After Accidentally Marking the Cold and Elegant Eldest Princess - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Your Likeness

Their skin pressed together beneath the water, Yuan Jingxue sat in Yan Yunti’s embrace with her legs parted. Having recovered slightly, she felt a surge of shame and indignation seeing Yan Yunti’s face full of smiles.

Facing each other in such a posture, Yuan Jingxue, in a fit of pique, leaned down and bit Yan Yunti’s left shoulder.

Yan Yunti let out a soft hiss but did not push her away. She allowed Yuan Jingxue to bite her left shoulder hard until the woman’s anger subsided. Turning her head to look, she saw two rows of bloody teeth marks on her left shoulder, a testament to the extent of the Eldest Princess’s fury.

Despite the pain, Yan Yunti didn’t forget to tease her with a smile: “Does this count as a mark Your Highness has left on me?”

With blood staining her lips, the beauty possessed a different kind of charm.

“Your Highness, is my blood sweet?” Yan Yunti continued to ask, her smile unchanging.

Yuan Jingxue was too weary even to scold her. She pressed her hand against the wound on Yan Yunti’s left shoulder, her face—still carrying the flush of spring—turning cold. “Yan Yunti, do you even know how to write the word ‘restraint’?”

Yuan Jingxue emphasized the word “restraint” heavily.

“I do,” Yan Yunti said as she moved the Princess’s hand away, washing the blood from her palm with the bathwater, her expression candid. “I know it, but I don’t want to do it. Didn’t Physician Xu instruct us? Right now, we should prioritize our bodies’ feelings. Could it be that Your Highness submerged yourself in the water just now… for the sake of restraint?”

“It has nothing to do with you,” Yuan Jingxue replied coldly, pulling her hand back.

Yan Yunti felt she was eighty percent correct. She pressed her palms against Yuan Jingxue’s lower back, her fingertips grinding lightly as she asked, “How does Your Highness feel? Is it comfortable, or distressing?”

Yuan Jingxue shifted her waist forward slightly, increasing the distance from the palms at her back, but this only caused their fronts to press closer. She could not endure even a hint of touch right now; she was caught in a dilemma of moving forward or backward and certainly didn’t want to answer the Qianyuan’s question. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying,” Yan Yunti pressed her palms forward and leaned her body in, leaving the woman nowhere to hide, “Life is short, so seek pleasure while you can. Why make things difficult for yourself? Your Highness, you must learn to enjoy.”

The afterglow had not yet faded before a new thirst surged up.

Yuan Jingxue lowered her eyes and couldn’t help but look at the Qianyuan, her gaze complex. “And you? Do you not find it difficult at all?”

This was only their fourth meeting. She didn’t understand how Yan Yunti could go to such lengths. Was it the influence of the Dependency Period? Or was she naturally this decadent and unrestrained?

“Why should I find it difficult?” Yan Yunti asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Though I am serving Your Highness, my body and mind truly feel pleasure. If Your Highness feels uncomfortable and cannot fully enjoy it, then it is because I haven’t done well enough. It should be I who reflects and learns, rather than forcing Your Highness to exercise restraint.”

The conversation looped back to the topic of “comfort.”

That wasn’t Yuan Jingxue’s original intent, but seeing Yan Yunti discussing it so earnestly—and knowing this wouldn’t be a one- or two-time occurrence—she remained silent for a few breaths before voicing her thoughts: “I do not like that sense of losing control. It is too intense… like losing all support, with nothing to hold onto.”

Yuan Jingxue had been taught to maintain control since childhood. The innate aggression of a Qianyuan made her feel that the situation was veering toward chaos. While not exactly unpleasant, there was a core of resistance in her heart.

“Losing control? Does Your Highness mean the moment of reaching the peak?” Yan Yunti asked, trying to understand.

Yuan Jingxue did not deny it.

“But…” Yan Yunti looked as if she were hesitating to speak.

Yuan Jingxue sensed the words following would be outrageous, but she didn’t stop her: “Speak.”

“I think,” Yan Yunti whispered, “Your Highness’s appearance at that moment doesn’t look like you’re uncomfortable.”

Face flushed, eyes brimming with tears—a sight that inspired pity and tenderness. And after every period of “empty haze,” she could feel Yuan Jingxue’s entire body relax… No, the problem lay in that specific moment.

Yan Yunti suddenly had a flash of inspiration and realized: “Is it because I didn’t give Your Highness time to react? Is that why, when you suddenly crested, the sense of losing control was so overwhelming?”

Her personality was somewhat mischievous; both times at the final moment, she had suddenly accelerated, catching the other off guard.

Yuan Jingxue thought back to her previous experiences. Since things had come to this, there was no point in being coy. “Perhaps, but I cannot be certain.”

Her proactive provocation of the Qianyuan earlier was meant to see if taking charge would lessen the feeling of losing control. Who would have thought Yan Yunti would act that way?

Both were novices; no amount of discussion would yield a definitive result.

