Princess Nalan opened her eyes, stared blankly for a second, and then froze. She knit her brows and promptly sat up, holding the cloak to her chest. Her eyes scanned the field of flowers before her, she was alone.

He was gone...leaving only a cloak behind.

She glanced about and then instantly relaxed when she saw his horse still tied up next to hers. Of course, he would never leave her...not after all this. She smiled and let out a happy sigh of relief and was about to lay back down to relax when she realized that the sun was setting.

She was late, very late. She needed to get back to the palace, no, the Zou representatives' manor first and then the palace.

Princess Nalan immediately jumped to her feet, grabbed her clothes, rushed behind the bushes to quickly get dressed as she called out, "Princ - Jun Shan! Where are you? We have to leave!... Jun Shan! Ju -"

"Relax, there's no rush..." Prince Yi finally responded.

Princess Nalan poked her head out to see him putting down some sticks and rabbit on the ground. He had apparently woken up much earlier and left to go see to their dinner. It was very sweet and it made her very happy but she really had to leave.

It was already very late and she did not want to cause any issues for Lei Xing, so she sighed as she came out tying the final knots on her outer robe as she informed, "I have to return to the palace by sunset..."

"Oh that, I already arranged for the maid to inform the palace that you will be staying over at the Zou representatives' manor if we were late...Prince Yi said as he arranged the sticks for the fire, but then he suddenly stopped and glanced over at her and tentatively went, "Unless, you want to leave -"

"Here's great~" Princess Nalan swiftly responded with a smile. Prince Yi blinked at her and then nodded and focused back on preparing the fire.

Princess Nalan happily went over to him, "I'll do this~" She said as she went to pick up the rabbit but Prince Yi promptly caught her hand, but then instantly released it and grabbed the rabbit, putting it on his other side as he said, "I can do everything...You just sit down, there's some berries on the leaves on the side there, water and some more wi -..." Prince Yi paused and knit his brows and lowered his head.

Princess Nalan's smile brightened even more and then she said, "I'm not at all delicate, this is nothing. I ca-"

"No, I want to...You just go rest or go admire the flowers...please." Prince Yi said glancing at her. Princess Nalan looked at him for a bit and then nodded and walked over to the side, where the berries were and sat down, and watched him work with a wide smile.

{...He's really too perfect~...}

Prince Yi dexterously and seriously went about his work, getting a fire going and then cleaning and slowly roasting the meat. Once it was ready, he handed the stick with the whole roast to Princess Nalan.

Princess Nalan happily took it and then took a bite and went, "Mhm, it's good..."

Prince Yi nodded and then put some more sticks in the fire and sat down in next to her. Princess Nalan then cut a piece of the meat and handed it to him, Prince Yi knit his brows and blinked at her hand. Princess Nalan then went, "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Oh." Prince Yi went, realizing his error. He took the meat and then proceeded to eat as Princess Nalan quietly observed him. He had been behaving a bit strangely, quiet...too quiet.

Given how far they'd come, there was no longer need for her to hold back and so she bluntly asked, "Are you regretting it?" with a raised eyebrow.

Prince Yi froze and then knit his brows, "No..."

He was not regretting it, after all, he had planned for this. He knew he was behaving a bit strangely, even he did not fully understand himself either.

Prince Yi sighed and glanced at Princess Nalan and quietly said, "I was thinking that you might be regretting it -"

"I never regret anything I do!" Princess Nalan swiftly responded, proudly raising her head up. Prince Yi stared at her for a bit and then gave a fleeting half-smile and lowered his head, "That's good then..."

He now knew what it was he was feeling...it was guilt.

It was not because he had slept with Princess Nalan for his grand aspirations but because of the thoughts he had during their time together.

It was just that being here in this flower field, he could not help thinking of the fleeting dream he had once had of this place. He could not help imagining the woman in his dreams and could not help seeing her in his arms. It felt too unfair to the woman who had lain with him.

But he could not help it, while his eyes saw Nalan...his heart saw Lei Xing.

***

"Nalan, why didn't you return to the palace yesterday?" Lei Xing asked narrowing her eyes at Princess Nalan.

