Lei Xing was glad when the banquet finally ended and absentmindedly made her way back to her palace, still brooding over the events of the evening and the annoyance of having to babysit some princess added onto her plate. No matter how she thought about it she could not come up with an explanation for why the princess wanted her. There was also Tung Mei's behavior and the bracelet's ridiculous demands further irritating her.

She lightly sighed and glanced around only to see the Emperor walking beside her. She had been so wrapped up in her troubles that she had not noticed he continued following her after they all went their separate ways.

Lei Xing sighed, she was not in the mood to deal with him. Not to mention that she could see from his frowning expression that he was not in a happy mood either. When they arrived at her palace, she stopped at the entrance to attempt to talk him into leaving, but he just went inside ahead of her.

Lei Xing pouted and sluggishly followed. She finally arrived in her room to find him sitting on the side, frowning and narrowing his eyes at her as she walked in. She wanted to go sit down but then thought some distance will be better considering his seemingly bad mood.

Although it seemed a bit extreme to her that he would be angered by her embarrassing coughing fit. Lei Xing rationalized that perhaps he was more irritatable and was on edge because of the foreign guests.?After a while of awkwardly standing there under his strict silent scrutiny, Lei Xing lightly sighed and said, "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" The Emperor asked with a raised eyebrow, "For?"

Lei Xing inwardly sighed, but before she could explain her accident the Emperor asked, "Why did you agree?"

Lei Xing blinked in confusion and asked, "You didn't want me to?"

{...Is that what he's angry at? O_o)...}

"Why would a foreign princess want you as a companion?" The Emperor asked narrowing his eyes at her.

Lei Xing knit her brows and flatly responded, "I don't know."

The Emperor raised an eyebrow, "Think harder."

Lei Xing frowned and shook her head, "I really don't know. If you don't want me to, how about you send someone else instead?"

{...I actually don't want to babysit anyone either -_-)'...}

The Emperor narrowed his eyes.

{...So she doesn't remember him? No, that was after her accident so she should...Unless she wasn't paying attention or she is lying to me...}

The Emperor got up and walked up to her, "You wouldn't happen to be lying to me, would you?"

Lei Xing was taken aback, "No, I really don't know. I am more confused by this event than anyone."

{...What the hell is up with this inquisition? How the hell am I supposed to know what goes on in your crazy entitled royal minds? -_-)...}

The Emperor knit his brows in contemplation and after another while of silently scrutinizing the awkward Lei Xing, he walked out, still seeming irritating. Lei Xing let out a sigh of relief when the doors closed behind him.

{...What the hell is his problem now? If he didn't want me to, why didn't he just say so then?... Why ask me? No wonder he was staring me down...Did I ever tell him I have telepathy or something? Idiot -_-)...}

{...*This is great! Hahahaha...}

{...What's great about it? -_-)'...}

{...*Hahaha The Universe has a way of setting things into motion despite one's best efforts hahahaha...}

Lei Xing rolled her eyes and ignored the bracelet's idiotic ramblings and went to bathe. She later settled into her bed to sleep letting out a sigh, tired and unamused with the day's events.

{...At least now I won't have to bother with that princess since it upsets "His royal majesty" so much...Although I have no clue why but it's a definite plus...}

***

"Why did you do that?" Prince Rui asked, narrowing his eyes at his sister. They were currently in the carriage returning back to their residence.

"I was just helping..." Princess Nalan explained with a smile, "I heard you telling Molin about how you would have liked to meet her again to thank her for something about...What was it? Restoring your faith in the existence of good-hearted people in this country?... So I thought I'd help make your wish happen and give you the chance to get to know her. Although she seems a bit odd... But no matter, it's fine if you like her-"

"Nalan! We are not in our own country. You can't just go about doing whatever you like and expect -!"

"Well, their Emperor has quite a number of wives anyway and could always get more. I doubt he would care..." She offhandedly said.

Prince Rui sighed and advised, "This Emperor is not a simple person, just because he's going along your antics doesn't necessarily mean he's pleased with you. Don't attract unnecessary problems. Also, how could you talk about marriage like that, what if it angered him an-"

"Father promised!" Princess Nalan cut him off with a frown, then she took a deep breath to calm herself, "You don't have to worry about me. I still know to be reasonable" She finished and looked out the window, ignoring her brother.

Prince Rui sighed and let her be, reasoning with her was not a task easily won once her mind was set.?Princess Nalan was the youngest of their seven siblings and their father had greatly pampered her. Her mother had died when she was still a child, so she had been raised by Prince Rui's mother. This made her closer to Prince Rui than her own two full-blooded older brothers.

For a political marriage, she was the only option as she was the only unmarried princess left. She never wanted to get married to a foreign leader as her sisters did.

First of, these foreigners could not be trusted, who knows how her sisters were really living there. The war situation with Long country was a perfect example. Neither of the Kings her sisters married offered help, instead, they gave fake excuses to explain the "delays". If they had offered proper support, their country would have had a much better fighting chance, at least Long country would have had to think twice before attacking them.

She sighed as she recalled this unpleasant matter. She had expressed her dislike for the idea of a political marriage to her father when her second sister got married a few years ago. Her father had then promised to let her have the final say on her marriage.

This was the main reason why she had remained unmarried till her current age of nineteen. She was in no rush to marry and had not met anyone she liked enough yet and enjoyed living her life freely as she pleased.

Although she understood that the situation had now changed. This was why she came along with her brother to at least get the chance to come to terms with the idea first before getting married. As she looked at the passing buildings and pedestrians she sighed again.

{...Life here seems suffocating...}