Early the next morning, Lei Xing was woken up from her sleep to get ready because the Princess had sent for her. Lei Xing irritatedly went through the motions,? she was surprised because she thought the Emperor would have made alternate arrangements since he seemed unhappy with the arrangement. She yawned as she sat in the carriage as they carted her off to the Princess's residence.

{...Why didn't he change it? I don't like early morning events. Where the hell does she even want to go this early?! T_T)...}

She yawned again and comfortably settled in to take a nap, jerking awake when the carriage stopped. She quickly straightened up her attire, took a deep breath and got down. She was led to the reception hall and sat down waiting for the Princess to arrive.

Princess Nalan quickly arrived, smiling brightly at Lei Xing.?They exchanged greetings and then sat down quietly. With Lei Xing sitting upright, trying to maintain a dignified aura, and ignoring discomfort with the princess who was sitting across from her slowly and quietly scrutinizing her from top to bottom.

"What is your name?" Princess Nalan finally asked.

Lei Xing cordially responded, "Lei Xing."

"I heard you're the defense minister's daughter?"

"Yes, I am."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

Princess Nalan nodded, "That's a good age."

Lei Xing slightly knit her brows and looked at the Princess suspiciously.

{...What do you mean good age? Good age for? -_-)...}

"Anything you're skilled at?"

Lei Xing gave a half-smile, "Nothing in particular." She flatly responded, starting to feel annoyed.

{...What the hell is this? 99 questions? I didn't know I was coming for an interview -_-)...}

"I heard you're your Emperor's current favorite?"

Lei Xing's lips twitched and she did not respond.

Princess Nalan smiled and continued, "Do you like your Emperor or...?"

Lei Xing finally fed up, squarely looked at her and flatly said, "I believe that is a personal matter."

Princess Nalan raised an eyebrow and then laughed, "You have spunk too. That's very good, pushovers are no fun."

Lei Xing frowned, she did not share in the amus.e.m.e.nt. She was already upset with her rude awakening and now having to play mind games to entertain someone was not helping her mood.

Princess Nalan then got up and said, "Let's go." Then she bounded the room with the disgruntled Lei Xing trailing behind.

They arrived at the back garden to see Prince Rui and Molin practicing martial arts, shirtless. Lei Xing did not think much of it and absentmindedly looked on, enjoying the performance.

Princess Nalan smirked then nudged her, "Isn't it great?"

Lei Xing turned to her and Princess Nalan pointed at the fighting duo. Lei Xing turned back to them, knit her brows and looked back at Princess Nalan who just smiled at her. Meanwhile, Prince Rui saw them from the side of his eyes and frowned, the enthusiastic Molin used this moment of distraction to land a blow, sending Prince Rui to the ground.

It was also at that moment that Lei Xing came to a realization.

{...I should not have been looking, should I? >_

Lei Xing quickly turned her back, acting the part of a modest noble woman, thinking it's better late than never. Ah Jin beside her also followed along and turned her back.?Princess Nalan looked at the two, snorted then walked up to her brother, who had gotten off the ground and was glaring at her.

"Why did you bring her here?" Prince Rui quietly asked.

"To see you, of course. You look very dashing like this." Princess Nalan responded.

"Oh, that's that girl, right?...I'll go greet her." Molin said and started in Lei Xing's direction, when Prince Rui pulled him back, "You can't go meet her like that! Go clean up and get dressed." Molin looked at his shirtless chest and went, "Oh." and quickly walked off.

Prince Rui then turned to Nalan and said through gritted teeth, "I told you it isn't like that."

His sister had developed a habit of setting him up with girls over the years. If he?showed even the slightest interest in a girl, she would go off to start arranging meetings with said girl. He had hoped she would show some restraint here given the seriousness of the situation here, but he definitely thought wrong.

Prince Rui frowned, "Nalan, are you trying to get me in trouble?"

"It's not like they'll kill you just for meeting her." Princess Nalan offhandedly responded.

"Nalan, don't play with someone else's life like this. The customs here are much stricter than ours, and she could get in trouble with stupid jokes like these. I can't repay a good deed with disrespect and ruin. Don't try anything like this again!" Prince Rui finished and walked off.

