An icy night

Tian Le sat on a narrow couch and glared at Ruo Tian. Who would have thought that the general who had taken over an entire country would turn out to be the crybaby he used to be?

"So these days you don't just fall into other people's ponds, you invade entire countries, huh?" he asked frostily.

Cui Ruo Tian took a deep breath. He had taken off his outer clothing and was treating the deep wound on his shoulder and chest.

Tian Le tried to ignore his impressive physique. Back then, he had befriended him because he was just as frail and weak as he was. But there was nothing left of the fragile boy from the past. 

His broad shoulders seemed unaffected by the puny wounds, muscles tensing beneath the skin, which was adorned here and there with unsightly scars. Tian Le crossed his arms in front of his chest and pulled his feet up. 

The sight of Ruo Tian made him furious. It had only been one day, the ridicule of a little boy, and yet the betrayal felt worse than any bullying he had experienced in the palace.

"No matter how much you hate me now, A'Le. You are safest here with me. 

As soon as you try to escape and your true gender is revealed, my men will kill you," said Ruo Tian. 

His voice sounded worried. He kept looking down at the floor, as if he couldn't bear to look at his old friend, whom he had once sworn to save and marry.

Every glance he averted hurt Tian Le all the more. For the first time, he felt not only weak and useless, but also degraded. 

Without another word, he curled up on the narrow, hard bed and squeezed his eyes shut. He gritted his teeth to hold back the tears. Eventually, Cui Ruo Tian's footsteps and bustling sounds fell silent. 

The tent grew dark and the cold crept up on him. Cold was his greatest enemy. He could hardly breathe and his heart pounded wildly to pump the cold blood through his body when, out of the blue, something heavy but soft hit him.

Before he could react, Ruo Tian wrapped him in the thick, velvety blanket and lifted him off the bed. Tian Le stared at him. He wavered between screaming and striking out, neither of which was likely to be a good idea, and in trying to free one hand from the blanket, he only tangled himself up more. "Hold still. You don't tolerate the cold very well. Your asthma is getting worse and your heart can't keep up," Ruo Tian warned him. 

Tian Le froze. He didn't want to be lectured by him. He sank into the thin but soft mattress of the bed and crawled, curled up like a fat caterpillar, to the other end of the bed, from where he glared angrily at Ruo Tian from his dark green silk cocoon. 

The corners of Ruo Tian's mouth twitched as if the sight amused him, but then he looked away again, avoiding direct eye contact with the prince.

"If you're interested, Sanhe won't suffer. Over time, many ministers have already turned away from your father. For a long time now, it was more than just the title that made him king. Someone else will take his place. 

Someone who will keep the peace with Baolei. Nothing will change for the people. Rulers come and go, they don't care who rules," said Ruo Tian. 

Tian Le knew that. He was physically weak, but not mentally. Nevertheless, it was his family who had taken their own lives because of Cui Ruo Tian's invasion.

"That doesn't justify what you did. A lot of Sanhe soldiers died out there. They left behind families, wives, sons, daughters. They won't be indifferent," he replied bitterly.

Ruo Tian's gaze merely glanced at him. He nodded.

"That's why we're going to retreat. Me and the core of my soldiers. Some will stay and help build a new government. The hatred will simmer for a while, but it won't change anything," he replied.

Tian Le was slowly lulled to sleep by the warmth that now enveloped him. He hadn't slept for days. The thunder of war had kept him awake every night. 

The screams and the rustling and scurrying of the fleeing servants. Now, however, exhaustion overwhelmed him. There was nothing left to fear; the worst had already happened.

Fei was dead, his family was dead. And the only person he had ever trusted had betrayed him and couldn't even bring himself to look at him. 

Tian Le sank deeper into the green silk cocoon. He pulled his legs up and laid his head on his thickly wrapped knees.

"Do you hate me, A'Le?" Ruo Tian asked abruptly. The prince opened his eyes a crack.

"With all my heart!" he whispered back.

The next morning, Tian Le awoke still curled up in the thick blanket at the end of the bed. When he looked up, he saw that Cui Ruo Tian had already changed back into his uniform. When he saw that the prince had woken up, he avoided his gaze.

"You're staying here. You'll be safest in my tent. When we leave at noon, you'll ride with me!" he said. Tian Le shook his head.

"What do you hope to gain from this? I'm not eager to die, nor am I eager to be your prisoner," he said.

"You are not my prisoner!" Ruo Tian replied automatically. Tian Le's gaze darkened even more.

"You will be safe as long as you stay with me," he added. Tian Le snorted.

"Safe? With the man who invaded my country and is responsible for the death of my family?" he asked angrily.

"A country that doesn't even know your name, let alone knows you exist. A family that abandoned you with your first cry. Do you really mourn them?" Cui Ruo Tian asked excitedly, looking at him properly for the first time. This time, Tian Le avoided his gaze.

"At least one of us got what he wanted," he whispered hoarsely, tugging at his red wedding dress. With a few steps, Cui Ruo Tian was beside him and leaned over him. His gaze pierced Tian Le's dark eyes.

"A marriage is only valid after the wedding night," he threatened. 

"So stop sulking!"

Tian Le's heart sank. Panicked, he pulled the blanket even tighter around himself and crawled as far away from Ruo Tian as he could.

The kiss his old friend had forced on him had burned on his lips all night. He had never been kissed before, let alone treated so roughly. 

But what frightened him even more was that his thoughts kept circling around it incessantly. Around Ruo Tian's lips, his tongue, his scent.

Tian Le kicked the general off the bed with his foot and limited himself to glaring venomously at him from his safe green cocoon. Ruo Tian hesitated briefly, then turned and left his camp.

The prince did not leave his safe cocoon all day. Even when food was brought to him, he crawled with it to the table and tried the coarse, over-spiced food prepared by the camp cook.

He gagged; such food was not for him, and soon he was writhing in stomach pains and rolling from one end of the bed to the other. 

Ruo Tian returned as promised around noon. He wasted no time. He would return to Baolei with only two dozen of his men to report to the emperor.

After peeling the protesting prince out of his blanket, he threw a thick fur coat over him and hoisted him onto the saddle of his black war stallion. 

Tian Le held on tightly. There were so many things he had never done before, and riding was one of them.

Cui Ruo Tian swung himself onto the horse behind him, and some of the soldiers giggled like palace maids. Tian Le turned away. 

The soldier who had dragged him away called himself Fugui. He was something like Cui Ruo Tian's right-hand man. He was a rotund man with sideburns and short legs. But he was not to be underestimated; on the battlefield, the rotund man was like a berserker. 

Ruo Tian slid close to the prince, his heat denser and more present than the blanket that had kept him warm last night.

As Ruo Tian spurred his horse, he put his arms around the prince and held the reins tightly. Without a word, they set off on the long journey back to Baolei.