“Who would’ve thought this little boy would be so impatient, what would his grandfather or great-grandfather say if they saw him like this. Sigh… age seems to have weakened my mindset slightly. What do you think, Old Mu?”

“... Replying to Your Majesty, I think it might be prudent to keep an eye on Windsaber Dao Lord for the time being. At least until he is out of the Dynasty’s territory.” The old man replied swiftly with a cautious tone. He seemed wary of outsiders hearing the conversation.

Silence was made for a few seconds, as if Ji Wangwei were in deep meditation. “Perhaps… very well, bring Tian’er to his bedroom and let him recuperate from the small shock. Prepare him well, for I need everything to be perfect with Hundred-life."

The eunuch bowed deeply before taking the apparently unconscious Ji Xitian and started carrying him out to the exit, but before he could step out of the grand hall, he stopped by hearing the Emperor’s words.

“Before you go,” Ji Wangwei paused briefly before continuing: “Tell Hundred-life to come see me first as soon as he arrives."

As the eunuch heard the order, his old face only nodded with a quick deep bow before seemingly vanishing from his spot.

Now all alone, Ji Wangwei was all smiles, his thoughts unknown to anyone watching him now. Only he knew what made him smile, or so he wanted to think.

A sudden frown appeared on his face as he looked up to the sky suddenly, and a sigh escaped from his mouth before he sent a mental command to someone.

…

..

.

“Wake him up in five minutes then. I’ll leave him in your care, Xiao.” Mu Shaodi said to the maid in front of him. Tall, voluptuous figure and a skin as pure as jade, as well as a smile that invited anyone to take a bite of her red lips. Wearing a maid vestiment, she could be described as a maid goddess of some sorts with only her looks.

Xiao bowed deeply and nodded and stood to the side of the bed patiently. The eunuch said nothing and disappeared in the spot, like he was some sort of ghost. The maid just looked to the floor while counting the time in her head, but still couldn’t help but steal some glances at Ji Xitian’s defenseless figure, snorting softly.

Her eyes seemed to gleam slightly, though it quickly faded. She remembered herself to do her job, but still some thoughts couldn’t stop from emerging, watching the almost divine figure in front of her. Being a child only makes him cuter than ever to her.

It didn’t help that they were both alone in the room and that it was the first time she was actually seeing the Crown Prince in person. Rumor had it that the Crown Prince was divine in simply anything, be it talent or appearance, but only now did she find out the rumors were actually not making justice to the poor, defenseless and asleep figure of Ji Xitian.

She bit her lips softly and quickly chanted a mudra in her mind, dispersing the fog that seemed to numb her by the second. Only… did she know that what she was feeling wasn’t provoked purely by her own desire, but was intentionally done by said defenseless figure on purpose.

Of course, Ji Xitian did not want to be violated. He was just pushing the boundaries of the maid’s desire to the raw limit he could afford with something as simple as actions. As he knew the maid paid full attention to his every move, even the way he breathed in and out, he took full advantage of it and, using his knowledge about the human body and how to manipulate it indirectly, he started exercising it at its fullest.

This move had several reasons, the most important one being testing the maid’s mental resilience. If she fell and tried to take the forbidden fruit, then he had no doubt her end would occur in a matter of seconds, as he was sure there were lots of people in this cage-like place watching him at every moment. But furthermore, it would prove that she isn’t worth his investment.

That’s right, Ji Xitian wanted to start investing in his own servants to have some advantages. All things considered, he needed to prepare his own forces at the earliest in order to start getting benefits, and as he knew… It all converged on whether he could get what he wanted, or not. As simple as that.

“No! Hold yourself, Xiao! The prince could wake up any moment and that’d end badly for you… I must resist this tribulation, no matter what!” He could vaguely hear the whispers of the young maid to the side of the bed.

A small smirk at the corner of his lips appeared, but the maid was too distracted by her own thoughts to notice it. Ji Xitian immediately capitalized the sudden moment of resolution of the maid and started improving his charisma towards her.

The effects were immediate. The maid’s face was red as a tomato for no reason, her hormones quickly shooting through the roof. Her breath became ragged and her sacred garden began twitching slightly.

