me that. I thought.
"He means what's best. He might be cold and distant. He might seem cruel, but you'll find out it's the complete opposite. This is your temporary home, he will protect you even when he no longer has the obligation to."
"Why are you telling me all this, lord Chansin?"
"I don't know." His eyes glided distantly. "Perhaps, I was rooting for something."