After Accidentally Marking the Cold and Elegant Eldest Princess - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Seeing Through the Mind

As the cold-scent patch was torn away, wisps of delicate fragrance leaked out.

Yan Yunti looked at the displeased Kunze in her arms and gave a light sigh. “Is Your Highness always like this? Treating people so… heartlessly.” It wasn’t a deliberately faked display of pity or grievance, nor was it resentful; it was more like a helpless sigh, tinged with a trace of genuine sadness.

Yuan Jingxue tried her best to control the pheromones at her nape to keep them from releasing too much. Hearing this, she looked at the girl, her displeasure already suppressed. “Then how does Miss Yan wish for me to treat you?”

Yan Yunti gazed at the beauty’s cold, formal face and sighed softly. “Your Highness, I do not require you to view me as a confidante or a lover. But no matter how you look at it, we aren’t exactly strangers. Why must Your Highness face me with such coldness every time? The matter of the Dependency Period was originally a mutual utilization. Perhaps my actions have been somewhat forward, but I believe I have served Your Highness with all my heart. Why must you meet me with such a frozen expression?”

“I am always like this,” Yuan Jingxue said tonelessly.

“Is that so?” Yan Yunti didn’t believe her. “Your Highness says repeatedly that you don’t find me repulsive. Is this the attitude one has toward someone they don’t find repulsive? Should I bring a mirror so Your Highness can see how cold your face is? Even if Bawei and the others were to see it, they would surely think I had done something to anger you, provoking such a cold shoulder.”

Even if one was naturally uninclined to show emotion, they shouldn’t be this icy in word and look. Since waking up from that nap in the afternoon, she truly seemed like a different person—colder and more frost-bitten.

“If you feel uncomfortable, you are free to leave,” Yuan Jingxue’s tone did not soften in the slightest.

Yan Yunti found it both infuriating and amusing. She reached out and touched the gland at the back of the Kunze’s neck, pressing down firmly on the center. “Your Highness, you are simply taking advantage of my soft heart. Your pheromones won’t even retract—how can I leave? Or does Your Highness think I can simply ignore your body chill and suffering just to throw a tantrum with you?”

“Whatever Miss Yan thinks has nothing to do with me.” Yuan Jingxue gripped the girl’s arm, trying forcefully to pull her hand away.

Having been treated with cold words time and again, Yan Yunti’s temper flared. She flipped over, pinning the woman against the daybed, her left hand taking control of the back of the Kunze’s neck so she could not escape. “Your Highness, must you insist on treating me this way?”

“Let go.” Yuan Jingxue pulled out her hairpin and pressed it directly against the Qianyuan’s throat.

Yan Yunti didn’t retreat; instead, she pressed forward. Watching Yuan Jingxue’s arm gradually bend back, she gave a bitter smile. “Is Your Highness not always heartless? Then just use this hairpin to stab me to death. From now on, no one will ever bother Your Highness again.” As she spoke, she closed her eyes and gripped Yuan Jingxue’s wrist with her right hand, pressing the hairpin deeper.

The sharp point pierced the skin, causing a bead of blood to seep out. Yuan Jingxue was forced to release the hairpin, her voice tinged with irritation. “Yan Yunti, what exactly are you making a scene for? You know this is a mutual utilization, so why must you persist in asking so much?”

“I don’t know either,” Yan Yunti leaned down and hugged her tight, burying her head in the crook of Yuan Jingxue’s neck and rubbing gently. “Perhaps I should blame Your Highness for insisting on saying things like ‘I like it.’ You said it until my heart was in a mess, and then you drove me away so icily. Any person would find it unbearable.”

Yuan Jingxue closed her eyes and spoke calmly: “That wasn’t me.”

The person who acted entirely on whims and feelings was not her.

“Why wasn’t it?” Yan Yunti’s lips pressed against her ear, moving along the edge. “That was Your Highness—it’s the side you are unwilling to reveal. Why must you distance yourself from it?” The kiss migrated to Yuan Jingxue’s cheek. “I understand. It’s not just Your Highness; I am the same. My current moods and feelings are deeply influenced by the Dependency Period.” Their eyes met, and Yan Yunti spoke with total honesty: “I won’t deny it—my heart is indeed swayed by Your Highness right now. I feel joy, anger, sorrow, and resentment because of your every word and action. So, Your Highness’s cold treatment really does hurt my heart.”

