I looked up and saw Su Hai walking toward me. I tapped my thigh. It was my first day moving into Tian Yue Hall. Was he coming here to welcome me? I stood up from my seat and I walked up to him.
"Su Hai," I bowed to him as he stopped in front of me, "what have you come here today for?"
"Why did you do this?" his voice was trembling with rage and his face was red.
"What do you mean?" I asked. I didn't understand his question.
"Don't pretend to be innocent! Why did you request to be engaged to me?!" he yelled. My hands trembled. Why was he so angry?
"Because you promis-"
"I never promised you anything!" he moved closer to me, "I never wanted to be with you," I felt his angry breath on my face. I shook my head.
"Su Hai y-"
"Don't call my name! You don't deserve to call me by my name!"
"Su Hai!" I reached my hand out to grab him and he backed away with a disgusted look on his face.
"Don't touch me, don't look at me, and don't call my name," he hissed, "I don't want anything to do with you," he turned on his heels and walked away.
"Su Hai!" I yelled but my legs felt weak, "Su Hai!" my vision got blurry and I felt something trickled down my cheek, "You can't do this to me!" my voice was quiet as I felt myself falling to the ground. Why was he treating me like this? I was the on-
ERROR!
DATA IS OUT OF CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER!
CANNOT BE RESTORED PROPERLY!
ERROR!
DATA IS OUT OF CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER!
CANNOT BE RESTORED PROPERLY!
ERROR!
DATA IS NOW CORRUPTED!
TO RESTORE CORRUPTED DATA SUCCESSFULLY PLEASE RESTORE LOST DATA IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER!
I brought my hand back and blinked hard as all the notifications flashed in my face.
"Error. Data is out of chronological order. To restore corrupted data successfully please restore lost data in chronological order?" I raised an eyebrow. What? How was this possible? I thought all memory could be recovered randomly... how was I suppose to know what came in chronological order? Hmm...
New Quest!
Quest description: Find and restore all lost data
Difficulty Level: Unknown
Reward: 300 Level Up and SSS Reward
Would you like to accept the quest?
Yes No
"Woah! New quest update?" I gasped. I just received a quest five days ago to win the war against the Dark Arts Tribe... wait, nevermind that was 120,000 years ago. Whatever controls the system always gave me weird quests but I wasn't expecting one like this... should I accept... I do want to know what happened and plus those 300 level up and SSS reward! Maybe I can even go back to Earth with that reward! Besides, what was the harm in doing this? I was just going to find out what happened to myself in the past. The past me did say we had no correlation or relation with each other so everything should be fine! It would just be like watching a drama of someone else's life. I grinned at the thought of delicious hamburgers as I tapped the yes button.
You have accepted the quest.
"Hehe," I giggled but as my eyes landed on my finger the smile disappeared from my face. I saw a silver ring with a blue stone embedded in the middle of it on my pointer finger. "When did I get this? Wait!" I looked down to see that Hua Mi's appearance had disappeared as I was now back to my own looks. "Oh no!" I jumped up and I raised my arm to put the disguise magic on me again.
"Who are you?!" I heard a low voice yell out from behind me. I froze as I felt sweat trickling down my forehead. "You! Who are you?" the voice asked again. Oh no! This wasn't supposed to happen! I was just going to sneak in and sneak back out! What was I suppose to do now? "Turn around!" the voice came closer. I took a deep breath to calm myself down. Let's just turn around and pretend that we got lost trying to find the courtyard. I balled my fist as I turned around.
I raised my eyebrows when I saw that the man standing a couple steps in front of me was the same man in the data that was being restored. He looked at me with mellow eyes as if he knew me. Why was he looking at me like that? Better yet, what was his name? Sa... Su Hua... oh yea, Su Hai! Why was he wearing red robes embroidered with golden doves? I thought those type of red robes were only supposed to be worn for weddings? I pulled onto my robes as I forced a smile on my face and gave him a bow.
"Sorry si-" before I can finish he reached out and grabbed my arm. He pulled me into a hug as I felt his hand on my back.
"You really returned!" I felt his breath on my neck and all the hairs on my neck stood up, "You really returned! I didn't think you would come back so soon, but you're here!"
