Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 26: Do the Right Thing for Your Beloved! (2)

After another fretful night, Jing He woke up with a headache. He slowly sat up, holding his forehead, and sighed to himself. This really wasn't good. If he continued to like this, he might actually start to show signs of his lack of sleep. Not only would he worry his parents then, but what if Longjun noticed? Most likely, the fact that he was attracted to him was based on his looks to a large degree. If he lost that ... would he still be worth the dragon king's attention?

Jing He sighed again when he thought of that problem and finally pushed back the blanket, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. His headache immediately worsened and he took a moment to sort himself.

Just when he wanted to get up, a voice sounded from the door to the garden. "Good morning, my love! I brought a gift!"

Jing He gave a yelp and then reached to the side to draw the curtain of his bed shut.

Unfortunately, this not only drew the dragon king over to make sure that he was alright but also alarmed the two guards in front of his door that immediately stormed in.

"Your Highness!"

Mu Kun and Huang Lan had already drawn their weapons but seeing the scene in front of them, they were unsure of what to do: The dragon king was standing halfway into the room, awkwardly holding a box in one hand. Meanwhile, their Son of Heaven didn't seem to have gotten out of bed yet, and the curtains were actually drawn close which was quite untypical of him and might have been done in reacted to the dragon king's sudden appearance.

Huang Lan finally cleared his throat and then nodded towards Qiu Ling. "Longjun, it seems you are a little early. Why don't you wait outside?" Saying so, he motioned back to the door, slowly walking over so the dragon king would have no illusions that he might be allowed to stay inside.

Seeing Huang Lan handle this matter thoroughly, Mu Kun also stepped forward, and inclined his head toward Jing He, keeping his gaze on the ground afterward. "Your Highness, may be so bold as to close the doors to your bedroom?"

Jing He had to clear his throat to find back his voice before he could answer. "Yes, please do so."

Mu Kun nodded and then went to do as he had suggested, not raising his gaze for a single moment. He closed the door and then also turned toward Qiu Ling, joining Huang Lan in escorting him outside. The two of them followed suit, closing the door to the garden, and then stood in front of it, looking straight at the dragon king. They definitely wouldn't let him go somewhere else to maybe take a peek at the crown prince.

Inside, Jing He was shaking. This wasn't the first time that he had almost been surprised by Qiu Ling but it was definitely one of the times that hit him the hardest. Hadn't he just worried about not looking presentable in front of him? And now, he hadn't even gotten out of bed and almost would have been seen by him. Neither had he washed up, nor had he combed his hair, or put on his robes. This definitely was not a look he was willing to let the dragon king see.

Jing He did not have time to wallow in self-pity. Since the dragon king was already there, he had to hurry up. He hastily got out of bed and stumbled over to the other side of the room. He would've liked to take some more time to pick out his clothes but he could only grab the first robe that he saw and then go to hastily wash up. He dried his body and hair with his magic, hurriedly put the robe on, and then sat down in front of his dressing table. Taking his brush to the hand, he started to make himself look presentable.

He conjured up a water mirror, looking at it while he combed through his hair. What he saw ... he wasn't quite happy with it. He probably would've needed to put in quite a bit more time to make himself look decent for the dragon king but he really couldn't do that.