Chapter 15: I Want to See Father!

Hongye drew her cloak tighter and studied Rhode for a long moment before speaking bluntly. “You haven’t taken your trousers off all morning. That’s the biggest difference.”

Rhode nearly slid off his seat. How terrible was his predecessor’s reputation if even his personal maid used that as the measure of unusual behavior? He coughed, trying to recover some princely dignity, but Hongye’s knowing eyes made any pretense seem pointless.

“What kind of thing is that to say?” He leaned back against the velvet and crossed his legs, attempting an air of mystery. “Can’t I have had a sudden revelation and decided to cultivate myself?”

Hongye’s mouth twitched. Her expression plainly said, *Go on, keep making things up.*

Rhode tapped his knee, searching for a respectable excuse. He couldn’t admit that the body had been so worn out by drink and women that one more indulgence might kill him in bed.

He vividly remembered dying at his desk after forty-eight hours of overtime: the sudden pain in his chest, the darkness, his fall onto the keyboard. He had no desire to experience that again. This time he had become a prince, however useless, with servants at his disposal and three beautiful elves awaiting his attention. The condition was that he had to stay alive.

“Hongye,” he said, clearing his throat, “you don’t understand. When I fell down the stairs and struck my head on the marble this morning, I suddenly grasped a truth.”

She blinked and lifted the trunk higher in her arms without answering.

“Pleasure requires resources.” Rhode delivered the nonsense solemnly. “To enjoy oneself for a long time, one must first be healthy. If this body breaks down, I could have every beauty in the capital before me and only stare. If you want pleasure, take care of your health first.”

Hongye tilted her head. “Your Highness… are you unable to perform?”

His face turned purple. He sprang up, only to be struck by a sharp pain in his back. He dropped back into the seat, clutching it and grimacing.

“Nonsense!” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m perfectly capable! Extremely capable! That’s precisely why I need restraint. Don’t you understand saving one’s strength?”

Hongye watched his outburst in silence, then said, “I bet you won’t last three days.”

*She’s betting with her master?*

“A bet, is it?” Rhode sat straight and folded his arms. “Fine. If I have improper thoughts about any woman and take off my trousers within three days, I lose. If I win…” He paused and pointed at her. “You grant me one wish.”

The trunk slipped in her arms before she caught it. She looked at him as though he were a fool, opened her mouth, then sighed. “Isn’t that pointless?”

“How is it pointless?”

“Whether you win or lose, don’t I have to obey you anyway?” She counted on her fingers. “You decide when I serve tea, what I wear, whether I wear anything, which room I sleep in and what position I take. If you want something, why not order me? Why go through all this to make yourself look virtuous?”

She had a point. Rhode stared open-mouthed, then managed, “Your logic… is rather sound.”

Hongye gave a faint twist of her mouth and said no more.

……

The carriage continued. Suddenly Rhode slapped his thigh and sprang up. “Damn! I nearly forgot something important!”

He leaned out the window and shouted, “Turn around! To the palace! I want to see… right, I should call him Father. I want to see Father!”

The startled coachman pulled the reins. Both rows of guards turned in unison, looking as though they had seen a ghost.

Hongye frowned. When Rhode withdrew into the carriage, she examined him suspiciously. “Your Highness, aren’t you afraid of His Majesty? You usually stay as far away as possible.”

“Nonsense!” He straightened the wrinkled collar of his robe. “That was before! What’s today? My first day handling such an important case. I should report to Father in person. Workplace protocol. Understand?”

Hongye was silent for a long time. “Have you been possessed by something unclean?”