How much of this emotional turbulence was due to the Dependency Period, Yan Yunti couldn’t distinguish. Since she couldn’t tell, she wouldn’t try. She had never liked making things difficult for herself, nor did she want to worry about the future in advance. Whatever she wanted to do or say now, she would do it to her heart’s content.

Yuan Jingxue heard the underlying meaning and averted her gaze, retorting coldly, “I am not like you.”

Yan Yunti reached out to stroke the corner of her eye, rubbing it delicately. “Must our Great Qi’s Eldest Princess also learn the art of escapism?” Having said that, her left hand toyed with the Kunze’s gland, coaxing out even more pheromones—a move that served as a double entendre.

“You…” Yuan Jingxue looked at her with some anger.

“It seems I guessed right,” Yan Yunti said, wanting to laugh as she saw her get angry. “Your Highness, oh Your Highness. You truly are giving me the cold shoulder precisely because of those sentiments and moods produced by the Rain and Dew period and the Dependency Period.”

“And what if I am?” Yuan Jingxue desperately wanted the Qianyuan to shut up.

Yan Yunti did no such thing. Her thumb stroked Yuan Jingxue’s cheek as she let out a few soft hums. “So what if Your Highness has a cold face? I see it clearly now—the colder your face is, the more thoughts you have in your heart. Perhaps right now you are thinking of having me say ‘I like it’ a few more times, or calling your name a few more times… After all, Your Highness likes to hear it, don’t you?”

Back in the hot spring, every time she said “I like it,” it had drawn out more of the Kunze’s pheromones. Yan Yunti didn’t believe for a second that Yuan Jingxue’s heart had remained unmoved. She had clearly been conscious then but refused to admit it—what was that if not escapism?

“Your Highness, the more you escape, the more it makes me feel…” Yan Yunti increased the pressure of her massage on the nape. “…that the thoughts in your heart are surging like a tidal wave, so much so that you have to suppress them and push me away. Your Highness, do you think I’m right?”

The pheromones at the back of Yuan Jingxue’s neck could no longer be controlled. Strands of fragrance turned into a thick magnolia scent that drifted outward. At the same time, the cedar scent from Yan Yunti’s neck slowly released, invading the Kunze.

A faint blush covered Yuan Jingxue’s face, yet her voice remained cold, repeating the same phrase: “Whatever Miss Yan thinks has nothing to do with me.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can listen to what Your Highness’s body thinks.” Yan Yunti wasn’t annoyed at all. She reached out and placed her hand over Yuan Jingxue’s heart, her eyes curving into a smile. “I can hear it—Your Highness’s heart is beating very fast and very frantically. What is Your Highness in such a rush for?”

“Mm, it seems your breathing is also getting heavier,” Yan Yunti said as she pressed her body down. “Your chest is heaving violently, and your cheeks and ears are very red…” Her lips drew close to Yuan Jingxue’s ear, whispering a question: “Jingxue, what are you in such a rush for?”

Yuan Jingxue had planned to endure through the night, but the internal chill never even had a chance to rise before it was scattered by the Qianyuan’s chaotic tactics. She had thought that having survived so many years of Rain and Dew periods, this wouldn’t be difficult. But when she was held tightly by the girl, she found that she not only lacked the strength but also lacked the will to push her away.

Especially since the girl wouldn’t stop saying those embarrassing things in her ear. “Jingxue, A-Xue, you don’t know… I am the same. Everything about A-Xue… I delight in all of it.”

Yuan Jingxue reached her limit. She turned her head and kissed the Qianyuan’s lips, completely blocking out her words.

Yan Yunti enjoyed the Princess’s proactive kiss, feeling quite satisfied and lazy. By the end of the kiss, she was beneath and Yuan Jingxue was on top, but she did nothing; she even stopped the movement of her hand on the woman’s neck.

