Mei Terumi's face instantly flushed scarlet once she realized what had happened, and she nearly sprang up from the sofa.
She had never expected Pakura to pull something like this, directly expressing her feelings to His Majesty on her behalf.
What was she supposed to do now?
Her heart was thrown into turmoil. For a moment, she had no idea what to do. Looking at the emperor beside her, her flushed face could not force out a single word.
Zhen merely chuckled as he looked at her. "What's wrong?"
Mei Terumi's gaze darted about, her heart pounding wildly as she said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, Pakura was just talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart."
Zhen raised a brow. "So what she said was false?"
"..."
Mei Terumi felt that if she simply went along with that statement now, perhaps nothing would come of it. His Majesty would only treat it as a farce.
But she was extremely unwilling to do so.
After a moment of silence, she said, "I never expected anything, Your Majesty... You needn't take it to heart."
By saying this, she was essentially admitting her feelings while tossing the question back to Zhen. The implication was clear: she did not deny it, and how he chose to handle it was up to him.
Zhen found this little scheme rather amusing. An ordinary man might have been left flustered by something like this, but Zhen was no ordinary man. His status alone allowed him to completely disregard such things.
Zhen said, "In that regard, you really are like Pakura."
Mei Terumi froze, confusion appearing in her eyes.
Zhen smiled faintly. "What Pakura said was the same as what you said. She also expressed her admiration for me and said she merely wanted to tell