Mistakenly Marked the Madly Beautiful Princess - Chapter 82

The word “love,” so scalding, made Ling Yue shrink back involuntarily.

The Grand Princess said she loved her.

Ling Yue was certain she hadn’t misheard. She voiced her question but found her own voice trembling, choked with tears.

“Love me?”

“Yes, love.”

The Grand Princess cherished this moment she could embrace, kiss deeply, and possess everything of the one she loved without restraint, all while craving even more.

The world had forced her into becoming a beast, but love had transformed her back into a human.

Faced with the lover who had strayed into her domain, she chose to bury her desires deep within, growing fearful of the future and becoming hesitant and indecisive.

Her fingers trailed downward to where the heart lay. The Grand Princess greedily listened to the symphony Ling Yue played for her, then looked up with a light laugh, a hint of triumph in her expression. “Your heartbeat is more honest than your words.”

The closeness, the faint, elusive floral scent lingering at the tip of her nose Ling Yue stared blankly at the Grand Princess, who had somehow climbed onto the table and knelt there.

In her memory, the Grand Princess was sometimes cold, sometimes gentle, but more often mischievously teasing her before casually brushing aside her own misdeeds.

Yet this version of the Grand Princess was one she had never seen before those stern, sharp features now softened with a touch of spring, all for her.

Though Ling Yue had encountered many frivolous people in her life, she herself was exceedingly proper. In her past life, she had often been called old-fashioned, and by all accounts, she should have disliked such behavior.

But this was the Grand Princess, so she couldn’t bring herself to dislike it. Instead, an impulse surged within her to pull this woman tightly into her embrace, to hide this side of her away from the world.

She had told herself countless times: this was the Grand Princess, and she must respect and revere her, fulfilling her duties as a subject.

Yet time and again, she broke her own rules. She should have kept her head bowed, never overstepping, but her gaze repeatedly strayed to the Princess’s face, etching every smile and frown deep into her heart.

She was no loyal subject she had developed an improper possessiveness toward the sovereign she had sworn to serve.

Ling Yue grabbed the Grand Princess’s hand, the title “Your Highness” nearly escaping her lips. But remembering they were in the Northern Kingdom, she changed her words at the last moment. “Sister.”

The Grand Princess could have easily pulled away, yet she did nothing, responding softly, “Hmm?”

Ling Yue still couldn’t control the tremor in her voice. Everything she had experienced had turned her from a coward into an even more timid version of herself.

She had so little to call her own that whenever someone offered her love, she felt compelled to dig out her entire heart and offer it up, convinced that only by giving everything could she keep that love from slipping away.

She wanted to reach out and touch the Grand Princess’s face, but her hand lifted and fell several times. Forcing herself to calm down, she asked, “May I hold you tighter?”

The Grand Princess’s smile deepened. She nestled further into Ling Yue’s embrace, wrapping her arms around Ling Yue’s neck, and whispered close to her ear, “Of course.”

The Grand Princess deliberately breathed against Ling Yue’s ear, and Ling Yue felt as if that breath had swept into her mind, scattering all her reason to the wind.

Finally, she wrapped her arms tightly around the Grand Princess. Perhaps due to years of illness, the Grand Princess was thin so thin it ached her heart.

In the haze of their intimacy, Ling Yue couldn’t help but murmur, “Sister, you need to eat more.”

To be honest, the words were so proper that the Princess actually laughed. She thought that being a seductress wasn’t easy after all this person before her remained completely unmoved.

Both annoyed and amused, the Princess couldn’t resist biting Ling Yue’s neck. But how could she bear to actually bite? In the end, it was just for show, followed by a gentle lick in the same spot.

Ling Yue shuddered. She felt that the Princess was particularly tempting today, yet she realized she enjoyed being treated this way.

Having grown up weathering all storms alone, no one had ever told her she could be unrestrained in front of someone she loved.

In matters of love, she feared her own desires, clinging to propriety even when she should have let go.

She was always afraid of making mistakes, so she would repeatedly ask, “Is this okay?” “Does this feel good?”

And each time, she would hear the Princess’s desire-laden whisper, “Be quiet!”

Of course, this only happened during their first time. Afterward, the Princess never showed her anger again.

Lost in thought, Ling Yue felt her face grow warm, and a faint itch spread across the back of her neck. She caught the scent of cedarwood.

Panicked, Ling Yue quickly released the Princess, only to be held tightly in return.

Feeling embarrassed by her own reactions, she closed her eyes, not daring to look, and apologized in a near-breakdown: “I’m sorry.”

It was fear, fear that the Princess would despise this side of her.

Amid the room’s faint fragrance, Ling Yue felt a light kiss brush against her right eyelid. Though fleeting as a dragonfly’s touch, it startled her eyes open.

With the Princess before her, she could see nothing else.

“Why are you sorry?”

Ling Yue wanted to retreat again, but the Princess gave her no chance, gripping her chin and forcing her to look up.

The pressure was firm, making Ling Yue frown slightly, but in the next moment, the hold softened.

Ling Yue could only half-close her eyes, masking her unease. “Because, I feel ashamed of myself like this.”

“Why ashamed?”

Ling Yue stayed silent.