Yuan Jingxue leaned over her, gasping for air, her brow furrowed. “You…”

“Me what?” Yan Yunti reached out to rub her own chest. “After being treated to so many cold words today, I couldn’t even finish my lunch. I truly have no strength left now. If you don’t coax me a little, I’m afraid I’ll faint from hunger.”

This was as fake as could be, yet Yuan Jingxue was caught in a dilemma. It wasn’t that she couldn’t push the girl away and drive her out, but… it was true that she had been too driven by her emotions today, otherwise the Qianyuan wouldn’t have spotted the anomaly.

The Eldest Princess hesitated, torn.

Yan Yunti added timely: “Who knows, the more you escape, the longer this Dependency Period might last.”

The same tactic again. Last time she was forced to accept her body’s reactions; this time she was being forced to face her emotional changes. Yan Yunti truly knew how to handle her. It would be best to end the Dependency Period early and sever this relationship.

Yuan Jingxue thought rationally for a moment, then looked into those peach-blossom eyes that held hidden anticipation. She asked softly, “A-Yun, how do you want me to coax you?”

Yan Yunti’s smile widened. She placed her right index finger against Yuan Jingxue’s nose. “Does Your Highness smell that? Is it fragrant?”

The balm’s scent was indeed long-lasting; even by nightfall, a faint fragrance remained.

Yuan Jingxue smelled the scent, not understanding her meaning. “What do you want?”

Yan Yunti whispered a sentence in her ear. Seeing Yuan Jingxue about to push her away, she added: “Your Highness should think carefully. If you push me away this time, you really will have to come and invite me personally next time.”

“You are simply being ridiculous,” Yuan Jingxue scolded her.

“Your Highness said that last time too,” Yan Yunti said, pulling the woman to sit on her lap. “Whether it’s ridiculous or not, only the two of us know. If Your Highness is willing to coax me, any temper A-Yun has will vanish.”

Yuan Jingxue didn’t want to coax her like that, but in the end, she didn’t hold out.

When Yan Yunti carried her to the hot spring for a bath, Yuan Jingxue was still in a daze. Realizing what Yan Yunti was about to do, she snapped to her senses, took the cloth, and refused to look at the girl’s face. “I’ll do it myself. You… wash your face too.”

Yan Yunti noticed her averted gaze, touched her own lips with her finger, and asked with a smile, “Why should I wash it? The scented sweet water was truly delicious. I’m still savoring the aftertaste.”

As soon as she finished, the soaked cloth in Yuan Jingxue’s hand was flung directly at her. Yan Yunti caught it with a laugh, rinsed it, and handed it back. “I don’t think I need to wash it anyway. Is it possible that if I don’t wash my face tonight, Your Highness won’t look at me anymore?”

“Yan! Yun! Ti!” The usually calm person was once again driven to anger.

Yan Yunti knew when to stop and answered helplessly, “Alright, alright, alright. I’ll wash my face. Don’t go making yourself angry, Your Highness.”

Yuan Jingxue’s gaze swept over the wet marks on the girl’s face and quickly moved away. She truly didn’t understand how Yan Yunti could be so shameless. To have someone sit on her face like that—did she not feel uncomfortable? Talking about having no strength… after moving her hands, she moved her mouth; nobody was going to faint from hunger except maybe her!

Yan Yunti meticulously washed her face clean and wiped away all the water, then presented her clean face before Yuan Jingxue. “Is Your Highness satisfied?”

Yuan Jingxue didn’t want to talk to her. She rose to go ashore and return by herself.

“Alright, don’t try to act brave, Your Highness,” Yan Yunti followed and picked her up. “If you really want to be brave, do it tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?” Yuan Jingxue heard the intent in her words.

Yan Yunti placed her on the daybed and unfolded a bath towel to dry her. “Although I was hurt by Your Highness this afternoon, I still couldn’t stop worrying about you. So, I sat at the desk and drew half a volume of physical strengthening exercises for women. If Your Highness is willing, we can start practicing tomorrow. They are all simple poses; Your Highness can certainly do them.”

“Are they truly strengthening exercises?” Yuan Jingxue was suspicious. Yan Yunti spent all day looking at those indecent picture books; who knew if she had hidden some other motives?