After Accidentally Marking the Cold and Elegant Eldest Princess - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Coveting the Breath

The surface of the hot spring undulated with ripples as the heat seeped inward through the skin.

Yuan Jingxue had never felt this hot before. She was naturally prone to body chill, especially during her Rain and Dew period. Today was the first time she vividly perceived the combined sensation of internal and external heat during this time; it was so intense that a thin layer of sweat broke out on her forehead. Straddling the Qianyuan’s lap, she felt as if she were being scorched by a raging fire.

Yan Yunti gripped both sides of her waist, kissing her drenched eyelashes. “I like A-Xue’s eyelashes.”

Yuan Jingxue’s lashes trembled as she opened her eyes to look at her, her gaze overflowing with moisture.

Yan Yunti smiled and kissed her eyelids, one on the left and one on the right, her lips lingering at the corner of the eye. As she spoke, her breath swept entirely across Yuan Jingxue’s features: “I like A-Xue’s eyes—cold and sharp, yet looking at me brimming with watery affection. I like it very much.”

Yuan Jingxue pursed her lips in silence. Affection? Was there truly affection in her eyes at this moment?

How could that be possible?

Yan Yunti continued to kiss downward, moving across the tip of her nose, her cheeks, and her lips. She didn’t stay long in any one spot, and after each kiss, she would say “I like it” or “I like it very much.”

The words Yuan Jingxue remembered saying earlier were being drawn out by the girl’s guidance. She knew Yan Yunti was doing it on purpose—intentionally reenacting what she had just done before her eyes. Every “I like” brought a sense of shame, annoyance, and regret, yet it seemed those weren’t the only emotions.

Her heart, too, seemed to be heating up along with her body.

Was it the influence of the Rain and Dew period?

Yan Yunti raised her right hand to grasp Yuan Jingxue’s left hand, which was resting on her right shoulder. Her lips pressed against every single finger while she kept her eyes on Yuan Jingxue. “A-Xue’s hands are also beautifully slender, fair and soft. If they were coated in fragrant balm, it would surely tempt one to taste them thoroughly.” Even without the balm, they could be tasted.

Yuan Jingxue wanted to look away, but the current Qianyuan possessed a fatal attraction, as if she could steal one’s soul. Her gaze could not move, watching Yan Yunti kiss the back of her fingers, the pads, and her palm, whispering “I like it” against her skin.

The Qianyuan’s face drew even closer. Her lips followed the inside of her left arm upward until they returned to the side of her neck. Holding her, Yan Yunti inhaled her scent deeply and uttered that same phrase: “I like… your scent.”

Her heartbeat became chaotic, like a tangled mess of thoughts that could neither be sorted out nor explained.

“Your Highness, may I kiss the marks you left?” A familiar, intimate inquiry sounded by her ear.

Right before Yuan Jingxue’s eyes was the tooth mark she had bitten into Yan Yunti’s left shoulder. Because her hand was resting on the girl’s shoulder, the wound was flecked with droplets of water, creating a sense of thirst in whoever looked at it.

Her mind was incapable of weighing what was proper. By the time Yuan Jingxue reacted, her lips had already covered it. She slowly sipped away the spring water lingering on Yan Yunti’s left shoulder, thinking to herself: I’ll just keep pretending.

Deceiving the Qianyuan, and deceiving herself.

As if hearing her thoughts, Yan Yunti pulled back slightly, letting the spring water fill the gap between them. She looked at her and said, word by word: “But what I like most is Your Highness’s voice—clear and cold like spring water flowing through the heart. Especially… when you call my name.”

Yuan Jingxue restrained herself from drawing closer, pursing her lips and remaining silent.

Yan Yunti pressed her palm against the small of her back, pushing the woman back toward her, looking perplexed: “Why does Your Highness no longer call me A-Yun? You liked calling me A-Yun most just now. Could it be…”

The Qianyuan looked thoughtful.

Yuan Jingxue suppressed a low hum in her throat. At this moment, even knowing that this sentence was a blatant trap, she had to step into it. Her lips parted slightly to let out that low call: “A-Yun.”