"Sir!" I managed to say as I pushed him back. He held onto my upper arm as he looked at me with confused eyes.
"What's wrong?" his voice was soft and calming. I shrugged off his hand as I took a step back.
"I-I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong person," I stammered out.
"What do you mean?"
"I-I-I have never met you b-b-before. I think you're m-mistaken."
"I'm not mistaken about anything," he moved closer to me.
"S-sir," I took another step back, "this is my first time meeting you. I really think that you have the wrong pers-"
"I don't have the wrong person. Look," he grabbed onto my wrist and I gasped as he held up my hand, "this... I gave this ring to you yesterday... don't you remember?" he pointed to the ring. My eyes shifted from him to the ring, and then back to him. I shook my head as I pulled my wrist away. Did we really meet yesterday? But... when? I... don't remember... but how did I get this ring then? I know for sure that this ring isn't mine... so many questions ran through my mind but the only thing I knew was that I needed to get out of there right away. I shook my head.
"I'm sorry sir, but I don't... remember... are you sure you gave me this ring?" I peeked up to look at him and I saw the joy dissipate from his eyes. What took their place was now sorrow. I felt my heart twist beneath my chest as I saw his expression and I looked away as I clutched onto the sleeve of my robe. Why did I feel sad seeing him sad? I barely know him!
"Cu Xing," he breathed out, "why are you acting like this? Are you mad... because of what I did? I'm sorry.... I'm really sorry..." Cu Xing? Who is Cu Xing? I looked at him to see his eyes filled to the brim with pain and sadness. He looked as if he committed a crime. "Cu Xing... what can I do for you to forgive me? I was wrong... I was really wro-"
"I'm sorry, sir. My name is not Cu Xing."
"What?" he looked at me with suspicious eyes, "you... who are you?" he interrogated. Damn it, it was the question I feared he would ask. What should I do? If I tell him the truth will I get into trouble? But I can just say that I was accompanying Hua Mi... but then I'm going to get into trouble with Hua Mi! Ugh... what should I do? Hmm... Master has always told me that when I'm in a dire situation honesty is the best way to go... but would honesty really help me right now? Ahhh! Why didn't I just listen to Hua Mi and stay in the house?! Sorry, Master! Your disciple is unfilial and won't be able to follow your lessons at this moment. I cleared my throat.
"I-I-I am a nobody," I managed to say, "I'm just a lowly diety that was able to attend the Crown Prince's birthday celebration because of connections from my friend."
"Your friend? Who is your friend?" he moved in closer and I was scared he could hear how loud my heart was beating. What friend? Should I just say Hua Mi? But I don't want Hua Mi to get into trouble... ajisfeljf! Just say something, Que Hei Bin, anything!
"Sir?"
"Yes."
"Do you know the Crown Prince?" a plan started to formulate in my head.
"The Heavenly Crown Prince?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Don't ask! Just answer my question first."
"That," I saw his eyes darting around and I felt a glimmer of hope light up. He looked up at me and I plastered a smile on my face. I saw one of his eyebrows twitch and he shook his head. "I don't know the Crown Prince," he answered. Hehe... this is going well!
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"Actually," I looked into his eyes and smiled, "sir," I grabbed onto his shoulder and he looked at my hand, "can you just act like you haven't seen me?" I asked.
"What?"
"Sir, my friend is actually..." I leaned into his ear, "the Crown Prince."
"Huh?"
"You see, the Crown Prince invited me in secret and we were going to get together later and drink," I held up the wine bottles to him, "but... the Crown Prince doesn't want anyone to know that I'm here so... he told me to hide out here in T-T-Tian Yue Hall," I declared. He looked at me with amused eyes. Was this a good or a bad sign?
"Really?"
"Really!" I nodded my head with certainty, "if you don't believe me then you can go and ask the Crown Prince yourself," I held my head up high. He looked at me for a second before leaning his head to one side.
"Alright then. If what you said is true then I shall leave you alone but... please give me back my ring," he grabbed my wrist.
