Chuntao hastened towards the place where Nianzu had told her to wait for her. "I am late. His highness might be waiting for me. How can I be so careless?" Chuntao mumbled while walking briskly. Since night had fallen, the road was not fully visible. She did not see the pebble on the ground and fell.
She hurt her knee while a low cry escaped from her mouth. A few people who were walking past her glanced at her but walked away. She quickly stood up and resumed walking. Soon, she reached the same place which Prince Nianzu had mentioned to her. She was relieved to see him there, who was sitting under it with a lantern beside him.
Chuntao halted right in front of him, catching her breath. Nianzu was delighted to see her. "F-forgive me, y-your highness. I got busy with my friend," Chuntao said, lowering her eyes. She stepped ahead and quickly carried the lantern in her hand.
Nianzu stood up from the ground. Chuntao found it a little weird when she did not get any response from the Fourth Prince. Her grip on the lantern tightened as the Prince started walking. She too quietly followed him and then went a little ahead of him, illuminating the path for him. 'I should have been careful regarding the time. His highness never got angry at me.' Chuntao contemplated.
Nianzu, on the other hand, was following in her footsteps. Earlier in the evening, he lost her and decided to wait for her under that plum blossom tree. While walking, he questioned himself why he was following Chuntao. It was so strange of him. He never acted that way until today. After deep contemplation, he realized that he was gradually falling for Chuntao.
As he came from the market, he encountered a young man who was thrashed brutally by the men of a bureaucratic family. Why? Because he loved the woman of their family. At that moment, he realized the wrong he was doing.
Being a Prince with the highest status in the Empire after the Emperor, if he loved a woman who had no social status then, more than him the woman would suffer. He had seen his mother suffer, who was originally a concubine. He did not want the same would happen with the woman he adored.
While thinking all this, his eyes noticed that Chuntao was dragging her one foot as if she had injured it. He extended his hand out, but then stopped himself and pulled it back.
He continued following her, without speaking anything.
Chuntao was fidgeting with her fingers, which were on the lantern. "Shall I apologize to his highness again?" She halted at her place. Nianzu, who was walking behind her, stopped, too. Chuntao turned to Nianzu and lowered her head, befuddling him. "Your highness, forgive me. I will help his highness to complete his work. And, I will not come outside the Palace for a year," Chuntao affirmed.
Nianzu knitted his brows as he still could not understand what Chuntao was trying to mean.
"I know his highness is angry at me as I wasted the precious time of his highness and let him wait for me. Please forgive me, your highness," Chuntao sincerely apologized to him.
Nianzu smiled. "I am not angry at you, Miss. Why would I be?" Nianzu questioned her. Chuntao lifted her head and peered at the Fourth Prince before lowering them again.
"His highness did not reply to me earlier, so I thought…" she took a pause and then continued, "…I thought that I made a grave mistake."
"Did his highness enjoy the fair?" Chuntao asked.
Nianzu nodded and started walking while Chuntao walked beside him. "Give me. The lantern must be heavy." Nianzu forwarded his hand, but Chuntao put her hands towards her left.
"It is not heavy at all, your highness. I am supposed to carry it, not the Prince," Chuntao pronounced.
"Why do you think so?" Nianzu queried.
"Because you are a Prince while I am a servant who has the duty to serve the Prince. In the presence of a servant, a Prince cannot work," Chuntao answered. Nianzu chuckled upon hearing her.
"This is what everyone thinks but in reality-" Nianzu stopped and so did Chuntao. He took a step closer to her, which intimidated Chuntao. She stepped back on her foot and lost her balance, but Nianzu caught her by wrapping his arm around her waist. They both looked into each other's eyes. Chuntao's grip on the lantern tightened, and she gulped. "A servant's duty is indeed to serve the Prince but the Prince can do the petty work himself. He also has a duty towards his servant, that is not to exploit him/her." Nianzu had taken the lantern from Chuntao's hand and made her stand straight.
Chuntao's cheeks flushed red, and she quickly took a few steps to get away from Prince Nianzu. "Forgive me," she said in a low voice.
"Let's resume our journey," Nianzu stated. Chuntao nodded and walked along with him, but was at least a meter away from him. She was stealing glances of the Fourth Prince when Nianzu spoke, "Don't you know that this route also joins with the forest? Since it's night, any animal might come out and take you away. So, stay close."
Chuntao was intimidated to hear that. She looked around and found the long trees around. She came closer to Prince Nianzu, leaving an arm's distance between them.
Soon, they reached the Palace. Nianzu had taken a shortcut for the Palace that's the forest route. The Royal Guards at the gate bowed, seeing the Prince, and opened the gates. Both Nianzu and Chuntao walked in.
As they reached the Palace Grounds, Nianzu told Chuntao to check her foot with the Physician. She wondered how the Prince found out, but before she could ask, Nianzu walked away to the Eastern Palace.
Chuntao returned to her quarters and found the Chief Palace maid. "Where were you?" The Chief Palace maid asked.
"I went to the market. There was a fair. I took the permission of the Fourth Prince," Chuntao replied, lowering her head.
The Chief Palace maid glared at her for a few seconds before leaving her room, followed by two maids. She was confused because this was the first time she was questioned.