Princess Nalan pouted and mumbled, "I was just trying to help." She walked back to Lei Xingstill pouting and said, "The rules here are very uptight."

Lei Xing snorted, then quickly cleared her throat, smiled and said, "It would seem so."

Princess Nalan smiled and then came close to Lei Xing and whispered, "So tell me, did you enjoy the view? Let me tell you, a lot of girls are after my brother in my country. His body is a prime trophy. Your Emperor doesn't compare to my brother, does he?" She asked with a smirk.

Lei Xing could not but laugh as she said, "I decline answering that one."

Princess Nalan also laughed and said, "It's fine as long as you acknowledge it."

The two went to sit down at a pavilion nearby and started talking. Contrary to what Lei Xing expected, Princess Nalan was really laid back and was relatively easy to talk to. She asked questions about Lei Xing's life and talked about hers. They talked about their hobbies, things they disliked, with both agreeing that embroidery was a punishment; art was a maddening exercise; music was best experienced with the ears only.

Of course, they had their differences too. Lei Xing was more of a solitary lazy academic, while Nalan was a daring adventurous soul. She excelled in archery, horse-riding and even knew some martial arts and often went on adventures in the wild. When Lei Xing briefly mentioned her interest in archery, she even volunteered to tutor her.?Lei Xing began to relax and enjoy the conversation.

{...She's surprisingly not bad at all...}

{...*I don't like her! -_-)...}

{...No one asked for your opinion...}

{...*Hmph! Stupid shirtless prince! Your Emperor is a thousand times better! Tell him to take off his clothes! You'll see!...}

{...Again, no one asked for your opinion...And care to explain how you know how great the Emperor looks shirtless? -_-)...}

{...*It's common sense. He was a general and the commander of the army for years, dubbed the "God of War" by the people, you don't get a reputation like that without being well-built! Especially being so young too. Give him more credit!...}

{...I didn't discredit him at all, you're the one discrediting someone here -_-)'...}

{...*Hmph! Let me enlighten you, this guy you are crediting here was once defeated and captured and then got played by your Emperor! So, he's obviously the better of the two!...}

{...And how do you know that?...}

{...*Hehe~ I told you I know things...What? Have you finally realized my brilliance?... Hmm, too bad. I'm not sure I still want a new student at the moment. I will have to check my availability first, I am very busy, you know ~ ...}

{...(?_?)...}

The bracelet occasionally said things like this from time to time, trying to reel her into a conversation by dangling bits of information. Then once it got her attention and she started asking questions, it would either disappear or go, "It's none of your business" and leave her hanging. At this point, she was disillusioned and extremely skeptical of its claims of knowledge.?Lei Xing ignored the bracelet and focused on the conversation with Princess Nalan.

After a while, Prince Rui came back with Molin. Princess Nalan smiled, quickly got up and went to grab Molin, "Ah, Lei Xing hasn't had breakfast yet, so we'll go check on the kitchen, to speed things up." She said as she pulled a confused and protesting Molin with her.

Prince Rui sighed and turned to the baffled Lei Xing, "I apologize for her behavior, she tends to get excited."

Lei Xing gave a half-smile and nodded, still confused.

Prince Rui sighed again, "I had explained to her about how you helped me in the past, and she had mistaken - ...Anyway, I wanted to at least express my gratitude, so it's all the same."

Lei Xing knit her brows, then?awkwardly asked, "Um, I'm sorry, when did I -?"

Prince Rui blinked, "Of course, you don't remember...It was quite a while ago and I was not...at my best..."

Lei Xing raised an eyebrow, "I see..."

"I was amongst the people in that slave group you released a -..."

"Oh!" Lei Xing exclaimed in surprise, then she awkwardly continued, "... Oh, I see...Haha~...Ah, nice to meet you at your best form." Lei Xing blinked and then frowned.

Prince Rui was a bit taken aback by her words, then he chuckled. Lei Xing wanted to slap her mouth.

{...Best form?! Really?! >_

{...*Hmph! Don't forget you're already MARRIED! -_-)...}

{...Shut Up!...}

{...*You seem to have gotten ruder -_-)...}

"Ah, I had brought this as a token of gratitude."

Lei Xing looked down to see a beautifully decorated little box in his hand, and slightly knit her brows.