My enjoyment of the scene did not last long. A sudden, bone-deep pain exploded through my shin so sharply that my vision nearly flashed white. If not for the self-control drilled into me since childhood, anyone else would probably have vented it with an unrestrained howl of agony.
Clenching my teeth and holding my leg, I could only think, Was he not afraid that if I lost control and shouted, someone would come running and neither of us would get away cleanly? Yet when I looked up, the prickly little cat seemed perfectly composed and immensely satisfied with himself. One hand planted on his hip, he lifted his chin and spoke with all the swagger of a lord holding court, though what came out of his mouth was enough to leave me torn between laughter and disbelief. “Hey, you’re new here, aren’t you? Have a little self-awareness, will you? That’s my seat!”
He had kicked a prince of the reigning dynasty without hesitation over a worthless chair, and now he was standing there acting completely righteous about it? I could not tell whether something was wrong with his head or whether I had gone mad, abandoning the comfort of being a prince to come here in the middle of the night and get beaten.
But the thought calmed me almost immediately. I had long grown sick of bowed backs, flattering faces, and people desperate to please me. If he had truly been like everyone else, would I even be sitting here now?
I erased the flash of surprise from my face. My leg was still throbbing, but a faint smile returned to my lips, subtle yet impossible to miss. I rose obediently and surrendered the chair, moving to the seat opposite him instead. Crossing one leg over the other, I rested my chin on one hand and stared openly at the little cat’s face as it changed like a painter’s palette. One moment his cheeks puffed up like steamed buns, the next he deflated like a punctured bladder. One moment he glared and ground his teeth as though he wanted to swallow me alive, the next he pretended I did not exist and rolled his eyes at me. He was endlessly entertaining. Every thought in his head seemed to appear directly on his face, leaving him transparent at a glance.
“Brother, don’t just stand there. Bring over my brush, ink, paper, and inkstone…”
His tone was anything but polite, yet for some reason it sounded strangely pleasant to my ears, pleasant enough to make me want to tease him even more.
If you wanted brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, then brush, ink, paper, and inkstone you would have. Usually other people waited on me like this. It was unexpectedly novel to serve you for once. Little cat, you had better be properly grateful. A dignified prince was lowering himself quite thoroughly for your sake.
I pushed the Four Treasures of the Study toward him without saying a word and lifted my chin to indicate that everything he wanted was there. Unexpectedly, the little thing remained incorrigible and immediately found something else to complain about.
“May I ask what business you have here?”
My eyes brightened instantly, and I could not help praising him inwardly. Tsk, tsk. Even a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms might not compare with you when you smile. No wonder you have the capital to bare your claws and strut around like this.
My shin was still aching faintly. A gentleman might wait ten years to take revenge, but you had handed me an opportunity far sooner than that.
I said nothing and simply looked at him with a smile. Those clear dark eyes were extraordinarily beautiful. Even filled with irritation and temper, they remained captivating, giving off the freshness of flowers.
The little cat gave me a sly grin, the expression of someone who had just stolen a bite of fish. His beautiful phoenix eyes narrowed into thin lines. He clearly meant both a threat and an order to leave, yet what struck me more was that someone like this existed inside my own residence at all, so vivid he almost seemed unreal, so dazzling that looking away became difficult. At first, I had assumed this might be another tactic, someone playing hard to get. Now, even if it truly was an act, I was willing to keep watching for no reason other than that wonderfully explosive temper.
Bang! The wooden table gave a helpless groan.
As expected, the corner of my mouth lifted. This boy really was adorable. And judging from the ink that had splattered everywhere, he had put considerable force into that slap.
“What the hell do you want?!”
What did I want? I simply wanted to see what you looked like when you became angry and impatient.
“Nothing. Just looking.” I spoke with perfect indifference while struggling fiercely not to laugh.
My gaze wandered thoughtfully around the room before finally settling on the book in front of the little cat. The laughter I had been suppressing became even harder to contain. I pointed. He followed my finger and looked down, bewildered. As expected, a miserable cry followed at once.
Watching him instantly descend into panic, hands raised uselessly as though he had no idea what to save first, I almost wondered whether I should be the one to tell him the bad news. “Well, I still don’t know what to call you, but I think you’d better keep your voice down. If you draw people over, they might think I did something to you.” Though at the moment I was rather curious what your reaction would be if I really did do something to you. “After all, aside from the masters of the residence, this sort of thing might be an open secret among everyone else, but it still can’t be done openly.”
My teasing implication went completely over his head. “You haven’t done anything to me!! The book I spent the entire night working on is ruined because of you!”
For a moment, I genuinely did not know what to say. Somehow, even my hesitation managed to provoke him further. “If you’ve got something to say, spit it out! If you’ve got nothing to say, then get the hell out!”
I had seen plenty of elegant beauties and seductive ones. Someone this rough truly was lacking in manners, yet strangely, I did not dislike it.
“From beginning to end, I’ve been sitting here without moving. That book was entirely ruined by your own slap. What does it have to do with me?”
“Then you can shut up!”
If I had not known the boy truly was ignorant, and if I had not been in such a good mood, that sentence alone would have been enough to have him beaten to death. Still, I magnanimously chose not to argue with someone beneath me and obediently fell silent. Unexpectedly, trouble then came looking for me all on its own.
“You… can you read?”
“Can you hear me talking?” He leaned forward and waved a hand in front of my face. “If you can hear me, nod.”
I could hear him perfectly well. I was simply more curious about what he would say next, though for some reason a chill was already crawling down my spine.
I continued saying nothing.
“Damn it! If you can hear me, why the hell are you pretending to be deaf?!”
I spread my hands innocently and shrugged. I had only been trying to follow his instructions. “Didn’t you tell me to shut up?”
The moment he heard that, the little cat armed himself for war. He lunged forward, seized my collar, and looked ready to devour me whole, lacking only the final punch to my face.
Looking at the face now only inches from mine, changing expression from one instant to the next, I could not help wondering what was going through his mind. How could he reveal every word, gesture, movement, and thought so openly before another person? Did he truly not know how to hide anything, or was he so confident that all of this was only another layer of concealment?
“Can you read?”
“Yes.”
I did not miss the flash of amusement he tried desperately to suppress.
“Are you… busy right now?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then what are you still standing there for?!”
I could not help sighing with regret. Quiet one moment, springing like a startled rabbit the next. From childhood until now, even Mother Empress had never spoken to me in such a tone, much less servants and fawning courtiers.
Yet before I had even said anything else, he impatiently shoved the ink-splattered book across the table toward me. Brow furrowed and back straight, he planted one hand on his hip and pointed at that miserable book with the other as he barked orders at me.