The Little Princess's Secret Guard - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Bitterness

Shen Panyan hadn’t expected him to say that. She froze instantly. She wanted to say something, but the words were stuck in her throat.

Finally, she turned her head away and sulked. “I’m not talking to you anymore!”

Lin Xiao paid no attention to her petty temper and carried her down the mountain.

West Mountain was large, but the slope wasn’t very high. The cliff where Shen Panyan fell was, strictly speaking, not a cliff, but more like a very long, steep slope. Coupled with the heavy snow that provided a cushion, Shen Panyan’s injuries, besides the saber wound, were mostly simple scrapes.

Lin Xiao carried her, but they hadn’t walked far before the sky darkened.

The snow in the mountains hadn’t melted, making travel difficult. If they waited until it was completely dark, it would be impossible for him to carry the Princess out of the forest.

Lin Xiao made a prompt decision and began searching for a place to hide, intending to wait until dawn to leave.

The forest was silent. Except for the crunching of their feet on the snow, there were no sounds of insects, fish, or birds. It felt as if only they existed in the entire world.

Shen Panyan was already afraid of the dark. Now, in this unfamiliar forest, the darkness and solitude pressed in heavily, filling her heart with even greater terror.

Her uninjured hand couldn’t help but climb up to his neck. Shen Panyan tightly held onto him. “Lin Xiao, how much longer until we can go back?”

Lin Xiao’s voice was flat and calm. “Your Highness, it is getting dark now. We cannot walk out of this forest.”

Cannot walk out of this forest?

Does that mean they have to spend the night here?

Shen Panyan’s face turned pale. She did not want to spend the night here.

She hugged Lin Xiao’s neck even tighter. “Lin Xiao, I don’t want to spend the night here…”

Lin Xiao’s voice was indifferent. “Your Highness, we have no choice but to stay here for the night.”

“It’s already dark. If we keep walking, this subordinate will lose his way, and we will only get lost.”

Shen Panyan bit her lip, her eyes slightly red. “I understand…”

Then, she whispered, “Don’t be fierce to me…”

She felt that Lin Xiao was not like a person, but rather a block of wood.

Otherwise, she couldn’t understand why he always spoke and acted with such detachment.

Lin Xiao: ”

He hadn’t.

But arguing with the Princess again would only result in the same outcome as before, so Lin Xiao chose to shut his mouth and say nothing more.

A dull ache continuously came from her left shoulder wound. Shen Panyan was cold and hungry. Looking at the increasingly dark sky, the trees in the forest appeared like shadowy ghosts in her eyes. Shen Panyan dared not look anymore, turning her head and burying it into his chest.

Lin Xiao’s steps paused slightly, then he continued forward, but his pace quickened a bit.

The only sound in her ears was Lin Xiao’s footsteps.

Shen Panyan’s head felt a little dizzy. She really couldn’t bear the loneliness of the environment. She reached out and tugged at the clothes on his chest. “Lin Xiao, talk to me.”

This time, Lin Xiao didn’t remain silent. “What does Your Highness want this subordinate to talk about?”

“Anything is fine…”

However, Lin Xiao genuinely didn’t know what to say to the Princess, so he fell silent again.

Shen Panyan felt stifled when he didn’t speak again. After a moment, her dejected voice sounded again. “Lin Xiao, do you really hate me?”

Lin Xiao: “No.”

Shen Panyan: “Then why aren’t you talking?”

Lin Xiao: “This subordinate simply does not know what to say to Your Highness.”

Shen Panyan fell silent. A moment later, her discouraged voice spoke again. “Then let’s talk about Qiushuang. Why did you insist on killing her?”

Lin Xiao answered quite quickly this time. “This subordinate had already noticed her acting suspiciously and observed her in secret for a period of time. I later discovered that she seemed to have been in contact with people outside.”

“However, this subordinate could not leave Your Highness’s side for too long, so I never found out who she was contacting, only that she seemed to be plotting against Your Highness.”

“Yesterday, this subordinate discovered she brought two snakes back from outside. As for what happened next, Your Highness already knows.”

“Then, after you left, did you go to catch the snake or to kill people? Was that little maid killed by you too?” Shen Panyan continued to ask.

“You said Qiushuang was disloyal. What exactly did she do that made you insist on killing them?” Shen Panyan needed to know the answer to this question.

Lin Xiao’s voice was flat. “This subordinate learned from the little maid that your maid had long colluded with bandits outside the mountains. She kept trying to lure this subordinate away so she could take Your Highness to the bandits outside.”

“This subordinate killed the bandits who were laying in wait around you. As for the little maid and Qiushuang, one is the main culprit, and the other is an accomplice. Neither can escape.”

So, the little maid was already dead.

After hearing his words, Shen Panyan remained silent for a long time, her mind a mess. She knew what would happen to a weak woman like her if she fell into the hands of bandits.

She knew she was too foolish, which was why she ended up in this predicament, but… but he could have told her all this! Why didn’t he?

It wasn’t until Lin Xiao found a relatively dry cave in the forest, simply settling down so they could barely survive the night, that Shen Panyan finally spoke. “Lin Xiao, then why didn’t you tell me these things? If you had told me, even if I hadn’t fully believed you, I might not have trusted Qiushuang anymore. I wouldn’t have gone with her, and I wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable state now.”

Lin Xiao found some dry branches, lit a fire, and the flickering firelight illuminated their faces.

Lin Xiao looked at the Princess huddled by the fire, forced a slight smile, and a hint of mockery seemed to flash in his eyes. “Your Highness, you used your own life to protect her. Does it matter whether this subordinate spoke or not?”

“But you could have brought that little maid to me and told me the truth. With evidence, I would definitely have believed you.”

Hearing this, Lin Xiao suddenly seemed to hear something amusing. “Your Highness, have you forgotten? This subordinate is a Shadow Guard, not an Imperial Guard, whose actions need evidence.”

“Furthermore, this subordinate’s mission is only to protect Your Highness’s safety.”

“If there is anything detrimental to you, this subordinate only needs to eliminate it; there is no need to ask for your permission.”

He only needs to complete the mission; nothing else needs to be overly considered.

Mission, mission. All he thought about was the mission. Did he not have a heart? If it weren’t for the mission, would he not even spare her a glance if she fell from a cliff?

Shen Panyan was both angry and sad. She looked up, gazing at him stubbornly. “But you don’t say anything, and I don’t know anything. Is this how you conduct yourself even by Imperial Father’s side?”

Lin Xiao poked the fire, making the flames burn brighter.

His voice was indifferent. “His Majesty would not be like you, protecting a maid who repeatedly offended him, nor would he use his own life to protect her.”

“In His Majesty’s eyes, even if that maid was not disloyal, this subordinate’s emergence would be enough for His Majesty to sacrifice her life.”

“A Shadow Guard is the Master’s most loyal blade. They would never be detrimental to the Master.”

A Shadow Guard is the most loyal blade, not a person.

Don’t expect them to have much emotion.

This statement instantly extinguished the anger in Shen Panyan’s heart.

She was truly foolish to expect a blade to have compassion for her. In Lin Xiao’s eyes, her actions were probably both stupid and laughable, right?