Chapter 25: Princess and The Pea

"You!" Tianshi Xue snarled, the very best that she could with her skin itching. "You did this!"

Even in the dark, she saw Prince Qui raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you allergic to something?"

Tianshi Xue did not know what to answer as she did not know this body. "I don't know! Do I look like a doctor to you?"

Prince Qui's face went blank with her answer. She didn't need a doctor to know what she was allergic to. But she was a princess. Her meals might've been customized for her without her knowing all her life. He toed the sleeping Doctor Jung.

It took several tries before the Doctor's loud snoring was cut off and he bolted awake. It was a wonder how he slept through the princess' screaming.

"Is the princess allergic to something?"

Doctor Jung blinked at him a few times. "Her doctor is female and I didn't get a chance to look at her file and I didn't bring it with me."

Prince Qui sighed. "It looked like she was allergic to leaves or the petals. But she seemed fine while we were walking through the forest."

Doctor Jung only shrugged at him. "There's no way of knowing without pain at the moment, Your Highness. Better that you just keep her away from leaves and flowers for now."

Prince Qui felt the disappointment bloom inside his chest. He was actually thinking of making another pillow for the princess tomorrow. "Anything for her pain tonight? It's on her arms and face."

Doctor Jung was already rummaging through the heavy bag that the soldiers had carried for him. "This is virgin coconut oil. It'll help ease the redness and itch. But I don't have much. How long do you think we'll be staying here?"

Prince Qui did not know. He should've heard something by now on how the invasion was happening. But so far there was nothing. "I don't know yet."

Doctor Jung nodded. "In order to make this ointment, it takes three days."

Prince Qui already knew what he was saying. "I'll get right on it at daybreak."

Doctor Jung went back to his sleeping bag and Prince Qui went back to the shack. He looked away almost instantly when he saw that the princess pulled her neckline low to scratch it better. The mounds of her breasts were that easy to spot.

"Here," he said, looking away as he handed it to her. It was snatched from his hand. "I'll find you a better pillow by tomorrow."

The princess only gruff as an answer.

Prince Qui was almost at the door when she called him back only to toss the pillow back to him. When he got in his tent, he chose to sleep with his head out of the flap like the rest of his soldiers.

He tried the pillow behind his head and was surprised. She must've been sleeping nicely, he thought in dismay. The pillow was soft, almost like the ones inside the palace.

Feng suddenly voiced a concern. "If you're tired your body just shuts down, right?"

"Hmm," Bolin answered.

"The princess should've been able to sleep. Even though it's forced."

"It kind of reminds me of an ancient story about a princess and a pea. Have you heard of that?"

Prince Qui had heard of that story one too many times when he was little. In an effort to make him closer to his step-brothers, the Empress planned their schooling to be done together. In the breaks, she would read them fairytales.

Feng said, "I think I forgot about that."

"It was something about the princess straying to another kingdom and the queen did not believe that she was a princess and her way of knowing is that if she puts a pea on the bed, the princess should notice it. But the twist is, the queen piled a lot of mattress that the princess had to climb a ladder to get on the top. Then she put the pea in the very bottom. The following morning, the queen found out that she was really a princess because she noticed and had bruises all over her body."

Prince Qui did not recall the specifics of the story, but it went on that path.

Feng asked, "Are you saying that Princess Lin Yingyue is like the princess in the story?"

"Perhaps," Bolin shrugged. "I mean, she can't sleep in a bad environment. I think it's in her genes."

Prince Qui had to grin on that one.

"We have a prince here," Feng countered. "He sleeps just fine on the dirt. Don't you, General?"

The grin was immediately wiped off his lips. He did not sleep 'just fine'. He hardly slept at all. Thankfully, before he could answer, Aiguo already stepped into the conversation. "If neither of you are going to sleep, just stay awake and stand guard. I'd be more than willing to take your spot."

Silence ensued.

"Just one last thought," said Feng, "if your theory was true, then we really should find something else for the princess. Or else, her health would plummet and she would get sick. The emperor would have us dead before we could even get another foot in Heping."

Prince Qui only sighed and closed his eyes. He would find a solution. He always did.

Just then, an idea sprang in his mind, and he was too quick to squash the thoughts with his foot.

The idea involved him getting into the bed with the princess.

comment 0 comment

Vote

SEND GIFT

Load failed, please RETRY