Two royal guards burst into Anming's room, searching for the mysterious man. Their armor gleamed dully in the lamplight, eyes sharp and unyielding as they swept their gazes across every surface. They ransacked the space, flinging open closets and rifling through corners. Drawers were flung open, bedding tossed aside in their search. Finding nothing, they headed for the bathing area, their boots echoing on the floor.
One guard stretched out a hand, ready to pull back the curtain. But before he could pull back the curtains, Anming's cold voice rang out. "Don't take another step."
He eyed the stranger crouched in the bath across from him, his expression unreadable, eyes flickering from the curtains where the guards stood. To the man in front of him. For a brief moment, Anming weighed his choices. He could simply step aside, let fate claim the stranger, or he could intervene, save a man who was nothing to him.
His gaze lingered on the mysterious intruder: battered, face streaked with blood and grime, hair matted and sticking to his brow, but beneath the bruises there was an attraction that couldn't be obscured. Strong jaw, sharp cheekbones, gray storm-like eyes, brows arched beautifully, a face that would have drawn eyes in any other circumstance.
Anming glanced down, awareness prickling his skin. He was naked, water beading across his skin, every inch exposed to the stranger's gaze. It was the first time in his life he'd been seen like this by another. The instinct to cover himself flared, but he ignored it. He was a Ger, but he was also a Man. On the long path to vengeance, things like virtue and chastity were empty illusions. In a world that devoured innocence, to cling to purity was to invite ruin.
"What commotion is so urgent that it disrupts my evening?" Anming demanded, his eyes never leaving the strangers. His voice was clipped and icy.
The head guard answered, "We're here by order of the 1st prince, miss. We're in pursuit of a thief who stole important intelligence. Please, we request your cooperation."
The 1st Prince?
"Intel?" Anming's brow arched, suspicion coloring his tone. "What intel?"
The guard hesitated, glancing at the shadows behind the curtain as if expecting the thief to leap out at any moment. "This thief stole information concerning His Highness, the matter involves military secrets. We must search every room. Please, if you would allow us—"
"To do what?" Anming interrupted sharply, voice rising in feigned outrage. "Search my bath? Violate my virtue and ensure that no honorable marriage will ever come my way? Do you intend to rob me of my chastity before I am even wed?"
The guard shifted uncomfortably. "My Lady, we mean no disrespect—"
"I am an unmarried lady. To be seen naked would ruin me. If you dare cross that line, I swear even if it costs me my life I will report you to His Majesty!"
From his position, the mysterious man watched, one brow raised at Anming's bold hypocrisy. The other talked about chastity and virtue while he, a stranger, saw everything. He could see every piece of Anming: see every inch the other claimed that must not be seen because of "virtue" and "chastity."
And better yet the guards were oblivious to the contradiction.
Aside from that the mysterious man's thoughts ran beyond that. The guards referred to the young man in front of him by Miss and Lady, time and time again. Why? Why did they call him that, and why did the young man not correct them? And even more so, why was Anming helping him?
Anming on another hand, his calm gaze betrayed nothing, not even as he spun his words with obvious hypocrisy. The lies that rolled off his tongue, left him easily and unburdened.
The head guard hesitated, caught between duty and potential ruin should he offend the wrong person.
Just then, another guard burst in. "We've searched all the other rooms in the compound, sir. There's no sign of him."
Can't be, the head guard thought to himself. I witnessed him come this way.
The head guard's eyes narrowed a frown appearing on his lips, unwilling to accept such news. "Are you certain?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Then he must be here." He bowed stiffly to Anming. "Forgive me, miss, but I have my orders." He reached for his sword and stepped forward, hand grasping the curtain.
The air changed. The intruder's hand moved to his own sword, jaw clenched, preparing for violence. But Anming's voice cracked like thunder.
"You dare!" His fury filled the chamber, the head guard froze in his tracks. "Do you know who I am? I am Su Mei Lan, daughter of Lord Su Yicheng, soon to be the First Prince's woman! If you so much as see me unclothed, do you think his Highness will spare your lives? If he learns I was seen naked by you lot, what do you think will come to pass for all of you. Not a single one of you would live to see tomorrow morning!"
