After Accidentally Marking the Cold and Elegant Eldest Princess - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Beyond Endurance

Yan Yunti carried Yuan Jingxue ashore and placed the drenched woman onto the daybed. Just as she moved to create a little distance, Yuan Jingxue gripped her collar tight, her breath fanning against the side of Yan Yunti’s neck. Her voice was low and faint: “Don’t move.”

Yan Yunti’s heart hammered like a drum. In her downward gaze, she saw Yuan Jingxue’s increasingly crimson gland and smelled the wisps of fragrance radiating from her. Understanding the situation perfectly, she raised her hand to press lightly against the small of Yuan Jingxue’s back, giving her some support. “Is Your Highness… is the Rain and Dew period here?”

The body turning cold and the gland flushing with heat were unmistakable signs.

Yuan Jingxue closed her eyes, her nose pressing against the side of Yan Yunti’s neck. The craving for the Qianyuan’s scent within her had reached its peak; she stopped hiding it. “Release your pheromones.”

“Alright,” Yan Yunti replied. She controlled the gland at the back of her neck, slowly releasing her scent. The frigid aura clung to the Kunze’s body, causing her to shudder slightly—whether from the cold or something else, it was hard to say.

Yan Yunti: “Your Highness, take off these wet clothes.”

She was already suffering from body chill; wearing these soaking wet garments would only make her more uncomfortable.

Yuan Jingxue did not want to let go. She had endured too much today; once she let go, she wouldn’t want to hide anything anymore. Leaning weakly in the Qianyuan’s embrace, she whispered, “I swam for too long. You… help me.”

As Yuan Jingxue spoke, her lips brushed inadvertently against the side of Yan Yunti’s neck.

Yan Yunti’s heart skipped a beat, her nose filled entirely with the Kunze’s scent. She pressed her tongue against her canines, suppressing the urge to bite. “Alright.” She reached out to pull the tie at Yuan Jingxue’s waist, removing the soaked inner robe and tossing it casually onto the floor.

A bath towel had been prepared by the daybed. Yan Yunti unfolded the large towel and wrapped the woman from head to toe, meticulously wiping away the water droplets. Her movements weren’t exactly proper; her fingertips pressed against many places through the towel, but they didn’t linger.

Yuan Jingxue leaned in her arms, her breathing shallow and ragged, yet she said nothing. Only their scents merged and harmonized in the humid air, silently blending into a sweet, cloying fragrance that enveloped them both.

“Your Highness, I also need to change,” Yan Yunti reminded her in a low voice, her heavy breath brushing against the woman’s neck after she finished drying her.

Only then did Yuan Jingxue remember the injury on the girl’s left shoulder. Her slender white wrist emerged from the towel to untie Yan Yunti’s front, removing the soaked gauze. Her gaze landed on the wet wound—the gold-sore ointment had indeed worked well; after one night, the wound had healed significantly and looked much less swollen. It seemed there was no major issue.

“Go get your inner robe,” Yuan Jingxue said, pulling the towel tight to cover her front.

Yan Yunti gave a light “Mm” but didn’t move. She reached out to catch a corner of the towel on Yuan Jingxue’s body, looking at her. “Will Your Highness not help me dry off as well?”

A spark of reason returned to Yuan Jingxue. Unwilling to continue as they were, she looked away. “Go get another towel. I have no strength.”

“I want to use the towel on Your Highness,” Yan Yunti said directly. She took Yuan Jingxue’s wrist and placed her hand against her own chest. “If Your Highness has no strength, I can lend mine to you.”

Yuan Jingxue couldn’t break free. Her hand was grasped by the Qianyuan, clutching her own towel, helping the girl dry her body bit by bit. The towel on her own body was pulled wider and wider. Yan Yunti’s gaze was uninhibited, looking directly at her; she did nothing, simply watching silently, her gaze feeling almost physical as it touched every part of Yuan Jingxue.

The Kunze’s scent grew even thicker.

Yan Yunti couldn’t help herself. She pulled Yuan Jingxue by the waist and took a deep breath at the back of her neck. The magnolia fragrance filled her lungs. Yan Yunti’s own scent released even more. She held her, inhaling again and again, her lips hovering teasingly close to the Kunze gland, yet she made no move. Finally, she even let go and stood up. “I’ll go get the clothes.”

Yuan Jingxue sat there stunned, watching the Qianyuan walk further and further away through her blurred, watery vision. For a moment, she had hoped the girl would bite down, but Yan Yunti had done nothing—her restraint was unexpected.

Waves of chill radiated from her body while the back of her neck continued to heat up. Yuan Jingxue couldn’t take it; caught between the cold and heat, she curled up on the daybed.

When Yan Yunti returned and saw this, she strode forward, tossed the fresh robes aside, and gathered the woman into her arms. “Do you want to try a massage?”

Yuan Jingxue’s body instinctively sought her out. Her face rubbed against the girl’s chest involuntarily, and a soft “Mm” escaped her throat. It was unclear if she was answering the question or simply humming because the contact felt good.

Seeing the dependence and closeness, Yan Yunti’s heart leaped with joy, only to be suppressed by her logic. “Then I’ll begin.” Her fingers touched the gland at the back of Yuan Jingxue’s neck; the moment they made contact, she realized it was too hot.

It was like a soft pastry fresh out of the steamer—hot and tender. A gentle press felt as if it could squeeze out the sweet filling inside, and it made the woman in her arms tremble incessantly.