"Hey!" I tried to pull back my arm by reflex. When I did so, his fingers missed the sides of the ring as he pushed the blue stone. I felt a prick on the base of my pointer finger beneath where the blue stone was and I flinched at the sudden sharp pain. The blue stone lit up and I was stunned as I saw different shades of blue and green glowing up within the stone. All the colors blended together so well it was as if I was gazing at the cosmos. I held the ring up to Su Hai.
"Look!" I saw his eyes focused on the stone, "it's so pretty!" I giggled. I love beautiful blends of colors that I almost forgot the matter at hand. I shook my head to straighten my thoughts as I pulled off the ring and handed it to him. "Here. You can have it back," I said but he just stood there and looked at me, "sir?" I cocked my head to one side and he seemed to break out of his thoughts as he took the ring out of my hand. He looked back at me and then grabbed my hand. This time I didn't pull back as he grabbed it gently. He pushed the ring back onto my pointer finger and I frowned. What was he doing? He stared into my eyes as if he was searching for something... but I didn't know what he was looking for.
"You... don't really know who I am?" he asked.
"I don't really know who you are," I replied. He brows knitted together but he continued to hold onto my wrist. After what seemed like an eternity he finally let go.
"I'm going to go ask the Crown Prince if what you said is true. Please wait here for a moment," he ordered as he disappeared leaving a trail of white glitter behind. I stood still, shocked at what had happened, for a few seconds before I shook my head. This was my chance to get away. Even if he goes and asks the Crown Prince the truth he will leave me with enough time to escape! I lifted my arm to use my teleportation magic when I felt someone's fingers wrap around my wrist. I look behind me to see Su Hai standing there, smiling.
"Wah!" I jumped, "y-y-you're back so quickly," I blurted out. He chuckled and I felt him swing my body around. He held me close to him and my hand trembled from the sudden body contact. I felt his hand support my back as I grabbed onto his broad shoulder. People in this world was very sensitive to touch. They only touched people they were close with but... I barely knew this guy! Why was he doing this?
"The Crown Prince confirmed that his plans with you are true," he said as I saw playfulness dance in his eyes, "but he told me to bring you as a partner so you won't feel lonely waiting here all by yourself."
"Huh?! That's impo- uh... sir, I..." I tried to think up of any excuses to leave as I tried to push him back but he just continued to hold on to me not budging one bit, "uh..." if Hua Mi sees me at the celebration he will totally lecture me and ban me from drinking any of his wine... quick, quick, quick! Think of something, Que Hei Bin! "Sir!" I blurted out and smiled, "I-I-I would really l-l-like to go... b-b-but I-I-I don't want anyone to s-s-see my face! So... I don't think I can accompany you..." I wasn't lying. I watched for his reaction and he just smiled.
"No problem. I have a solution to that," he waved his hand over me and a hat appeared on my head. Wrapped around the hat was a turquoise, translucent, veil that hid my face. I looked down to see that I was also wearing a turquoise robe now that had elaborate designs of flowers sewn into it.
"T-this?" I looked at Su Hai and he just smiled as he took the wine bottles from my hand and they disappeared.
"Let's go," he wrapped his hand around my waist as he pushed me to walk beside him.
"S-sir!" I tried to push him off me but he was too strong.
"Listen," he whispered, "if anyone asks for your name you don't need to say anything. I will cover for you. Just in case I am not there just give them the answer you gave me, that you're a lowly diety not deserved to be named."
"Sir?"
"Shh, we're almost there," he hushed me as he continued to pull me along with him. Why did he tell me to not say anything? He's probably just also a nobody, right? Why is would anyone want to know who I am if I'm with him?
When we entered the courtyard, I thought he would let go of me but he continued to hold on.
"Sir?" I whispered but he didn't answer as he looked ahead of him. I looked around too to see everyone turning to face us.
"Congratulations on your 100,000th birthday, Crown Prince," they bowed and said. I took in a sharp breath as every part of my body stopped moving. Crown Prince? I turned my head to look at him and he just glanced down at me and smiled. My face grew extremely hot and I couldn't be more grateful at the veil. This man was the crown prince the whole time?! He tricked me?! This punk tricked me! Not only that, but he's also 90,100 years younger than me!
"Rise," his low voice echoed throughout the courtyard.
