On second and better thought, it would be unwise to create any potential for future problems between them. Moreover, she had already told him her greatest secret and he wholeheartedly accepted it and her, so this little insignificant thing that was not even a secret should not be a problem... Ideally. He was understandably a bit -maybe more, touchy about the topic of her "entanglements" with Prince Yi, so she had to be careful in her explanation.

But there was no reason to withhold the truth. After all, it was not like Prince Yi actually told her about plans to usurp the throne or anything actually relevant. So there was nothing to worry about, the Emperor would understand.

Coming to the final verdict, Lei Xing was about to open her mouth, when the Emperor commented, "It seems you two are a lot closer than I originally presumed..." With a frown on his face.

He was still holding her hand so he felt her go rigid the moment he asked that question. And that was more than enough for him to know that his guess was right.

"We are not close." Lei Xing swiftly said with her own frown, "Frankly, I barely know the guy-"

"Yet he told you that..." The Emperor gave his own swift response, "It's not something you tell a bare acquaintance..." He flatly added.

Lei Xing pulled her hand out of his and scratched her forehead in irritation as she closed her eyes and let out an irritated breath, "Are we really going to do this again?"

"I am simply curious..." The Emperor indignantly defended with raised eyebrows, looking disinterested, as if he did not care much about the topic. But considering the irritation oozing off him and his tone, it was definitely the opposite.

"Of course you are..." Lei Xing sarcastically said looking at him with a weary expression, she was suddenly feeling very tired. Her first instinct was just to walk away and let him deal with his stupid thoughts. But that would not help the situation, if it were anyone else, she would quickly forget they existed once she was gone.

But unfortunately for her, it was not really the case when it came to the Emperor. She would most likely just end up stewing over his stupidity for the rest of her day until one of them crawled back to the other to talk it out. So it was just best to talk it out now and get it over with plus she was really not in the mood to argue. It was why she simply let the other thing go and this was also not something that should cause a fight between them either.

After all, he understood and indulged her jealousy and even took actions to reassure her. So naturally, she too should be understanding and indulging of his now that it has surfaced.

She had to be patient with him, so she sighed and took his hand, "Okay, full disclosure. I did find out from him, but he did not exactly tell me. I simply guessed his intentions from a conversation we had at the Imperial library... It was that one time when I went there to get some books to read, I guess he worked there - I was bored. This was also long before you filled my library, shortly after I had entered the palace...It was a very, VERY brief encounter, thirty seconds tops, okay maybe a minute but nothing more. He showed up randomly and interrupted my day. I didn't look for him, I never do." She haphazardly explained, realizing she was starting to get into more detail than necessary, she stopped herself and cleared her throat.

"...Um, anyway he talked about aspiring for control and freedom or something like that for himself - Honestly, I think this was more of a sales pitch meant for me to convey to my father or brother, rather than for me myself. After all, I had nothing to offer him -"

"So you think..." The Emperor offhandedly commented, looking down at his hand in hers with knit eyebrows.

Lei Xing's mouth twitched, but she tried to remain understanding and simply corrected, "So it is." Before continuing on, "I obviously told him that I was not interested in whatever aspirations or freedom he begets and quickly left. That was it...that was all. A prince aspiring for absolute control would naturally seek the throne as it as close as one can get to control and freedom in these circ.u.mstances... So I simply deduced his intention. That's how I know...see, he didn't really tell me, not close at all." She added for good measure.

"I see..." The Emperor "distractedly" responded as he seemed focused on deeply scrutinizing their hands.

Lei Xing knit her eyebrows, not convinced that he really understood. So she squeezed his hand and added, "You know that if he told me anything significant, I would tell you...Maybe not back then when it happened, but once we -" She paused thinking of the right word and then awkwardly continued, "We came together, I would have definitely told you if there was even a hint of anything, after all, we are one. If you go down, I go down, isn't that right?... That we're one?" She asked bending her head to look up at the Emperor's lowered face with a smile, "No?"

Looking at her adorably blinking at him, the Emperor could not help the smirk tugging at his lips. He did not say anything but Lei Xing knew that she had already won him over. She hugged his waist and put her head on his chest as she coyly went, "Truly, it's not that I didn't want to tell you, it's just that it never came up. Honestly, I had even completely forgotten about it until you asked me just now. It was a highly insignificant encounter you know, nothing worth remembering, much less reminiscing about so... let's not argue about this, okay? I'm already so tired, today was supposed to be such a good day too..." She finished in a sulky voice.