This was different from usual. Yan Yunti had seen long ago that Yuan Jingxue was the type to endure everything; whether it was her body’s reactions or the soft moans from her throat, they were only forced out when she was pushed to the absolute brink. Usually, her reactions were faint and suppressed.

Now, however, she couldn’t stop shaking—it was impossible to tell if it was from the cold or the massage on her gland.

“It doesn’t seem to be working,” Yan Yunti frowned slightly. Her hand remained against Yuan Jingxue’s back, and she felt the woman’s body getting colder, while the gland grew hotter under her touch. It was as if she were being pushed toward two extremes.

Yan Yunti stopped the massage and asked softly, “Your Highness, do you feel any better?”

The internal chill was tearing at her reason. Yuan Jingxue looked up at her. Through the mist in her eyes, she first saw Yan Yunti’s pale pink lips. She couldn’t help but raise her hand to press lightly against the peak of the girl’s lips. “Use this… inject your scent.”

This was the final resort.

Yan Yunti pulled her even tighter into her embrace, pressing, “Does Your Highness want a massage, or a marking?”

The tide within her was surging, beyond endurance. Yuan Jingxue straightened slightly, her lips lightly brushing against Yan Yunti’s. Her voice was barely audible: “Either.”

“Alright, I will listen to Your Highness.” Yan Yunti’s lips brushed over the woman’s soft, cold mouth. She lowered her head, her lips covering the burning gland at the back of the neck. Using her lips as fingers, she began a gentle massage, accompanied by the release of pheromones between her teeth. She enveloped the Kunze gland, letting the scent permeate through the softest skin, trying to convert the heat of the gland into the heat of the body.

The Qianyuan’s scent was everywhere, inside and out. As the pheromones merged bit by bit, Yuan Jingxue experienced the true arrival of the Rain and Dew period. It was entirely different from her previous experiences; the internal chill melted away, and the feelings she had ignored and suppressed rose like ocean waves. She felt as if she were soaking in the hot spring, slowly sinking, yet also as if she were being held over a fire, her whole body uncomfortably hot.

The only thing she could grasp—and must grasp—was the Qianyuan before her.

Yuan Jingxue wrapped her arms around Yan Yunti’s waist. The towel slipped from her shoulders, and she pressed her front against the girl. In her trembling voice, there was a plea she didn’t even notice: “A-Yun.”

Yan Yunti felt the string of her reason snap at that sound. She suppressed her urges, her lips leaving the Kunze gland. She looked into those misty, slender phoenix eyes and pressed her thumb against the woman’s soft lower lip. “What did Your Highness call me?”

Water overflowed from Yuan Jingxue’s eyes, turning into tears that fell from the corners. Between her parted lips, she called out even more softly: “A-Yun… You are… A-Yun.”

A beauty in tears, speaking soft words—it was like the secret whispers of lovers. Deep in the Rain and Dew period, the Eldest Princess had lost her reason, yet she remembered that the girl was A-Yun. That repeated name kept Yan Yunti’s sanity stretched to the breaking point.

Yan Yunti leaned down and kissed away the tear. She reached out to pull the pale pink dress from the edge of the bed; the neatly folded garment became a mess under her tug. She draped the outer robe over Yuan Jingxue’s rounded shoulders, carefully helping her dress. “Your Highness is weak; you should put on clothes first.”

The outer robe and skirt were put on one by one, covering the woman’s flushed skin, yet it only made her more impossible to look away from.

Yan Yunti looked at the fully dressed Princess in her arms, her phoenix eyes turning red with restraint. She pulled the woman into her lap, sitting her with legs apart. Her fingertips touched the woman’s burning cheek, and her voice became even softer: “What does Your Highness want A-Yun to do?”

“I…” Yuan Jingxue knitted her brows. After a moment’s thought, she gripped Yan Yunti’s hand that was against her face and moved it toward the back of her neck. Her lips parted slightly: “A-Yun, bite… me.”

There was no coldness, no command—only an increasing air of piteousness.

Yan Yunti pressed her thumb against the Kunze gland. Seeing the tears shimmering in the woman’s eyes, she answered softly, “Alright.” A moment later, the gland was pierced by the Qianyuan’s canines, and the scent of cedar completely overwhelmed the magnolia fragrance.

The pheromones of the Kunze and Qianyuan merged tightly, creating a cloying sweetness that grew thicker, entwining around them as if they were deep in a spring flower thicket.

Yan Yunti’s reason was in peril. She didn’t want to lose her mind like last time; she forced herself to release her lips and looked at the pink-clad beauty leaning against her. If they were truly in a flower thicket, then Yuan Jingxue would be the most beautiful, most dazzling pink peony.

“Your Highness,” Yan Yunti called softly. The person in her arms let out a light hum in response, her eyes fixed on the girl’s blood-stained lips. She whispered again: “A-Yun…” She seemed to remember nothing but that name.

Yan Yunti saw her intent. Instead of advancing, she retreated, leaning back until her waist rested against the jade pillow on the daybed. Looking at the dazed beauty in pink, she guided her: “What does Your Highness want to do?”

“I…” Yuan Jingxue was barely able to think. She wanted to move forward, but Yan Yunti raised her right leg, pushing her forward. Beneath the layers of skirts, Yan Yunti’s right leg pressed tight against her; the wide hem hid everything, including the Kunze’s small movements.

“Your Highness,” Yan Yunti spoke again, her smile becoming more seductive. “I am right here. As long as you want it, you can do anything.”