Yan Yunti decided to try an experiment. She placed her hands on both sides of Yuan Jingxue’s waist, gripping slightly. “How about we try once more? This time, I will definitely go slowly. I’ll wait until Your Highness is ready, and then we’ll go together, alright?”

After the talk, Yuan Jingxue had recovered. She saw the Qianyuan’s eagerness. After a moment of hesitation, her red lips parted to utter four words: “The very last time.”

“Alright!” Yan Yunti immediately agreed.

Yan Yunti held Yuan Jingxue’s waist, gently lifting and lowering her. Water splashed in the tub, the sound of the colliding current constant.

Yuan Jingxue pressed her lips tight. Being so slow was, conversely, somewhat difficult to endure. Her hands, submerged in the water, had nothing to hold, so she simply pressed them onto Yan Yunti’s shoulders, her right hand avoiding the wound on the left shoulder. Her gaze wandered, unsure of where to land, until eventually, somehow, it settled on Yan Yunti’s face.

The girl was flushed to her ears, her gaze lingering where it shouldn’t, her expression revealing a sense of ease and joy. Those phoenix eyes had become even more soul-stirring.

Yuan Jingxue’s throat moved slightly, and she suddenly asked: “Yan Yunti, has anyone ever seen you like this before?”

“Eh?” A layer of sweat broke out on Yan Yunti’s forehead. She paused slightly, not quite understanding. “Like what?”

Yuan Jingxue’s fingertip stroked the corner of her eye. “Beautiful brows and bright eyes, a tender and graceful posture… tell me, what likeness is this?”

Yan Yunti realized what she meant. She pressed the woman into her embrace, their noses touching. “Your likeness.” Having said that, she kissed her.

She didn’t forget to grip the woman’s waist as she kissed.

When her shoulders were pushed back, Yan Yunti released her. Listening to the woman’s low panting, she explained: “There is no one else. Your Highness is the first person to see me this way.”

Yuan Jingxue looked up, a shallow mist already rising in her eyes.

Yan Yunti continued: “Likewise, Your Highness’s state just now… only I have seen it, yes?”

The mist in Yuan Jingxue’s eyes deepened. She didn’t respond to Yan Yunti’s words, her fingertips digging into Yan Yunti’s shoulders. Her nails were trimmed round; this amount of force wasn’t enough to hurt.

Yan Yunti asked again: “Your Highness, is it so?”

Yuan Jingxue knew her persistent nature—she wouldn’t give up without an answer. Her lips parted slightly, her breathing unsteady as a soft “Mm” was squeezed from her throat.

A smile ignited in Yan Yunti’s eyes. She lifted Yuan Jingxue’s waist and whispered in her ear: “Wait for me a moment, Your Highness. It will be quick.”

The two were out of sync; Yan Yunti was a bit slower, and since she had promised they would go together, she naturally couldn’t go back on her word.

Splash.

Yan Yunti carried the woman out of the water. The bathwater was no longer hot; soaking further would be bad for the health. She unfolded the large bath towel, wrapping Yuan Jingxue entirely, then took another dry, long cloth to wrap Yuan Jingxue’s long hair, ensuring no water would drip and wet her body.

A set of clean sleeping robes was prepared in the bathhouse. The set Yan Yunti had been wearing was impossible to put back on; it was soaked through.

Yuan Jingxue glanced at them, hesitated slightly, then said, “You wear them. Then go to the inner chamber and bring another set.”

Sleeping robes were different from outer garments; this set was something Yuan Jingxue wore close to her skin. But she had exhausted herself today and had little strength left; she didn’t want to walk much, so she had to let Yan Yunti help.

Yan Yunti picked up the white sleeping robes. The fabric was exceptionally soft and form-fitting. She wondered if it was her imagination, but the robes seemed to carry the Princess’s scent.

The two were similar in build, with Yan Yunti being only slightly taller than Yuan Jingxue, so the robes weren’t ill-fitting. Except… they were a bit loose around the chest.

Yan Yunti swept the memory from her mind. Once dressed, she looked at her own soaking-wet inner robes. Before she could speak, Yuan Jingxue said: “Leave them there. Bawei and the others will handle them.”

“Alright then.” Yan Yunti turned toward Yuan Jingxue.

Yuan Jingxue was resting on the daybed. Seeing her approach, she frowned slightly. “You…”

Yan Yunti drew close, wrapped the woman in another layer with the white fox fur, and bent down to pick her up in a horizontal carry. Her eyes curved as she smiled: “Rest assured, Your Highness, I’m just carrying you back. You are naturally cold-natured; I wouldn’t want you to wait here and catch a chill.”

Given how hot the floor heating had been today, it wasn’t surprising Yan Yunti knew she was cold-natured.

Being held steadily, Yuan Jingxue’s gaze inevitably fell on Yan Yunti’s profile. She thought that perhaps Yan Yunti was a bit better than she had imagined—knowing how to reflect in time, and knowing how to take care of someone afterward.

She wasn’t… entirely “wicked.”