"Thank you, Crown Prince," the guests said as they made a way for him. He pushed me along with him as we sat at a table together with various food laid out in front of us. I looked among the crowd to see what looked to be Hua Mi's figure sitting further back and lowered my head a bit.
"I want to thank you all for coming to celebrate my birthday with me today," he said as I felt his hand lay on mine.
"It's only right that we come to celebrate your birthday with you, your highness," one of them said.
"That's right. You haven't had a banquet for your birthday in over 30,000 years. This is a rare occasion for us to attend. It will be inappropriate if we didn't show up when we received your invitation," another one commented.
"Still, you all took the time out of your day to come here. Thank you," he thanked them again.
"Crown Prince," a voice that sounded like it belonged to an older male called out, "I don't want to offend you but... may we know who is that lady sitting beside you?" he asked carefully.
"This lady," his hand went to my shoulder as he pulled me closer to him and my arm hit his chest, "she is a person of interest to me... but she is still too shy to reveal herself to the public so..." he stopped talking.
"Ah! We understand, Your Highness," the old man laughed, "if she is your person of interest then she must certainly be someone of high caliber," the old man commented. I squinted my eyes at Su Hai. What was this bizarre trickster saying? How could I be a person of interest to him? We just met today and he was already acting so friendly! How presumptuous!
"I hope you all understand and don't give her a hard time," he wrapped my arm around his as he knitted his fingers together with mine. I felt my face go red at this sudden intimacy that I hadn't experienced all these years. It was definitely not because I had feelings for him! It was just because it was so sudden!
"Yes. We understand," the old man replied.
"Good. Now then everyone, I drink a glass to all of you," I watched as Su Hai reached out for a small wine cup. He held it out in front of him and then downed it in one shot.
"And we drink to you," they all said as they raised their wine glass and downed it too. After that, they all started to chatter amongst themselves.
"Y-y-your Highness... I didn't mean to lie to you... I'm sorry," I tried to clarified. He downed another cup of wine. Ahh... I wanted to drink too! But... it would be hard to with this veil over my face. I stared at the wine cup and bit my lip before a piece of sweet bread appeared in front of my face. I turned to face Su Hai and he gave me a smile.
"Eat it," he ignored what I just said as he nodded his head towards it.
"I'm really sorry!" I said again but he just kept holding the bread in front of me without saying anything. I let out a sigh as took the bread. I tried to pull my other hand out of his so I could tear away at the bread and eat it in smaller pieces but he wouldn't let go as he only looked down at me. I furrowed my brows as I pulled him toward me so my lips were by his ear.
"Your Highness... if you do this, then I won't be able to eat," I whispered before pulling myself away. He leaned into my ear too and I flinched by surprise as I felt his breath on my neck through the translucent veil.
"Then, I will feed you," he whispered and I felt my face grew hot again. I looked on as his slender fingers pulled a piece of the bread off and he reached under the veil. He placed the bread in front of my mouth and I hesitated for a second, before opening my mouth and biting the bread, being careful not to bite his fingers. I didn't want to offend him by not eating it. I noticed a strange atmosphere in the room and turned my head to see that the crowd has stopped talking as they were now focused on us.
"Here," I turned to look at Su Hai who had another piece of bread by my mouth. I bit the piece of bread before putting down the bun in my hand as I leaned into him.
"I'm full," I said as I felt uncomfortable under the stare of all the people there.
"Really?" he raised an eyebrow and I nodded my head as I backed away from him.
"Haha, what an interesting lady," I heard the old man's voice say, "to be able to get the Heavenly Crown Prince to feed her, she must be an amazing woman!"
"That's right, she must be an amazing woman!" another voice chirped and I lower my head feeling embarrassed. The chattering continued as I heard laughter among them. Strangely, I could also feel some malicious glares directed my way by some females and even some males. I bit my lip trying to hide my nervousness. I felt Su Hai's hand clutch my hand with a tighter grip and I looked to see him looking down at me with gentle eyes.
"Don't be embarrassed. Don't be afraid. I'm right here," he reassured me. I turned to look away and I felt my cheeks heat up. Who did he think he was saying that? It was because of him that I'm in this situation in the first place! I turned my head away with him as I played with my sleeve.
