Bathe

Tianshi Xue was left with no choice but to follow the prince as he walked towards the river. She stayed a step behind him.

"Pardon me, my prince," she said, trying to be polite. "But how would this work? Am I going to take a bath first? Or we bathe simultaneously?"

Prince Qui answered cooly, "We're going to do it simultaneously. We have to be finished as soon as possible. Around ten minutes at the most. So move fast."

Ten minutes?! Tianshi Xue's baths last an hour at least. "Would that be enough time?"

"Yes, it is."

Tianshi Xue reached for the princess' silver hair. How was she supposed to wash this under ten minutes? She pushed the thought out of her mind for the moment and tried again. "But… if we take a bath together, that means we can see each other?"

"You're not going to be taking off all of your clothes," Prince Qui answered as if this was the most obvious answer. "You can turn your back on me, but I can't do that. I have to keep an eye on the surroundings. I promise I'm not going to look."

Tianshi Xue hid a frown at that. Even though he was not going to look he would still be able to get glimpses. "Aren't you really going to look?"

"I'm not interested."

Tianshi Xue's eyes narrowed. Was the prince ever linked to another female? At the party, it was the first time that she learned that the prince had a female friend. "Why not? Are you staying faithful to that doctor?"

Prince Qui stopped walking and turned to face her with a stony expression. She clamped her lips shut and the prince went back to walking.

"So it's true then," she walked after him. "You guys are together."

"Since when was a princess up for gossips? Is that what Xiaodan teaches you?"

Suddenly, there was anger in her stomach. "Why are you bringing Prince Xiaodan in this conversation? He had been nothing but nice to me."

Tianshi Xue saw the prince's eyes rolled.

"What was that for?"

"Nothing," the prince answered. He was just too tired about hearing how good of a person Xiaodan was. It was already common knowledge. Why did people always have to bring it up?

The prince smirked in his mind, well, if you come to think of it, 'kind' was the only word that came to people's mind when they think about Prince Xiaodan. That was his ONLY personality.

"It is true," Tianshi Xue continued, "he's a great person."

"Then why were you trying to kill yourself the other night?"

Now it was Tianshi Xue's turn to stop walking. Two nights ago felt like ages. She almost forgot that she was about to end her life. "Uh—uhhm."

Prince Qui leaned down so close that Tianshi Xue was forced to lean backwards. The prince's depthless black eyes burned into her with amused curiosity that it made her heart jump. "Tell me, what did he do to you?"

Tianshi Xue shivered despite the heat. "N-nothing."

"Then what were you doing standing over the ledge? If I hadn't pulled you down you would've went straight to your death."

She pulled her items up to cover her face. She could no longer look into those eyes. It felt like the prince could see her soul. Her… Tianshi Xue… and not the princess. "I was just getting some air."

"Air," the prince scoffed and resumed walking. "You were trying to kill yourself. I could help you know? If ever Xiaodan does something to you."

Tianshi Xue's mood shifted once more. She was angry again. The prince just wanted to do something bad to his brother—his elder brother, nonetheless. She firmly said, "The prince will never do something cruel to me! He's good." Then stomped her way to the river, leaving the prince to follow her trail.

**

When Prince Qui reached the river, Princess Yingyue was already knee-deep in the water. She had settled herself on a rock, her back to him, and was already scrubbing at her arms, her sleeves rolled up to her shoulders. Even at a distance, he could see the red splotches of her skin allergy. He somehow felt guilty of putting her into such hassle.

But he shrugged, it was her fault for being too picky anyway. He stripped down to his loose pants, rolling them up to his knees. He kicked at the water loudly to announce to the princess that he was already there.

Prince Qui let down his hair that he had always kept it in a low ponytail and under his shirt. It could get in the way of his fighting if he let it out at normal days. His black hair reached his chest. He let himself wander under the upper part of the river and let the flowing water shower him.

The cold water immediately refreshing the heat on his head.

The bar doubled as a shampoo and soap. He quickly scrubbed his scalp and body, being as quick as possible to rid himself of dirt and sweat.

"You should get under here," he said to the princess, who was trying to wet her long hair.

Prince Qui already squeezed his and tied it again on the nape of his neck. The princess ignored him but he could not afford giving her more time. He took her hand and took her under the flowing water.

"I might drown!" she said, glaring at him as he sat her down on a rock.

"You're not going to drown. You're upright!"

The princess refused to lean back to let the water wash her.

"Fine," he said and created a small bridge with his arm so the water could reach her. Prince Qui heard her small gasp as the water slid down the nape of her neck, bringing his attention to the smooth skin over there. His eyes followed the trail of water and saw how it ran down her spine. Suddenly, he was having trouble breathing.

He shook his head and cleared the thoughts from his mind. He needed to focus. The redness didn't look as bad it did earlier this morning.

His patience was already running out, he touched the princess silver hair—it had always fascinated him, ever since they were children. How did one get silver hair? It was an odd color. He had seen pictures of the Shanmai Empire Royalties, none of them had light hair.

So where did the princess get hers?

**

Tianshi Xue was kind of having the time of her life. She always had long hair and she knew the struggle of having to wash it, especially with conditioner. She knew she shouldn't let the prince touch her hair but it reminded her of the moments she was in a salon and she could feel her hair getting cleaned without her arms threatening to fall off in pain and cramps.

"Are you enjoying this?" the prince's voice was filled with hostility.

Tianshi Xue's eyes snapped open and she bolted upright. She didn't even notice that she was already leaning on the mini waterfall and the prince was rubbing her scalp. "You were the one who pulled me here!"

The prince was just about to retort but amid the sound of the rushing water, he heard something from across the river. Someone was coming.

In a second, he leapt and snatched his sword from the shore. He jumped back to the princess. It was too late to move now. Whoever it was, they already saw them.

He pulled the princess behind his back, pointing the sword at the empty road. "Who goes there?!"

Then the person emerged from the bushes.