The Emperor hugged her and nodded, "...Insignificant is understandable."

Lei Xing snorted and lightly chuckled, "...highly~" She raised her head and looked up at the Emperor and smilingly asked, "So we're good?"

"Always~"The Emperor responded, finally smiling, bringing up a hand to caress her face. It was rare for Lei Xing to coax him, so there was no way he could ignore it or stay upset at anything when she got like this.

Making him even happier, Lei Xing brought her hand and caressed his cheek, before stretching her head up and kissing him. The Emperor's smile broadened as he happily indulged in her kiss, pushing Prince Yi and his many problems to the back of his mind.

Lei Xing was just happy that he had regained his enthusiasm and was completely unaware when the Emperor brought her hands down and went about his new mind's focus. It was only when she felt his hand on the bare skin of her shoulder that she realized what was happening, she promptly moved back, covering her chest with her arms as she went, "What are you doing?" It was only now that she realized that her outer robe was dangling at her wrists.

"What do you think?" The Emperor said with a smirk as he held her wrists and pulled her back into his embrace, kissing her neck as his hands on her back began fidgeting with the ties of her dress.

Lei Xing frowned and immediately pushed his chest, "Are you -?"

"You don't want to?" The Emperor asked, slightly knitting his eyebrows.

Lei Xing blinked at him, her face now completely red. She opened her mouth and then closed it, opened it again, and then closed it with a pout, biting her inner lip. Given his poor mood a few moments ago, she did not feel it would be right to refuse him and it was not like she did not want to, but... "It's not that...It's just...here?..." She shyly and awkwardly asked, lowering her head.

Seeing her like this, the Emperor smiled and kissed her cheek, "Why not?" The throne chair was soft enough and wide enough for them to be comfortable.

"Well... there are people outside and if I - we...they can hear and..." Lei Xing haphazardly explained with a frown, turning even redder.

"Well then just be quiet..." The Emperor said, kissing down her neck to her shoulder.

"I'm always quiet..." Lei Xing indignantly responded with her hands still on his shoulders, but not pushing him back.

"Then we have no problem..." The Emperor smugly responded as his hands successfully loosened her dress enough to pull down the front, but then Lei Xing quickly shifted back in the throne chair and covered her chest with her arms again, and shook her head.

"You all wait outside." The Emperor loudly ordered and immediately the sounds of departing footsteps echoed and then it went silent. The Emperor smiled at Lei Xing and shifted closer, wrapping her in his arms as he sweetly said, "There, problem solved. Now you can be as loud as you want~"

Lei Xing was still not convinced, doing it in such a wide-open, echoey space was still a bit much, "But -" The rest of her words were swallowed when the Emperor put his head on her shoulder and let out a weary sigh.

Lei Xing could feel that something was not right, so she kept quiet and waited. She felt the arms around her tighten and although she was not sure, she thought his arms were trembling. She knit her brows with concern and was about to ask if he was alright, when the Emperor quietly said, "Xing er, don't refuse me this... not right now, please. I need to feel you..."

{...To feel that you're still mine...}

Lei Xing blinked and then knit her brows at his head.

{...Why is this affecting you so much? I don't understand this...}

Without waiting for her response, the Emperor started planting kisses on her neck again while lightly tugging at her dress, asking for her permission as he kissed his way down. Lei Xing inwardly sighed, not knowing what to do with him. She was honestly having a hard time understanding why he would be bothered over such little things, regardless, she released her hold on her dress and grabbed his head and kissed him, gently and lovingly.

He really had nothing to worry about and was really trying her hardest to convey that.

The Emperor happily indulged in the kiss and removed her hands from his face so he could slip her sleeves off. He continued to deepen the kiss, putting a hand behind her head and the other around her waist, bringing her as close to him as their bodies would allow. He then got to his feet pulling her along and made quick work of removing both her clothes and his with some assistance from the still shy and hesitant Lei Xing. Then the excited Emperor quickly sat down, pulling Lei Xing onto his lap as they delved into the heady passion of each other, forgetting all the pomp and trials of their position.

As the warmth of her enveloped him, the Emperor closed his eyes and held her tightly to his chest, she was his... always has been and always will be.

{...Mine...}