This chapter is shorter than usual but I think you will still like it ^^

Enjoy <3 <3

Wei Ying's POV

I was annoyed. For the first time in 16 years, I was seriously annoyed with Lan Huan. I understood that he had his duties but he should make some time for me as well. He was not an emperor yet but a crown prince. Even if his father was sick, was he more important than me? This might have sounded a little selfish but it's true.

I was his consort after all! I should be just as important as his duties. Or not? I couldn't believe that there are others out there who want to be a consort or the empress. How would they be happy if their husband had no time for them?

Yes, Lan Huan came back every night. He said that no matter how busy he was during the day, he would always come back home for the night. Call me selfish but that was by far not enough. It was not like I had unlimited time I could spend with him!

Moreover, his behavior in the last weeks was not normal. He was ... strange. I knew he fought a lot with his father. I didn't know about what but it must have been because of all the work Lan Huan has to do. If the emperor can fight with his son, he should be able to reign in the heavenly realm.

I tried to talk with Lan Huan, I told him that I wanted him to spend more time with me. He said he understood and promised that things would change again once his father recovered. But when was that? I am not the youngest anymore and I don't have as much time as he has!

And then there was his aura. Seeing it made me upset because it showed clearly that he felt guilty. I guessed his aura was the only thing that hindered me from picking a fight with him. But feeling guilty about the treatment he gave me was not enough to calm me down. It needed more than that to make me stop feeling this annoyed.

"Wei Ying."

I turned to Wang Ji who approached me with his usual handsome smile. Because I didn't want to spend my time alone at my palace waiting for Lan Huan who would only come in the evening, I made it a habit to spend my time with Wang Ji and the bunnies because here I felt the happiest.

Wen Ning was somewhere at the lake trying to hide from quite a lot of bunnies which had an odd fascination with him, especially in the last weeks. Whenever they spotted him they couldn't leave him alone. I found that quite amusing.

"Want some?" He asked me and held a plate of pastries in front of me.

"No." I frowned and he tilted his head in confusion.

"But weren't these your favorite?"

"They taste amazing and I love to eat them but..." I looked at the pastry which had the shape of roses and frowned even more. "I don't like roses."

"You liked them before...."

I looked at him and couldn't help but smile. "You... sometimes I think you know me even better than Lan Huan."

Wang Ji blushed a little and looked away for a moment before looking back at me. "So why did you start to dislike roses?"

'I don't know...' I thought and frowned again. Maybe because seeing and especially smelling roses reminds me of how Lan Huan had no time for me. He would always come back from the court and had the smell of roses on him which was kind of weird because as far as I remembered no roses were growing at the court.

"Wang Ji, are there more places where roses are growing except for the garden?" I asked him.

"No, only at each garden in the royal palace." He answered. "If you hate roses, I will throw them away..."

I laughed. "What now? Do you want to pull out every rose in every garden in the whole royal palace? That is a lot of work." I shook my head in amusement. "You are overreacting. It's not like I fully hate them. I just hate the smell. It's .... it's irritating me. It's better to not spent too much around roses or else I will smell like them as well."

Wang Ji smiled. "Don't worry. The smell of roses will not cling to you unless you either bathe in them or wear perfume or lotion made of roses. But I will put these pastries away. Is there a shape you like? I will make it for you next time."

I gaped at him. "Wait, you made them?"

"Mhn..."

"So all the delicious pastries I always eat here was made by you? Like... all of them?" I asked stunned. Wang Ji blushed and nodded before looking away.

I was shocked but had to grin. "Why didn't you say so from the beginning? You are an amazing cook, your highness."

"Only pastries..."

I raised my brows before reaching out to take the pastry.

"Wait! You said you don't like them."

"You made them so I will eat them. Can't let your amazing work go to waste." I said and put one in my mouth. Wang Ji was staring at me in anticipation and I laughed. "Delicious!"

"Mhn." Wang Ji smiled proudly before getting up and walking toward the marble table where sat before. I saw him sitting down and continuing what he was doing before.

"What are you doing there?" I asked curiously while enjoying Wang Ji's self-made pastries. Somehow I felt like that today they tasted even better.

"Nothing..."

"Nothing?" I raised my brows and slowly got up. I was still able to do that on my own but once my womb became bigger I would need a helping hand.

"Mhn. Nothing." He answered while concentrating on whatever he was doing.

"I see..." I mumbled and sneaked up on him. I really wanted to see what he was doing. That didn't look as of he was doing nothing. He was writing something down over and over again and I was set on finding out what it was.

Just as I was close enough to look over his shoulder, Wang Ji felt my presence and covered the table.