According to the report that was sent to the palace, Princess Nalan slept over at the Zou representatives' residence. When the sun started to set, the guards who accompanied her asked after her, but then they were told by one of the maids that she had decided to sleep over at the Zou residence.

Princess Nalan nervously chuckled and then went, "Ah, that morning, I sparred with Molin for a long time and then we started drinking games. You know the usual stuff, got drunk...I was tired and just passed out hehe~" She finished as she picked up her teacup and downed the tea in one gulp.

"So you slept all day?" Lei Xing asked.

"En." Princess Nalan nodded.

"Exactly how much did you drink?" Lei Xing asked obviously not convinced by this story. Sparring was one thing but drinking so early in the day was another thing. Also, she had watched Princess Nalan drink jars of wine without even getting tipsy, much less drunk.

"A whole lot...I was tired too. Didn't sleep well...that's why I went sparring with Molin... to release some spare energy." Princess Nalan finished with a resolute nod and smile as if patting herself on the back for her quick thinking.

Lei Xing scrutinized Princess Nalan for a bit and then said, "You seem happier these days..."

"Well...You are happier these days~" Princess Nalan threw back at her.

Lei Xing snorted and then shook her head, "Fine, don't tell me...But whatever it is, be careful and for the last few days you're here, don't stay out again. The Emperor did not like it..."

The Emperor had actually not said anything, Lei Xing was not even sure if he was informed about it as neither of them brought it up the night before. But other than keeping Princess Nalan out of the Emperor's line of sight, Lei Xing also felt that she had to ensure that Princess Nalan did not end up troubling him. So Lei Xing still had to caution Princess Nalan to avoid it becoming a habit.

"En, I won't...I just got carried away this one time." Princess Nalan said with a reassuring smile.

Lei Xing sighed and then got up, "Okay then...I'l see you later." She said and then turned to leave.

Lei Xing was too busy with other things to be concerned over the actions of a flighty Princess. She had just come here out of courtesy after sending Chen You off today. To Chen You's angsty dismay, they could not send her off yesterday as she wanted because the physician said her condition was too weak.

So Lei Xing decided that it was better to wait a few more days but with Chen You's persistent insistence. Lei Xing could understand that keeping her in the palace would make her recovery much harder so she ordered the arrangements and sent her off today.

Lei Xing sent an Imperial physician along to look after her health on the journey, as well as gave them ample funds to make the journey much easier. She also permitted Chen You to visit her father before leaving the city. This was mainly so Chen You could let her father know that this was her decision.

Lei Xing was simply trying to reduce the amount of hate or anger directed towards the Emperor and herself. They already had enough to deal with and since Chen You had presented this opportunity for them to wash their hands off her matter, it would be stupid to let it go to waste.

Apart from Chen You's issue, there was only a few days left now to her ascension ceremony so Lei Xing was busy with the finalities of the occasion as well as those of her own personal arrangements for the Emperor's birthday.

After Lei Xing left her courtyard, Princess Nalan let out a sigh of relief. Her heart had panicked when Lei Xing arrived here and asked those questions, not to mention the way Lei Xing was looking at her. It was as if she could tell. Princess Nalan used her two hands to pat her face as she shook her head and then her lips curved into a happy grin.

{...Of course, she couldn't~...*sigh* It was all like a dream...}

They had only returned to the city in the early hours of the morning, as soon as the city gates opened. They went to the back door of the Zou residence and Prince Yi knocked a code on the doors and the maid, the same one who had been helping them pass the letters opened it. As Princess Nalan walked in she saw that the three guards stationed there were passed out with wine jars next to them.

She really did not need to be told that the maid had a hand in this. Prince Yi had really thought about everything. He was definitely a thorough person and Princess NalanPrincess Nalan happily relaxed in her room there until it was bright. She had breakfast with Molin and then returned to the palace in the afternoon.

They had actually not done anything else last night, they simply relaxed for a long while talking. Well, she did most of the talking and he just listened. But that was nothing new, she liked talking. and then Afterwards, they went to sleep holding each other.

Although they never actually talked about what was next for them, she was not at all bothered. It was enough that they simply enjoyed their time together, the future could always be discussed later.

For now, she was having fun and was happy.