Though she didn’t say it, the Princess understood the reason.

Her tone softened. “Is it because you think desire is shameful?”

Ling Yue hadn’t expected her thoughts to be read so easily, yet she’d always known how perceptive the Princess was. She nodded gently. “Yes.”

Then, opening her eyes to look at the Princess with cautious care, she added, “I’m afraid you’ll dislike me that you’ll find me disgusting.”

These were her true feelings.

Hearing this, the Princess’s heart ached. She released Ling Yue’s chin and tenderly ruffled her hair. “How could I ever dislike you?”

The scent of plum blossoms in the room grew stronger, slowly overpowering the cedarwood.

Ling Yue felt dazed. The Princess seemed to be speaking, but she couldn’t hear the words, so she struggled to suppress her instincts.

Gradually, the sounds became clear. She saw the Princess take her hand and place it over her own heart, saying, “Can you feel it? It beats for you.”

Then, lifting her gaze slightly, she asked, “Do you find me disgusting?”

Ling Yue jolted. “Of course not!”

“Then it’s the same for me. I love you, how could I ever find you disgusting?”

Step by step, the Princess closed the distance, leaving Ling Yue no room to breathe.

In this confrontation, Ling Yue was steadily defeated and disarmed, her eyes reddening until she finally choked out, “But I don’t understand love. I don’t know how to love you, I’m a dull person.”

“I’m afraid, I might hurt you.”

“I’m also afraid that all of this is just an illusion, that with time, you’ll grow tired of someone as uninteresting as me.”

“I’m afraid!”

Afraid of misplaced devotion, of sinking into an abyss of suffering with no way back.

The intense sunlight was blocked outside, yet Ling Yue inexplicably felt a scorching pain, as if flames were slowly crawling over her body, devouring her flesh and blood, turning her anguish and resentment into acrid smoke.

She kept asking herself, over and over, why she had to endure all this.

Then she would inwardly mock her own foolishness, drowning in self-loathing and insecurity.

Did someone like her truly deserve to be loved?

Ling Yue wanted to hold herself tight, or find a place to sink quietly into the depths of water, just as she had when she was first reborn.

But before she could wrap her arms around herself, someone pulled her into an embrace. Hearing the other’s tone, as if soothing a child, and the unmistakable ache in their voice, she heard: “Don’t be afraid.”

Strangely, with just those two words, Ling Yue grew calmer.

She felt ridiculous, humiliated, and cowardly.

In the past, she could always run away, but now she had no such chance. She rarely revealed her inner fears to anyone, this was likely the first time, in this life or the last.

How utterly pathetic.

Ling Yue despised herself for always being so conflicted, for fearing the gaze of the one she loved.

“After all that, do you love me?”

Hesitating, Ling Yue nodded lightly, then, feeling that wasn’t enough, nodded firmly and said, “My heart delights in you.”

The Grand Princess was satisfied with this answer. Ling Yue lacked so much security that she needed a lover who could embrace all of her.

Surrounded by love, she would no longer flee.

The Grand Princess was confident she could provide that, though deep down, she was a madwoman her possessiveness sometimes overruled her reason.

For instance, the urge to keep Ling Yue forever by her side, ensuring her life held only the shadow of one named Lu He.

But she had also seen Ling Yue in her element on the battlefield, radiant and unrestrained, and relaxed while sharing wine and laughter with the Prince of Letters.

She wished for Ling Yue, like a bird, to spread her wings and embrace the sky not to be trapped in a cage, gazing longingly at the blue above.

She wanted this foolish girl to find happiness, to forget the past and cast aside old burdens.

Ling Yue ought to have a life of her own, not belong to anyone as a possession.

If anyone dared destroy Ling Yue’s happiness, she would never forgive them even if that person were herself.

The Grand Princess knew herself well: cunning and deceit were compliments in her world, and lies came to her as easily as breathing.

Fortunately, being who she was, she could pretend to be the person Ling Yue adored.

Even as turmoil churned within, the Grand Princess’s smile remained gentle as she said, “There’s no need to rush into baring your heart to me. But don’t push me away. Look at me, hold me time will prove everything to you.”

“That your worries never existed at all.”

Ling Yue’s heart stirred. “But that isn’t fair to you.”

“Heh, love itself has no concept of fairness.”

The Grand Princess laughed at herself, amused that she would make such an unprofitable bargain.

The scent of plum blossoms in the room grew stronger. Gazing at Ling Yue’s flushed cheeks, the Grand Princess asked, “So now, speak what is truly in your heart.”

Her consciousness was in disarray, yet the figure of the Grand Princess before her remained strikingly clear.

Pheromones could awaken the most primal desires, urging Ling Yue to possess and claim.

But Ling Yue understood that her impulses were not driven by instinct alone they arose because the other was the Grand Princess, the one she willingly lost herself for.

They embraced, each craving the other.

Amidst the turbulent sea of desire, the Grand Princess gazed at Ling Yue’s face and suddenly thought, even if we rot together, it would be fine.

Even in decay, she would transform into nourishment for Ling Yue, allowing her to bloom under the sun.

So, Ling Yue, possess me, use me.

Love me.

Support