Legend of the Dragon Princess

Chapter 7.1: Tell Me Princess

When Xin Yi first spoke, I found myself in complete awe of the lovely sounds in his voice. At every lip movement, the words that came out were like the plucked strings of a heavenly guzheng instrument. Feeling Hao's lingering stare, I quietly resumed my cool, all-knowing façade. To this, I nodded, acknowledging the boy's sincere introduction.

"No, it is my honor to meet you, Xin Yi." I mustered a small but graceful smile. "I will forever be grateful toward you as my bodyguard; hence, I look forward to our time together." Once again, crisp pink meihua petals began to rain down upon our heads. Without looking, I could feel their beauty sprinkle my top coiled hair-bun. Then, turning to Hao, I asked, "Will Xin Yi also be going to Princess June's wedding?" Despite the drastic spin of events, I had just remembered about departing the kingdom tomorrow. "I would need to make fast preparations for the journey."

"Oh, that..." Hao's nostrils flared up. It too probably escaped him. "The Empress must've forgotten, so I'll go ask as it would be unwise to offend the Lord..." His sharp walnut-brown eyes lost its vigorous spark, flickering down to the tawny ground. Ah, he began to show a bit of awkwardness. Soon, the nineteen-year-old boy tightened his hold on the black sheathed sword. "Listen, Prince, my brother had caused you great embarrassment—"

"You forgot about my trip, did you?" I asked, just to tease him.

"N-No!" To my disbelief, the stoic boy's firm expression abruptly broke into complete panic. "I didn't forget, Prince Jing!" His large, round eyes darted around us—his self-consciousness arising. "Honest!"

"If you didn't, would you have reminded me before I brought it up?" I couldn't help, chuckling. To further push Hao's emotional limits, I persisted. "What do you think, Xin Yi?" Averting my attention to him, I seemed to have nearly startled the boy by including him. "Do you think Hao is telling the truth?"

Even with his marble-composed face of duty and commitment, the edges of his poppy-red lips threatened to pull. "...He clearly wasn't." The soft breeze continued to tousle his short, black curls. "Your Majesty."

"Why, you...!" Curling his right hand into a massive rock-fist, Hao tightened his jaw. "You're real quick to turn on me, Xin Yi!" He flipped aside the lengthy malachite-green tunic—and took a step toward the grinning boy. "I didn't forget! I would've said something later!" From the corner of my eye, two guards came scurrying from their posts.

"Hao, Hao!" Patting his hard shoulders, I was quick to ease the situation before anger overtook him. "I was just teasing you!" Gradually, he backed down from advancing any closer to the amused Xin Yi. Each time though, when I gently patted him, Hao's face fluctuated back and forth from confusion to surprise. To my relief also, the guards looked at one another before walking back. "It was a joke! There's no need to be so panicked or upset!"

At last, the older boy peered into my eyes. Did I say something wrong? "Though it's a joke, it had been a long time since the prince has played one on me." Why, his steely face almost seemed sad... I withdrew to re-compose myself. Once more, there was ample space between us two. "As I was saying—my younger brother had caused some trouble for you again." He bowed, ceremoniously. "Duibuqi. I apologize for the chaos he'd created for you, but he will always be indebted to you for your graciousness and on behalf of the Chen family." Hao sighed. "My father and I were truly glad though—when we heard Ming saved you last night from the assassination attempt."

I blinked. "True, despite the troubles, he did save me twice." If Ming wasn't going to tell me, Hao just might. "By the way, what is this debt...that he owes me?" I didn't give much thought on how to phrase it better. Despite that my childhood friend had warned me about trusting Hao, he didn't give me any reason at all—since he refused to go into the details. Besides...Ming was surely hiding something from me. "If you can tell me, I would like to hear more about it."