The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow.
The young man before him had laughter hidden in his eyes. His sly expression had nearly given him away, forcing him to muster a flattering look.
[-From now on, that bastard Crown Prince is the person I respect most!]
[-Build good relations with your superiors. Looking after the boss is everyone's responsibility.]
The Crown Prince: ?
Shen Yangge's almond-shaped eyes were wide, and his fair, tender face was even faintly flushed with excitement. Looking down at him from the crown of his head, he looked like...
Shen Yangge gave a feigned cough, urging him to get on with it. "Your Highness?"
The Crown Prince held his hand in one of his own, opened the Spring Dew ointment, and dabbed some onto his fingers before slowly applying it to the wound on Shen Yangge's wrist.
It felt a little cool, with a faint tickle.
As those fingertips pressed down and spread the ointment, their proximity seemed to thicken the air into something warm and clinging.
If Shen Yangge hadn't been so desperate to die, he might not have minded the Crown Prince keeping him as a little pet. After all, the Crown Prince was the most powerful patron in this world. Anyone would want to ride his coattails.
The wound on his wrist was treated, but those on his lower back, neck, and calves were not.
Shen Yangge felt he could apply the ointment to those himself, so he tried negotiating with the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, you've had a tiring day. Why not retire early? I can take care of the rest myself."
The Crown Prince released Shen Yangge's hand and hesitated for a moment. "There is one spot Shen Zhuanxie cannot reach himself."
"Huh?"
[-Where? My lower back is a little tricky, but it's not impossible.]
[-Come to think of it, aside from refusing to kill me, you've been pretty nice to me. At least you haven't taken a knife and gouged out my flesh.]
The Crown Prince raised his hand and touched an icy fingertip to Shen Yangge's shoulder blade. Shen Yangge's face slowly reddened.
His ears flushed, and he instinctively pushed the Crown Prince's hand away.
[-Silent screaming! Why did one poke from his finger make me feel so strange?!]
System 615: [Because the original owner's body happens to have several sensitive spots. The spot on his back that the Crown Prince poked is one of them. The others are his ears, ankles, and inner th**hs.]
Had the original owner been born into the wrong body?
How could a grown man...
System 615 fell silent for several seconds before replying: [Host, everyone has sensitive spots. The original owner just had a few more than most. You'll get used to it.]
Easy for you to say. Try experiencing it yourself.
System 615 promptly fell silent.
The Crown Prince lowered his hand. "Can Shen Zhuanxie reach this spot himself?"
Even building a friendly relationship with his superior wasn't worth gambling with his chastity!
"Your Highness, I can manage."
"Oh."
Surprisingly, the Crown Prince did not insist. He handed Shen Yangge the ointment and looked into his round, almond-shaped eyes. "Then do it yourself."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Shen Yangge took the ointment and was about to get up and leave, but the Crown Prince pressed a hand onto his shoulder. "Do it here."
"But..."
Green Willow desperately wanted to curse him out. This damned little official kept refusing the Crown Prince again and again. How dare he?
"...There's a young lady here. Men and women should observe proper boundaries."
Only after finally noticing Green Willow's murderous gaze did Shen Yangge rack his brains and come up with this excuse.
She was the male lead's cherished love, after all. Surely he wouldn't casually dismiss her again.
"Green Willow."
The Crown Prince's voice was languid. "You may leave."
Instantly proven wrong.
Wait... was she a fake cherished love?
One of his top three cherished loves, and he just dismissed her like that? Had he not seen the grief written all over her face?
That couldn't be right. Why was this situation getting stranger and stranger?
Green Willow bowed, aggrieved. If she had been allowed to look back every few steps, she would certainly have done so over and over, her eyes brimming with tears and reluctance.
Once his cherished love disappeared through the chamber doors, Shen Yangge knew he had no chance of refusing again. He clenched his back teeth and thought, We're both men anyway. It's not like I'll lose a chunk of flesh.
After forcibly reassuring himself, Shen Yangge loosened the collar of his underrobe, scooped up a little ointment, and applied it to the wound on his neck.
Under the Crown Prince's calm gaze, he gently spread it evenly before withdrawing his hand.
When he reached the wound on his lower back, Shen Yangge hesitated for a long time before lifting a corner of his underrobe and hurriedly smearing ointment over it.
He moved too quickly. As a result, he scooped up too much ointment and failed to spread it evenly, leaving a large portion smeared onto his underrobe.
Next came his back.
He first tried reaching down from above, but couldn't quite reach, so he had to reach upward from his waist instead.
Shen Yangge didn't want to expose too much of himself in front of someone else.
So he didn't even lift his hem. He simply scooped up a dollop of ointment, tilted his neck and head back slightly, and smeared it all on haphazardly.
He didn't care whether he had the right spot. That was where he had felt the poke earlier, anyway.
With someone watching him the entire time, Shen Yangge felt not only embarrassed but also something inexplicable that he couldn't put into words.
Without dwelling on it, he bent down and reached to roll up the leg of his underpants.
When his pale ankle emerged, all the jade-white porcelain around him seemed to become mere decoration setting it off.
He hadn't noticed earlier, but both his ankle and calf were injured, mottled with blue and purple bruises. They didn't look serious, yet they stood out glaringly against his fair, unblemished leg.
The Crown Prince had been silently watching Shen Yangge all along. When Shen Yangge rolled up his trouser leg, his pupils visibly contracted slightly, but in an instant, his expression returned to its usual unruffled calm.
System 615 happened to catch it, but it wasn't a romance or relationship system, so it couldn't identify what was strange about that look.
"Your Highness, I've finished applying the ointment. It's late, so I'll take my leave."
With that, Shen Yangge clasped his hands and bowed, then turned to leave.
He was completely unaware of the rosy flush on his face. In his eagerness to leave, his movements had become terribly stiff.
The Crown Prince did not stop him.
Shen Yangge hurried out of the Crown Prince's bedchamber and returned to the room where he would be spending the night. He closed the door and let out a long, muddled breath.
After lying down on the bed and making a haphazard attempt to sort out his thoughts, he drifted groggily off to sleep without even taking off his shoes.
[Beep beep, beep beep-BEEP!!]
The alarm blared endlessly in his mind, as though something had exploded. Shen Yangge's face twisted in pain, and he opened his eyes.
A sharp sword came slashing down from above. Startled, he sprang up and rolled to the side in one fluid motion, without the slightest hesitation.
The assassin holding the sword paused in surprise, his gaze falling on that refined, scholarly face.
He thought, How did this feeble little official react so quickly?
Had the sleeping drug he administered failed?
Little did he know that Shen Yangge had detected the attempt on his life so quickly entirely because of the system alarm sounding in his mind.
Seeing that his killing blow had failed, the assassin prepared to strike again.
Just then...
Before you continue