"Yi Xing, what's wrong?"

I looked at the concerned face of my childhood friend, the princess, also known as Mei-Lien. Her features looked calm but had a hint of worry, especially in her eyes.

"Gōng zhǔ, don't worry about me. You have more pressing matters to worry about."

She rolled her eyes and punched my arm lightly.

"How many times have I told you to call me by my name? Silly Yi Xing! We're friends!"

I laughed at her childishness and smiled at her. She grinned and held my hands in hers. My body started to heat up, and I was struggling to keep my calm demeanor.

" Gōng zhǔ! I m-mean Mei-Lien! You shouldn't hold my hands so easily, what if your royal servants catch us and spread rumors?"

The sweet and naive girl just giggled and winked at me. A wave of distress mixed in with desire came over me which made me involuntarily shiver. 

"Oh Yi Xing, we can hold hands because we're friends and even if my servants said anything...I'll just deny their rumors!"

Despite holding hands with the girl I loved, her reason for holding my hands and her answer to fight any false rumors of us just made me feel worse...In fact, it made me realize how far I was from ever getting a girl like her.