After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Entangled by the Paranoid Eldest Princess - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Facing Wen Chenqing’s startled and questioning gaze, Ajin met her eyes without a hint of guilt.

“Didn’t A-Qing say during the day that you found my bedding comfortable? Since that’s the case, I thought it over, and it would be best if we just slept together.”

“…”

The corner of Wen Chenqing’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

Ajin, oh Ajin, if you were truly this thoughtful and considerate, wouldn’t it be easier just to swap quilts with me?!

She kept her face stern and said seriously, “Where did you put my bedding? I’ll go fetch it. This… this is inappropriate.”

Sharing a bed was something Wen Chenqing could accept.

But sharing a single quilt? Wen Chenqing felt that was crossing a line.

Ajin’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. “This quilt is wide enough. Besides, we are both wearing sleeping robes. What is inappropriate about it?”

Originally, she had only asked to share the bedstead. Then, staying for one night extended to “always.”

Tonight, she wanted to share the same quilt.

What would be next? Would she decide that sleeping robes were unnecessary too?

Before transmigrating, Wen Chenqing did indeed have a habit of sleeping naked, but she had corrected that now!

Sometimes Wen Chenqing truly hated her own ability to draw inferences; the moment the thought of “sleeping naked” flashed through her mind, she felt she was being utterly shameless.

Cursing herself inwardly, Wen Chenqing ignored Ajin’s words, her ears burning red.

She couldn’t stop Ajin from talking, but she could control her own legs. She would go find the quilt herself.

Unfortunately, a certain someone was determined to achieve her goal.

Wen Chenqing had only turned and taken a few steps when she heard the pitter-patter of footsteps behind her.

“You aren’t allowed to go looking for it!” Ajin hugged her arm, preventing her from leaving.

“…” Wen Chenqing was forced to stop. She turned to stare at the snowy-skinned, flower-like Ajin. “Ajin, you’re being too overbearing. It’s one thing to move my things without my consent, but you’re stopping me from looking for them myself?”

She felt that Ajin had been getting stranger and stranger lately.

Thinking back, the shift started right after she learned about her past identity. She was always tugging at her, holding her; she felt much more clingy than before.

Ajin peeked at her cautiously. “Are you angry?”

There it was again—that delicate look, as if she were terrified of being abandoned.

Wen Chenqing suddenly felt a wave of helplessness.

She felt that it was her own initial concession that had led to this—one step back had led to a retreat at every turn.

But she also wanted to ask: who could truly harden their heart when facing such a face?

Moreover, she looked like she truly needed her, relied on her completely.

Wen Chenqing, who had almost never been the recipient of such a focused, wholehearted gaze in the past, found it impossible to refuse.

She knew why—because for as long as she had memories, she had never received such a gaze from her own family. Thus, what was missing in her childhood became something she couldn’t turn away from when she encountered it as an adult.

“I wouldn’t say I’m angry.” Wen Chenqing allowed the other to hold her, her searching gaze scanning Ajin’s face before landing on the hand that had tightened its grip, seemingly out of nervousness. “I’m just thinking about a question.”

Wen Chenqing’s unusual reaction made Si Jinghua focus her thoughts. She feigned trepidation. “What is it?”

Wen Chenqing lowered her head and didn’t speak.

A sudden silence began to spread between them.

After a long while, Wen Chenqing moved.

She raised her other hand to grasp Ajin’s hand that was hugging her arm. Then, under Ajin’s increasingly tense gaze, she firmly moved it away.

Once she had moved it, Wen Chenqing suddenly asked her with a serious expression, “Ajin, are you intentionally seducing me?”

Si Jinghua’s phoenix eyes widened. Under the scrutiny of Wen Chenqing’s clear, piercing gaze, her expression wavered for only an instant.

“Yes,” she admitted, her lips then pressing into a tight line.

Thud.

Wen Chenqing felt the heavy stone she had been holding high in her heart suddenly crash to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

As I thought.

Wen Chenqing’s voice was slightly dry. “You really don’t need to do this intentionally. After these days of being together, do you still not trust my character? Since I promised to let you stay here always, you don’t need to use these methods to gain a sense of security.”

By the end, a trace of anger even rose in Wen Chenqing’s chest.

Was she not sincere enough toward her? Why? Why did Ajin have to use these intentionally ambiguous words and intimate gestures to gradually erode her personal boundaries?

In Wen Chenqing’s brief past life, she had encountered men showing interest and women showing interest.

Her response had always been a flat refusal.

She had never been in a relationship, nor had she ever liked anyone.

Romance had never been a goal for Wen Chenqing at any stage of her life.

But some things seemed to have changed after meeting Ajin post-transmigration.

Sometimes she would daze off just looking at Ajin’s face; she would break her previous aesthetic standards and find the mole on Ajin’s wrist “sexy”; her ears would burn and she’d want to flee because of Ajin’s slightly reckless words; she would feel a sense of fulfillment under that wholehearted gaze… these were all things Wen Chenqing had never experienced before.

Even today, the thought that Ajin’s clingy behavior was merely a tactic to ensure she could stay here safely made Wen Chenqing feel more angry than ever before.

Her anger came suddenly, but it came in time.

Wen Chenqing, having never experienced these emotions, felt as if a veil had been lifted from her eyes, touching upon the truth.

She suddenly felt she was utterly contemptible—it turned out she, too, was someone swayed by physical beauty.

Otherwise, how could she explain falling for someone in less than a month?

Wen Chenqing took a few steps back, creating distance between herself and Ajin. A barrier of self-defense rose in her eyes, shielding all her true emotions.

“Apologies, I got emotional,” she said. “But I hope you can remember that I am serious. Do not do such things again in the future.”

Don’t do things that will make the other person misunderstand.

Wen Chenqing turned away quickly, afraid that if she stayed a second longer, the sadness in her eyes would betray her and leak out past the barrier, seen by the very person she didn’t want to see it.

She was the one who developed fantasies over actions that weren’t even that excessive—how much did it really have to do with the sensitive and insecure Ajin?

As she crossed the threshold, Wen Chenqing stumbled. Beyond her sadness, she felt humiliated, wishing she could turn into a bird and fly away from this awkward place immediately.

Si Jinghua was astonished by Wen Chenqing’s outburst.

She had naturally noticed that Wen Chenqing had some thoughts about her appearance, but she also knew Wen Chenqing was an “idiot” and hadn’t expected her to realize it so suddenly today.

Wen Chenqing’s blunt words didn’t provoke anger at being offended; instead, they made her feel amused.

She certainly didn’t “love” Wen Chenqing; she felt only a few points of satisfaction.

But even though Si Jinghua had no room for her in her heart, she would never allow the person she was satisfied with to have no room for her in theirs.

Moreover, she had already decided to let this person serve her for a while.

Si Jinghua chased after the person who wanted to flee but didn’t know where to go. Her face wore a perfectly crafted expression of hurt and ashamed indignation.

“How could you think of me like that?! I did this… I did this naturally because I have feelings for you!”

Wen Chenqing stopped abruptly and turned back to look at her. Under the dim, flickering candlelight, Ajin’s eyes were filled with tears, gazing back at her with overflowing affection.

Wen Chenqing’s heart shook violently.