Princess, Please Fall in Love with Me-Chapter 69 : Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Night, the Purple Jasmine Under the Moonlight (Part Two)
"Climbing up a tree in the dead of night and sneaking onto my balcony—if I was only wearing a thin dress, leaning on the railing, would you have taken me to elope?"
Yiwen took my hand, our figures crossing to stand opposite each other.
Moonlight fell, and our silhouettes bathed in its silvery glow.
"Did you like this romantic novel style—[Come, gentle night, bring my love to me]? How was that? Did you like that tone? Why did your face turn red?"
I extended my right hand to clasp her left, my left hand gently resting on Yiwen’s shoulder, leaning softly against her like a cat.
That jerk, always saying such sappy things, and why was her hand so soft…
At my touch, Yiwen’s face visibly flushed with a hint of shyness, but then she smirked, stepping forward with her left foot.
Caught off guard, I stepped back, and her face came within an inch of mine.
"[Her eyelashes were so long—she must be an angel! If I was her hand, I could caress that pure, beautiful cheek forever.]—Pfft, why did your face turn red too?"
I gazed at her slender eyelashes and the pale purple eyes half-hidden beneath, like a violet halo under the moon’s shadow, mysterious and melancholic, utterly captivating.
Tch, since when did the princess get so good with words? And why did I get all flustered by this childish nonsense.
Whether it was the brewing emotions or the intoxication of the night, as we danced, we seemed to slip into another world, instinctively acting out a story that wasn’t ours.
[Who was it? Who eavesdropped on my murmurs in the dark?]
[I couldn’t tell you my name, for it was your enemy’s.]
[Just call me ‘love,’ and I had a new name, never to be ‘Kelake’ again.]
[I would give myself wholly to you, to atone for a name that wasn’t yours.]
The moonlight gradually dimmed, the night growing hazy.
In that bewilderment, we seemed ready to pour out the truest words buried in our hearts.
"My only love sprang from my hate, which meant I’d one day have to kill my love."
"Trapped outside the fairy tale, where did you and I go?"
[You were the gem in my heart; my love was forever yours.]
[You were my soul; without you, life held no meaning for me.]
Gazing at the sinking moon, Yiwen’s eyes misted as she looked at me, one arm around my waist.
I leaned back slightly, our gazes intertwining.
"Take me away, to a place where we could cling to each other."
"Come with me, to a place where we could cast off our old names."
As the dance ended, we snapped awake in the chilly night breeze, looking at each other and bursting into laughter.
We knew this was just a dreamlike dance, for the fates behind us wouldn’t let us escape.
"If I truly abandoned this name, would you come with me, Loka?"
"Your Highness, would you?"
"Of course I wouldn’t."
"Then I wouldn’t either."
We leaned leisurely against the railing.
Yiwen thought for a moment, then handed me something.
Feeling the cool touch of silver, I looked at the unique silver sword in my hand, glancing curiously at Yiwen.
"You were about to leave, right? For how long? When would you return? Could you write—ah, forget it, why was I thinking so much? Just take it."
"If you got stuck somewhere else, this might get you recognized by the old man’s people. If you got caught as a thief, that’d be your own stupidity."
Yiwen pinched my cheek, looking exasperated at this clueless guy, unsure if I was playing dumb or genuinely that dense.
I froze for a moment, gripping the silver sword and looking at the slightly puffed-up Yiwen.
Without thinking, I reached out with my other hand to pat her head, the familiar sensation nearly making me forget my purpose.
"Your Highness, hold out your hand."
Yiwen bristled like a startled cat but obediently extended her hand.
A silver-carved dagger lay quietly in her palm, its rose engraving centered with half a deep blue gem.
Yiwen gently raised the dagger to the moonlight, the ocean’s hues reflecting off it, blue and silver intertwining around her arm.
"Then the other half went onto the gift Your Highness gave me."
I mysteriously pulled out the other half of the Ocean Heart Gem.
Coincidentally, the silver sword had a perfect slot, and with a gentle press, it fit seamlessly into the hilt.
Back when I acquired the Ocean Heart Gem, it took immense effort to find someone to split the rare treasure into two nearly identical halves.
I had planned to make a bracelet or necklace, but the dagger at my waist caught my eye.
Somehow, I recalled the times I’d wanted to draw it to kill Yiwen.
So, the gem was embedded in the silver-carved dagger I carried, a parting gift, hoping one day I might recognize her by it.
"Looked like we thought alike."
I tried aligning the sword’s hilt with the dagger.
When the two gems touched, they emitted a strange resonance, like waves crashing or the deep sea’s call, faintly echoing a mermaid’s song from legend.
"How was that? Magical, right? When they touched, you heard the sea’s voice. I heard the Saito’s Empire’s coastal region had the continent’s most famous beach."
Yiwen suddenly sat on the railing, idly swinging her legs. Seeing me try to comfort her with conversation, she pressed a finger to my lips.
"Alright, I got it. You were going away for a long time, right?"
Yiwen knew I wasn’t the talkative type.
A mere few days or months apart wouldn’t make me this chatty.
This time, it was likely years.
I tried to explain, but Yiwen cut me off again.
"Don’t talk. I didn’t care if it was one year or several, but you had to remember: you were mine. You could only return to me alive. No dying, got it?"
Hearing the slight pout in Yiwen’s tone, I knelt on one knee, gently clasping her right hand with both of mine, kissing it as she looked flustered.
"As you command, my Princess."
"Hey, you, you, you—bedtime, I needed to sleep!"
Her face red as a ripe apple, Yiwen broke free, bolting back to her room without looking back, diving into bed and burying her head under the covers.
Seeing this, I tactfully prepared to climb down the balcony.
"What were you doing? Running off again?"
"Oh, coming…"
Slipping into bed, we, exhausted, unknowingly clasped hands in our sleep.