She couldn’t even mimic her own previous tone; a hint of faint coldness was hidden beneath the deliberately gentle cadence. It wasn’t like before, when every “A-Yun” seemed coated in honey.

Yan Yunti heard the difference. She stroked her lips and shook her head: “Not right.”

She didn’t say what was not right, so Yuan Jingxue assumed it was the intonation. She was annoyed by Yan Yunti’s intentionality but didn’t want to expose everything at this moment. She softened her tone once more: “A-Yun, I…” She hesitated, her brows lightly furrowing as if she didn’t understand what was wrong.

A smile spread through Yan Yunti’s eyes. She pressed against the Kunze’s lips. “No rush. My A-Xue can think about it slowly; you’ll surely figure it out.” Having said that, she gave her no time to think, kissing her until her mind went blank and her fingernails dug into the girl’s shoulders before finally letting go.

“Has Your Highness figured it out?” Yan Yunti asked, kissing the tip of her nose and cheeks one by one.

Yuan Jingxue was enveloped by her aura. The hint was obvious, but… she remained silent, as if she didn’t understand.

“No rush, I’ll remind Your Highness once more.” Yan Yunti pressed against her lips again.

After several “reminders,” each longer than the last, Yuan Jingxue covered the girl’s lips with her hand. Her eyes were shimmering with tears, making her look increasingly piteous. Her full, moist lips parted, finally uttering the words: “My… A-Yun.”

The brief pause almost prevented the four words from being linked together.

Yan Yunti couldn’t suppress her smile. She kissed the Kunze’s lips. “Your Highness is truly… cute.”

Yuan Jingxue frowned. She didn’t understand what was “cute” about her.

After leaving the hot spring, Yuan Jingxue kept her eyes closed.

Yan Yunti used another dry bath towel to wrap her and wipe her from head to toe, then helped her into a clean inner robe. As for herself, she used the towel Yuan Jingxue had just used to wipe herself off carelessly and then wrapped it around her body. Feeling no embarrassment at all, she carried the woman back to the inner chamber and placed her gently on the bed, asking: “Your Highness, may I borrow a set of your undergarments and inner robe? I brought too few clothes; I didn’t expect to soak through two outfits today.”

Yuan Jingxue wanted to say no—the clothes she brought had all been worn by her—but looking at the Qianyuan’s state, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. She turned to face the wall. “In the wardrobe.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Yan Yunti replied with a smile. She picked out a set of undergarments and an inner robe to change into. The undergarment strings could be tied tightly enough to fit, and Yan Yunti found them incredibly comfortable.

The Eldest Princess’s clothes were fragrant and soft; they were simply delightful.

It was now past noon, and neither of them had eaten. Yan Yunti put on an outer robe and went to instruct Bawei to prepare lunch. When she returned and saw the woman’s steady breathing, she removed her outer robe, shoes, and socks to carefully climb onto the bed. Just as her hand was about to rest on the other’s waist, she heard a cold voice: “What are you doing?”

Yan Yunti had been hesitating, but hearing this, she placed her hand directly on Yuan Jingxue’s waist and hugged her from behind. “I’m afraid Your Highness’s body chill will flare up again, so I thought it best to stay by your side at all times.”

Yuan Jingxue’s eyes felt heavy. Her stamina was indeed poor; after so much exertion, she was profoundly drowsy and didn’t even want to eat lunch. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Sleep then, Your Highness. I’ll stay with you.” Yan Yunti tucked in the quilt, showing no intention of leaving. Even if she had told her to leave, the girl probably wouldn’t have gone.

Exhausted, Yuan Jingxue didn’t want to argue and simply let her be. Though the Qianyuan had “wicked intentions,” she was also practical and knew when to be well-behaved.