She clenched her fists and teeth against one another and her eyes closed shut with all her force, chanting mudra after mudra to calm her mind. The air in the room seemed to be heavy, filled to the brim with pheromones and a weird odor started flowing through it.

Alas, the maid kept to herself with determination. She didn’t even move a single centimeter from her position, though shaking almost violently sometimes. Ji Xitian kept the intensity for a few seconds until he deemed it correct to stop the testing. For now.

The room fell quiet until finally the time was up and the maid, with a long mouth of air in and out, slowly walked to Ji Xitian and softly - almost mournfully - called him.

“Your Imperial Highness, please wake up."

No answer.

“Your Imper-” A hand from Ji Xitian was everything needed to make her stop. With a jolt, she jumped on her feet, staggering backwards.

“THUD!”

Falling to the ground, a small scratch could be found now on her left thigh. Trying to ignore the sudden pain, her mind was nowhere to be found now, full of chaos. The storm of conflicting emotions she felt just a few minutes ago were still deep inside her and now pain was the least she needed to feel.

Desperately chanting mudras in her mind, her eyes instinctively closed, she didn’t notice Ji Xitian standing from the bed and walking up to her, his small body barely any higher than hers with her current position.

Ignoring her confused yet clouded eyes, Ji Xitian softly grabbed her jaw with his miniature hand. Still no reaction.

‘Sigh, it seems it was a bit too much now, all things considered’, he thought with an indifference that made the maid subconsciously shudder slightly, and recovered her from the shock.

The force behind Ji Xitian’s grip was somewhat making her feel slight pain, though she didn’t dare move after being touched by the prince and kept still.

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“Xiao." His voice was strangely profound for someone of his age. She noted the hidden… compassion in his tone too. If she could call it compassion at all.

She only looked right through his eyes, finding courage out of nowhere. “I want you to be mine”, he said.

“I want you to take for yourself the oh-so-wanted forbidden fruit that everyone knows of, yet none can touch it due to their cowardness.”

He gave her no time to think things through. As the adage goes: ‘Strike while the iron is hot.'

“Will you take it, Xiao?” he seemed to wonder in a soft voice, his blue-sky eyes peering into her very soul. At this point, she was in a trance, as if hypnotized by his every action.

"..." She couldn't speak, her mind a complete disaster of chaotic thoughts.

“TAKETH IT!”

A burst of goosebumps invaded her whole spine at the sheer impact the order had on her. As though she was facing the command of the high heavens. Any listener could only obey the command, carrying absolute authority over her.

Her body moved on its own, her consciousness was only a spectator trapped in her mind, watching her body not listening to the rational subconscious voice screaming to stop!

And she could not stop it either!

Just before her lips touched his, Ji Xitian’s grip on her jaw suddenly became dozens of times more potent, immobilizing her head. She seemed to not notice his movements, nor did she seem to care even if she could.

“Swear it, Xiao. Swear to the Heavens that you’re my slave, for all of eternity. Mine!” His childish voice echoed through the silent room. As Xiao nodded her head and her lips parted once again…

“I… Xiao, swear to the high Heaven…”

“BOOOM!”

Thunder began roaring out of nowhere in the sky above the high firmament.

“That I shall… become…”

The dancing thunders above the sky intensified by a hundredfold when she uttered these words.

“The slave of Ji Xitian, obeying his… every order, and never to betray him…”

The roaring thunders multiplicated themselves furiously, as though they were overseeing something unforgiving.

“If I ever… betray Ji Xitian in… any way, shape or form, directly or indirectly… I- I shall have… my True Spirit perish, to… never, ever enter… the cycle of reincarnation."

The thunder exploded at the moment of completion. Lightning took the form of dragons and roared together, the sky shaking for a literal fraction of a second.

An ethereal eye seemed to pierce through the firmament, the space-time continuum shattered under its power.

Thy oath shall be fulfilled.

Something beyond her comprehension spoke to her very soul. Language made no difference to it, as she could understand its meaning perfectly.

The room felt a million times heavier than before, the sudden presence unknown to anyone making it impossible to think or for matter to continue its course.

