If I would have known that sharing a bed with the princess meant being used as a pillow or undercover I would not have agreed to sleep in the same bed as her. Now, when we slept out in the forest she hardly moved from her position in my arms, but now that she was back in an actual bed, Soojung made good use of me as a pillow and sprawled on top of me like a star fish. She would occasionally mumble incoherent words, shift from one side to the other, turn her head and rub her cheeks like a cat on my shirt. I could not move in fear that I would wake her from her slumber nor could I skillfully shift her back on the bed and let her sleep because she would just worm her way back to my body like a leech unconsciously. So I was stuck until morning or whenever the princess wants to get up.

It had to be mid morning before the princess decided that she wanted to grace the world with her half asleep face. She groggily opened her eyes and yawned, slowly bringing her hand up to rub away the remaining sleep in her eyes.

"Morning." I smiled up at her.

Soojung hummed in response. I fixed her mangled hair with my hand, smoothing out the mess.

"You sleep like a log." I deadpanned.

That jolted her awake.

"I do not!" She protested smacking my chest in the process. I openly laughed as she continued to berate me with her small fists.

I flipped her over easily so that I was the one towering over her on the bed and smirked winningly. I leaned down inch by inch and she reverted back on the bed as much as possible, inch by inch until she could no more and I was only centimeters to her face.

"You wouldn't even know, you were so dead asleep last night." I teased, planting a kiss on the tip of her noses to further. I didn't know why I did that, but I didn't feel like caring. The shock was of course evident on Soojung's face. She'd never seen me do something so not me, and that surprised her quite a bit. However, she returned the teasing favor of her own as she grabbed my face and tilted it until her lips touched my ears.

"Well, you make a pretty good pillow, servant."

The tickles of her breathe and her close proximity made me produce a low rumble from my chest. Cheeky princess.

"Of course, anything for the bratty princess," I countered mockingly. There was no bite behind the words and she knew it because she giggled and nudged the underside of my chin like a cat would when happy. I could see the hint of pinkness on her cheeks and it only made her that much prettier, even with bed head. We stayed in that blissful state until we heard the rumble of a different kind from the princess.

I chuckled. Getting up, I held out my hand for her. "Come on, time to feed the princess."

Soojung blushed madly but took my hand anyways as he headed down to the dining area of the inn.

It's been a stressful day.

Even with admirable endurance and unlimited stamina, keeping up with Soojung on her spree of exploration around the city was hard-pressed. Right after breakfast she dragged me right out the door and into the chaos of the city streets jumping from one merchant stall to the next and wandering the marketplace for fresh food and her favorite, exotic tropical fruits; specifically mangoes.

At least this time she listened and stuck close to me, but I also did not take my eyes off of her or let her wander more than a few feet of me. I stayed beside her like a shadow clinging to its puppet. I got many looks and whispers and even a load of giggling gossiping girls pointing and whispering amongst themselves, but I ignored them all. By the end of our first day even I was exhausted and weary. The same happened again and again for the next few days all the way until we had two days left in Chang'an. Soojung would pull me left and right to merchants selling different trinkets, accessories, food, and fabric. It was nice to see her so relaxed and the spark of joy in her eyes, it was rewarding enough to see her so enthusiastic even if it meant being dragged around like a rag doll and hearing snickers from everyone.

We had an unspoken sleeping arrangement and by night I would prepare the bedding then leave to wait for the princess outside to change. Out of courtesy in the presence of a lady and royal at that, but also to prevent me from, well, going nuts. Even if I was anatomically female, society knew me as male. It was already scandalous to share a room with Soojung, moreover sleep in the same bed as her. But, the princess wants what she wants and I already promised her; it was not like I could say no. At th