A long pause surrounded the room and a heavy silence fell. The guard's face paled.
The Prince's woman?
The man looked at Anming, his gaze was dark and unreadable. For a split second, something lethal flashed in his eyes, an unmistakable killing intent, before vanishing as quickly as it appeared. His gaze lingered for a moment more, then turned his attention back to the curtain shielding them from the guards. Anming, completely focused on his own predicament, failed to notice the silent threat.
He let out a quiet, rueful snicker, regret tinging the sound. It seemed he would have to use that bet after all. If he invoked the prince's name, there'd be no hiding it,. Word would surely reach the 1st prince, and it would be obvious he'd lied, claiming to be one of his women as an escape. Still, Anming wasn't too discouraged. If he played his cards right, this could bring him even closer to the prince.
But first, he had to survive tonight.
After a tense moment, the head guard's resolve crumbled. He dropped to his knees. "Forgive me, miss. I did not recognize you. Please have mercy, we were only following the First Prince's orders."
Anming's response was cold, dismissive but edged with a practiced grace.
"Your loyalty is noted. I will remember your names, and your devotion to your duties. Now leave and do not speak of this again."
The guards bowed deeply and hurried out, boots pounding on the polished floors. Only when their footsteps faded into the distance did Anming let out the breath he'd been holding.
"They have le-" before he fully turn around he was once again met with a cold blade at his throat and this time unlike before danger surrounded this blade. The slightest movement felt like his head would be cut off.
The mysterious man's eyes were steel, voice low and threatening. "Who are you—and what is your relationship with the First Prince?"
Anming almost laughed, but his expression stayed neutral. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? You're the one who barged into my bath."
The man's eyes narrowed. "You're a master of lies. You claim to be Mei Lan—a woman's name. The guards refer to you as 'miss' or 'my lady,' yet here you stand, clearly a Ger. You invoked the Prince's name as a shield, claimed to be his woman, yet I've never heard of you." The man's voice was full of skepticism. "So you're either really his woman, simply bold, or just foolish."
"Is this how you thank someone for saving you?" Anming's tone was dry.
"Which is it?" the stranger pressed, blade biting a little harder.
Anming weighed his options, then answered calmly, voice steady as the blade pricked his skin. "I am neither."
"Then why save me?"
For the first time, Anming let out a genuine laugh, short, bitter, edged with irony. "I didn't have much choice, now did I? Honestly, I care little for royal squabbles. It's none of my concern why you're here tonight. The sooner you leave, the sooner I can forget you were ever here."
"And I'm supposed to believe you?"
Anming's gaze hardened. "You should be the last to speak of virtue and trust. You fell into my bath, threatened my life, and now question my honesty. Who, exactly, is more suspicious?"
"I am no thief."
"And I am supposed to believe that?" Anming threw the words back at him, voice flat.
The man's eyes flickered, recognizing the irony. He lowered his blade, sliding it back into its sheath with a deft motion. "Forgive me," he said, and the sincerity in his voice caught Anming off guard.
"That should have been the first thing you said," Anming raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised as he replied coolly, stepping out of the blood-tinged bathwater. Before he could reach for a towel, a heavy gray cloak was draped over his shoulders, warm, rough, and surprisingly gentle. He glanced up, startled, meeting the man's stormy gray eyes, open and honest. There wasn't a hint of lust in those eyes; only a quiet respect.
"I am no thief," the man repeated. "And the First Prince is not to be trusted." Amused he asked, "Mei Lan, was it?"
Anming nodded, studying him.
"It doesn't suit you," The stranger smiled faintly, then leapt onto the window sill. He paused for one last look. "We'll meet again. Next time, let it be without masks."
And with that, he disappeared into the night, leaving Anming alone, wrapped in cloak and secrets, the water cooling at his feet, his thoughts swirling in the silence he'd fought so hard to reclaim.