"What's wrong?" I heard his voice by my ear and I turned back to look at him, "are you angry?" he leaned his head to one side but I could see the playfulness still dancing in his eyes.
"T-t-this... th-this one wouldn't dare to be angry at, Your Highness," I said.
"Su Hai."
"Huh?"
"Call me by my name, Su Hai. You don't need to call me by that formal name."
"Th-this one wouldn't dare."
"You would dare," he pulled me closer to him as my face landed on his hard chest and I felt his hand on my waist.
"Y-you," I tried to move back but he just pulled me closer to him. I heard the chattering beginning to quiet down again as the angry stares intesified and my cheeks were now hot enough to cook eggs on.
"If you don't, I won't let you go," he sounded way too happy.
"Are you threatening me?"
"I'm offering you a treaty,"
"Y-you!"
"Hmm?"
"Mmm..." I grumbled, "alright! S-s-su Hai... let me go," I whispered and his hand retreated from my waist back to my hand as I backed away. Trickster! Bully! I glared at him beneath the veil and he flashed me a smile which almost made me forgive him... no! Don't lose your focus, Que Hei Bin! Although his smile may look very nice... and it makes us feel really warm inside... he's probably just playing around with us! He's a playboy! That's right, he's just a playboy! If he wasn't the Celestial Crown Prince I would've punched him by now. I took in a deep breath to calm myself as I continued to play with my sleeve.
-
After everyone was done feasting, servants came in and took all the dishes away. People started to walk up and give their gifts to Su Hai, who thanked them courteously. When Hua Mi came up with his wine bottles I could almost smell the root wine that he had accidentally taken as he placed it in front of Su Hai, along with the fruits that he had picked.
"Congratulations, your highness," Hua Mi gave him a bow. I felt Su Hai's aura changed somehow.
"What is this?" he asked instead of just thanking Hua Mi like what he did to the other guests.
"This is my most finely brewed wine. I hope that your highness will enjoy this," Hua Mi explained.
"What did you use to brew this wine?" Su Hai's voice was cold as I almost shivered hearing it myself.
"Brew? Ah... I used various fruits and her-"
"Fruits?" Su Hai could literally cut someone with the way he said that.
"Y-your Highness," Hua Mi bowed his head.
"The last time I had your wine brewed with fruits..." Su Hai cocked his head to the side. I could see Hua Mi's eyes darting around as he was unsure to do. I bit my lip before I picked up one of the wine bottles and pulled the cap off. I dipped my finger inside and brought it behind the veil and tasted it. Hmm... oh yes... those roo- focus, Que Hei Bin! I turned to Su Hai and cleared my voice.
"I think Hu- this lord made a humble mistake. This wine is made from roots and it tastes very good," I dipped my finger in and then held it up to his mouth, "I think you will like it," I altered my voice so that Hua Mi wouldn't notice. Su Hai looked down at my finger and I noticed a sudden eerie silence looming over the courtyard.
"Oh!" I realized what I had just done and I pulled my hand back, "maybe we should pour it in a cu-" before I could finish Su Hai picked grabbed my hand. He brought it up to his mouth and I felt his wet tongue lick my pointer finger as his lips brushed against it. My heart was now beating uncontrollably and I felt my body temperature rise by a degree. I watched as Su Hai backed away and looked at me. He smiled and nodded his head.
"It's very delicious... thank you, Lord Hua Mi. Please return to your seat," Su Hai let go of my hand as it sprung back to me. I wiped my finger on my robe yet I could still feel the texture of his tongue there. What was this man doing?! I looked up to see him grinning at me and I wanted to punch that grin off his face.
"Your Highness," a soft female voice said. I turned to see a lady in a pink robe standing in front of us. Her pink robes draped off the edges of her shoulders showing a generous amount of her nicely shaped collarbone. I couldn't really see her features behind the veil but I could tell she was beautiful by the mood of the deities behind her.
"Ah," I let out a groan as I felt Su Hai's grip on my hand grow stronger that it almost hurt. I looked at his face to see him glaring at the lady in front of us. I frowned. Who was this lady and why was Su Hai this angry? What was going on?