Yuan Jingxue thought she would sleep for a long time, but when she woke, only half an hour had passed. She had turned over at some point, her hand resting on Yan Yunti’s waist and her body nestled in Yan Yunti’s embrace. Waking up peacefully, she found her fatigue completely gone. It was a state of mental relaxation she had never experienced during previous Rain and Dew periods; her whole body felt lazy, and she didn’t quite want to get up.

Yan Yunti’s scent made her feel very secure.

Thinking of this with her sluggish post-sleep mind, Yuan Jingxue suddenly snapped alert. Was she so influenced by the Rain and Dew period that she had developed a craving for the Qianyuan’s breath?

“Your Highness is awake?” Yan Yunti felt the movement in her arms and looked down, unexpectedly meeting a face filled with icy expression. She froze for a second. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing.” Yuan Jingxue released the Qianyuan’s waist and sat up. “I have some matters to attend to shortly. If you have nothing else, go back to the side hall to rest.”

“Is Your Highness certain?” Being treated so coldly, Yan Yunti felt a bit uncomfortable. The Princess’s face changed way too fast. Her tone flattened. “I’ve read in books that a Kunze’s Rain and Dew period comes and goes in cycles. Is Your Highness driving me away now with the intention of coming to invite me personally later?”

This was a blatant threat.

A Qianyuan has a temper; Yuan Jingxue had known this for a long time, but she was never good at coaxing people, nor did she feel she had done anything wrong. Some cravings should never be allowed to grow.

“Bawei will bring your lunch to the side hall,” Yuan Jingxue said faintly.

“Fine. I understand.” Yan Yunti stood up with a cold face, dressed herself, and left without looking back.

This was a matter of mutual consent; if the Princess didn’t want to be close, why should she keep pushing her warm face against a cold wall? The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she got. When she was needed, it was “A-Yun” this and “I like” that, but when she wasn’t needed, she was met with a cold face, as if the woman wished she were transparent.

Truly the Eldest Princess—always cold-hearted and unfeeling.

The lunches brought into both the main and side halls were taken back out almost untouched. Yan Yunti stayed in the side hall all afternoon without stepping a foot out, idly flipping through some storybooks she had brought. The more she read, the more boring they seemed. Other people were having “fish and water joys” in the books, while she was being treated coldly in reality. What was there to see?

Yan Yunti tossed the book aside and sat at the desk. She spread out a sheet of white paper, thought for a moment, and began to draw. Before she knew it, the sky outside had darkened. Yan Yunti lit a candle and continued drawing. A stack of papers had piled up beside her, showing various poses—clearly the details of her physical strengthening exercises.

Knock, knock. There was a knock at the door.

Yan Yunti’s heart skipped a beat. She stopped her brush, went to the door, and opened it to see Bawei. Her expression flattened. “What is it?”

“Miss He, please go see Her Highness,” Bawei said anxiously. She knew the two must have had a disagreement, but she couldn’t ask. She could only exaggerate Yuan Jingxue’s condition. “Her Highness’s headache and body chill have flared up together. She’s in great pain but refuses to go to the hot spring. I truly cannot persuade her…”

Before she could even finish, the person before her vanished like a gust of wind.

Yan Yunti pushed open the hall doors and entered the inner chamber, only to see Yuan Jingxue sitting peacefully on the daybed reading a book. She knew she had been tricked.

Yuan Jingxue looked at the Qianyuan who had rushed in. Hiding her confusion, she said in a distant tone, “Did you not want me to come and invite you?”

Yan Yunti didn’t know whether she should be relieved or angry. After a moment’s thought, she walked straight to the daybed, bent over, and picked the woman up directly, then sat down herself, pinning her in her arms.

“What are you doing?” Yuan Jingxue frowned, trying to push the Qianyuan away. However, the grip on her waist was too heavy; she couldn’t budge her.

“What can I do?” Yan Yunti raised an eyebrow in retort. Her other hand moved to the back of Yuan Jingxue’s neck and peeled off the cold-scent patch. “Does Your Highness truly believe this patch can help you through the Rain and Dew period?”

Wasn’t she, a considerate and attentive Qianyuan, a thousand times better than this cold-scent patch?