Time itself, space itself and any dimension and the works of reality stopped making sense at the sudden voice.

It seemed as though nothing could escape being frozen.

And as suddenly as it happened, an invisible chain attached itself into an ethereal, circular-like form in another dimension, exactly at the center of Xiao’s body. The chain extended itself to attach into another figure with almost the same proportions as Xiao’s, but in Ji Xitian’s body.

After everything was done, reality started working again. As if nothing occurred, Xiao was suddenly thrown to the side by Ji Xitian, who had a smile as creepy and big as a demon’s. His child-like face was almost divided in half because of the horrible smile.

“Well well, Xiao, you indeed bit the forbidden fruit. Just not the fruit you thought you’d bite. And now, as your God, I shall punish your misbehaviours. Don’t you think? Huhu!”

His voice sounded almost demonic. His flushed out face almost became distorted, before he suddenly and instantly stopped himself. The raw feelings of power he felt coursing through his veins was nothing but an illusion - he stopped himself one more time, taking a breath - and as such, he must regain his bearings and keep the act. He seemed to wake up from a dream.

Quickly shifting his movements, he seemed to be another person completely. “Xiao, are you okay?!”

He asked with feigned nervousness and anxiety. Not that she could tell, of course.

“Of course Mast-” A look of Ji Xitian was enough to stop her from saying what she was about to say.

“What?” he practically spit out.

“Your Imperial Highness, of course I am okay! I- I beg for your forgiveness for showing such a lamenting scene!” She quickly and calmly replied again.

Of course she knew now, with her mind feeling a lot clearer than before, and the hatred she felt, that she had to play this demon’s games.

Had she known of her fate, she’d never ever step in this hell-like place, even if it cost her life or her family’s. But… here she was, fooled by a child. The mere thought of what she did scared her out of her wits. She, as a commoner, did not truly know the meaning of what she said. But… she instinctively somehow knew the gravity of what she’d done.

Of what she was forced to do. Cursing and muttering every curse she knew to the demon that was looking up to her, she couldn’t help but shiver again.

“Thank Heavens, I thought you were about to pass out for a second there! I’m glad you’re okay. Now, let’s not waste more time, wash me up clean so I can prepare for the Daoist’s visit to the imperial palace. Quick, quick!” He childishly said, seemingly mocking her to make one wrong move.

She hated it. She hated him. Each passing second she looked at him, remembering what she just said and what he made her fall into, she felt her blood boiling in pure rage. But as she was about to refuse him… Pain, unbearable pain struck her right there, even when her thoughts hadn’t even formed fully!

As though something had her life and death at the whim of others!

Just like that, she lowered her head and walked behind the child in front of her. Her eyes seemingly lost light, her thoughts unknown.

As she was, she couldn’t possibly see a slight smile in Ji Xitian’s face.

‘Truly, a masterful class in deceit. I wonder what those old monsters of the dynasty that were watching are thinking after she said the first part.'

‘Still… caution is of high priority. Their vigilance might increase towards me, which could mean another disadvantage. Though, my theory was confirmed with just this much, so I don’t need to worry.'

‘And of course, as I calculated, she fell for it completely. Heh, is this how God felt when He watched Adam and Eve eating from the forbidden fruit?’ A soft chuckle escaped his mouth at the thought.

‘As expected, when someone is presented to take a bite from the forbidden, they either refuse the chance and are prohibited for all of eternity from it, or…’ He slightly looked behind, at the depressed yet furious figure of Xiao, with an inquisitive glint flashing in his blue-sky eyes resembling rubies of some kind.

‘They take it for themselves and are forever bound to continue eating its never-ending content. What a wonderful two-side coin.’

Shaking his head slightly, he kept walking towards the bathroom with a smile on his compassionate face, eyes like a crescent moon in a fragrant sunless night.

‘As they would have said back then; either take the bite, or not all’.

And so the pieces began moving on the board, their finale unknown.

Equally unknown beings believed they were the ones playing at this game.

Alas, none knew the truth.

Who was a player in the grandeur of this perilous board encompassing boundless mysteries?

Only the high heavens knew.

…

..

.

Or did it not?