"Come on, let me see what you are doing." I smiled but Wang Ji wouldn't budge. I frowned a little. As far as I can remember, he never had any secrets from me. Whenever I asked him he would answer me truthfully. But today he behaved unusually. I am not sure how to react to that. It didn't make me happy.

"You never have secrets from me..." I pointed out and Wang Ji bit his lips. He tended to do that when he either was thinking about something or he felt guilty.

"I will tell you later. It's ... not ready yet." He answered and I raised my brows.

"Great! Now I am even more curious. Come one, just show me. What is the difference between showing me now and showing me later?" I asked amused and tried to snatch the pieces of paper. But Wang Ji was stubborn and didn't move one inch. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get my hands on them.

"The more you behave like this, the more I want to know..."I pouted and once again tried to reach out for them and when I almost had one in my hand, Wang Ji looked panicky and pulled away. I was so surprised that I tripped and almost fell on the hard ground.

Wang Ji saw my situation and moved faster than the light. His hands wrapped around my waist and he turned us around making me land softly on his body while his back hit the ground.

"Wang Ji!" I called him in shock. "I am sorry! Are you hurt?" I asked him worriedly but he only shook his head.

"Are you okay?" He asked back and I nodded.

"I landed rather softly." I chuckled and saw Wang Ji blushing under me. I was never this close to him and was once again amazed by his beauty. How could it be that he didn't have any love interests yet?

As I looked down at him I noticed that his aura shone even brighter than ever before which had me staring at him in awe. I raised my hands and tried to touch it which of course didn't work. When I concentrated back on Wang Ji, my eyes met his and it felt like I was drowning or something. It felt as if I could look deep into the depths of his soul and I couldn't tear myself away.

I kept looking at him and he never avoided my eyes. I couldn't move, no, I didn't want to. Truth to be told, I felt quite comfortable like this. It's been a while since I felt like this.

Just then his eyes wandered to my lips and his cheeks turned red before he looked back into my eyes. It made me curious about something. Something I shouldn't be curious about at all. My gaze fell on his lips and I felt something inside me, telling me to ....

I looked back at his eyes and what I saw in the reflection of Wang Ji's eyes had me shocked. My aura was shining just as bright as his. It's almost a twin of Wang Ji's aura. Moreover, it showed me how I felt about that voice inside me telling me to do something wrong.

I tore my gaze away from Wang Ji and got up as quickly as my body allowed me to. Wang Ji followed my example and then we stood there looking everywhere but not at each other. The atmosphere around us felt different than usual.

I didn't know what to say nor did Wang Ji say anything. But then I felt his eyes on me and my body tensed up. Not in a panic but in another way. A way which shouldn't be. But ...

... the force inside me telling me to look at Wang Ji was so strong that I couldn't ignore it. So I met his gaze and I felt once again as if I was drowning.

'What is happening?' I asked myself confused.

"Your highness" I heard Wen Ning's voice from afar and I turned to him. I was happy that he came but I was also a little irritated without knowing why.

I saw him approaching us with an army of bunnies right behind him. Wen Ning looked exhausted and this had me smiling.

"You can't take your new friends with us, Wen Ning." I teased him and his cheeks flushed red.

"I don't intend to. But they won't leave me alone..."

"Is that something bad?"

"N-no, but... why are they doing this?" He asked helplessly and I suppressed a laugh.

"Hmmm..... I can't be sure but.... from what I see the bunnies following you are all female." I pointed out and looked back at Wang Ji who nodded. The atmosphere between us went back to normal and I didn't know how to feel about it. It was confusing earlier but I didn't .... I didn't necessarily hate it.

"Mhn, females." He answered and pointed at Wen Ning's feet where a few bunnies were hopping around trying to jump up to him. "It's the mating season right now..."

This time I laughed out loud. "Well, well. You have quite a lot of admirers, Wen Ning. Can you handle them all?"

Wen Ning's face turned deep red. "L-let's go h-home, your highness!" He ran away from the animals as fast as he can.

"We will go now, your highness. Maybe you should make sure the bunnies will stay behind and mate with their kind. Wen Ning is still too inexperienced in that matter." I laughed again and he smiled as well.

"Wang Ji." He then said and I tiled my head.

"Excuse me?"

"Call me Wang Ji." He said and looked at me. "Not your highness."

I widened my eyes and stared back at him, I felt weird but.. in a weirdly good way. "Alright ... Wang Ji. See you, hm... see you later!" I turned around and followed Wen Ning as quickly as I could.

'Today something changed.' I smiled unintentionally. "Wait for me, Wen Ning!"

to be continued... 

The ship is sailing!!! 

Writing this chapter made me a lot more fun than the previous ones and I guess you know the reason for that^^

As for the next chapter, I am not sure how long it will be but I will upload it on Thursday. Until then <3 <3

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