The Princess Smells So Good (GL) - Chapter 5

One morning, the slave was busy.

While Wei Zhao sat primly on a large rock washing her face, the slave had already found a stone to sharpen her knife, built a simple water filter, and used another banana leaf to catch the clean water dripping out.

Meanwhile, Wei Zhao’s gaze wandered over the water for a while—until she suddenly saw flashes of silver, like street performers doing tricks. A few fish splashed up along the riverbank, flailing in the air.

For a moment, Wei Zhao felt like clapping. She raised her hands instinctively, but the slave turned to look at her just then. Maybe it was those strange-colored eyes, but whenever the slave looked at her, Wei Zhao always felt a chill—like the girl could see right through her.

Wei Zhao coughed into her fist, pretending it was nothing. She opened her mouth to say something, but the slave had already turned away. She used three stones to build a simple stove, moving back and forth in front of Wei Zhao. Before long, flames rose from the fire, and the fish, cruelly skewered through the middle, were set next to it to roast.

From start to finish, Wei Zhao just sat there, completely still. She felt a strange unease. Shifting a little, she realized her hand was resting not on stone, but on the slave’s outer robe. It had served as her blanket before—now it was her seat cushion.

What exactly was she uneasy about?

Wei Zhao couldn’t help but think—she was the master, and the slave was supposed to work. Wasn’t it only natural to just sit and watch?

“The fish is almost ready. Aren’t you going to drink some water?” the slave asked, skillfully turning the fish as she waved Wei Zhao over.

Wei Zhao pressed her lips together and moved closer.

“Here.” The slave handed her a neatly folded banana leaf cup. Wei Zhao took it, staring blankly at the green little cup in her hand. She was a princess of the Great Zhou, always dignified and proper—but with her head bowed like that, she looked like a young girl, naive and unsure.

The slave’s eyes paused on Wei Zhao’s pale neck, then she reached up to touch her own back. After a moment, she dropped her hand and gave a faint, mocking smile.

“You don’t need me to feed you too, do you, Your Highness?”

Wei Zhao immediately looked up, eyes wide like an angry cat. “What nonsense are you saying?! Who needs you to feed me?”

She lowered her head again and began sipping the water in small, careful gulps.

Even when she was mad, she still managed to carry herself with the grace of a princess.

The slave turned away and calmly continued roasting the fish.

After all the walking, Wei Zhao was genuinely thirsty. She drank steadily, not too slow, but soon she began to slow down—sneaking glances at the slave. This foreign girl had grown tall—taller than most men in the empire. Compared to Wei Zhao, she was over a full head taller, which made her presence feel even more overwhelming.

She had a wheat-colored complexion that didn’t fit the Great Zhou’s pale beauty standards, but it matched well with her green eyes. Her eyelashes were also long…

Suddenly, those green eyes turned toward her, frowning slightly. “What is it? Is there something wrong with the water?”

“You…” Wei Zhao buried her face in the cup. Her fingers clenched the banana leaf so hard it nearly crumpled. “How do you know so much?”

She didn’t like the slave and never arranged for her to have any teachers. But somehow, the girl seemed to know too much.

The slave looked at her. Wei Zhao thought she heard a quiet sigh—or maybe it was just the wind—because when she looked up again, the slave’s expression hadn’t changed.

“I was appointed by the late emperor himself to be your companion. I attended your lessons with you.”

Wei Zhao blinked. “Huh?”

The slave curled her lip. “When you didn’t do well, I was the one who got beaten.”

That jogged Wei Zhao’s memory. She, a noble princess, could never be punished. The companions in her class were all children of ministers, also untouchable. So the ones who ended up taking the blame were their servants.

For a while, Wei Zhao had even enjoyed making mistakes just to see the slave get punished.

That was when her studies took a nosedive.

“A Xian, what am I going to do with you?” Her mother had stroked her hair with a troubled expression. “Are you unhappy with the companion I arranged for you… or with me? As the eldest daughter of the emperor, this behavior is not fitting for a good princess.”

Her mother had been gentle and kind, but young Wei Zhao had shivered at her words.

After that, she stopped deliberately messing up to get the slave punished. But from then on, she also began to see the slave as a shadow she couldn’t shake off—always there, always following her. It felt like a punishment, something her mother forced on her out of spite.

A slave. Her exalted, untouchable mother had chosen a slave to be her companion—to study and live by her side.

Wei Zhao remembered bits and pieces. A lot of it was blurry now, but she still recalled how the slave had always been there, no matter what the teacher said or did—always serious, always cold.

“You people in Great Zhou teach such interesting things,” the slave said, eyes gleaming. “When I was a child in another country, they told me the earth was flat. But here, they say it’s round. Even this—this filter thing—is fascinating.”

Wei Zhao looked at the bright light in her eyes as she showed off what she’d made. Then it hit her: even though the slave had learned so much, there were still many things she was trying for the first time—applying her knowledge in practice.

Wei Zhao lifted her chin proudly. “Of course! My great-grandmother was the Chosen of Heaven. She changed all of Great Zhou. She once said she’d change the whole world.”

The light in the slave’s eyes slowly dimmed. She looked down at the fish, tested it with her knife, nodded slightly, and handed it to Wei Zhao. “She must have been an extraordinary person.”

Wei Zhao smiled. “She was—”

“A butcher who killed countless people,” the slave added.

Wei Zhao’s smile froze. She snatched the fish from the slave’s hand, glaring. “What do you know? Every great empire is built on bl00d and bones. My great-grandmother and her wife created the most glorious era in Great Zhou history. That’s something for the history books!”

The slave didn’t respond. She lowered her head, blew on her fish, then bit into it—meat, bones, and all—cheeks puffed as she chewed.

Wei Zhao pressed her lips together and muttered, “Savage.”

After cleaning up, the slave crouched down again, back turned to Wei Zhao. Wei Zhao, still fuming, said in a low voice, “You haven’t apologized to my great-grandmother yet.”

The slave turned around and looked at her calmly. “I’m sorry.”

Wei Zhao was left speechless, anger stuck in her chest. She stomped her foot hard. The slave glanced down and said, “The soles too thin. Be careful not to cut yourself on the rocks. Even with my robe underneath, it won’t help.”

“When we get back, I’ll reward you with a hundred robes!”

The slave’s eyes curved slightly as she turned her head. “Then you’d better hurry up. Who knows how long I’ll have to wait for my reward?”

“I told you to call me ‘Your humble servant!’” Wei Zhao grumbled.

“No,” the slave said flatly. “It’s not like you can kill me anyway…”

Before she finished, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Wei Zhao had bitten her.

It was still spring, and though the outer robe was thick, the slave had taken it off—so her inner clothes were thinner. She let out a muffled sound of pain but didn’t say a word, walking even faster.

Wei Zhao’s sharp little teeth let go for a moment, almost curious—but then bit down again, harder this time, sinking into the flesh.

“Little wildcat,” the slave murmured. In her calm, lake-like eyes, a faint trace of amusement flickered.