A/N: Don’t forget to drop a comment after reading.
As if calling her by her childhood name was not shocking enough...
Zhang Jingyuan slowly leaned closer.
Shen Xuan instinctively stiffened.
Before she could react, he gently placed the back of his hand against her forehead.
Then, almost as if wanting to compare the temperature more accurately, he lightly rested his own forehead against hers.
The distance between them instantly disappeared.
Shen Xuan froze completely.
She could even feel the faint warmth radiating from him.
Five years had passed since they had first met.
The little boy who had once stood in the Shen family’s main hall had changed greatly.
Now fifteen years old, Zhang Jingyuan possessed the bearing of a young man on the threshold of adulthood.
In the Great Yin Dynasty, fifteen was no longer considered an ignorant child.
Many noble young masters had already begun serving in court.
Some had even entered military service or managed parts of their family’s affairs.
As the Crown Prince...
The burdens resting upon Zhang Jingyuan’s shoulders far exceeded those of ordinary young men.
Years of studying statecraft, martial arts, etiquette, and governance had gradually worn away the last traces of childishness.
His handsome features had become more defined.
His brows were sharp and dignified.
His posture remained perfectly straight even while sitting.
Though still youthful, he already carried the natural authority of one born to rule.
Yet...
At this very moment...
The future ruler of the empire was gently touching foreheads with a ten-year-old little girl.
"...Awu."
He softly called.
"...Awu."
His voice was unusually gentle.
Almost as though he were reassuring himself that she was truly before him.
Inside Shen Xuan’s mind...
Everything exploded.
"Dear Author!"
"I’m only ten!"
"Ten!"
"This is child endangerment!"
"Where are the censors?!"
"Someone save this innocent salted fish!"
The corners of Zhang Jingyuan’s lips unconsciously lifted.
A low chuckle escaped him.
The sudden sound startled Shen Xuan so badly that she forgot to continue panicking.
She stared blankly at him.
"He..."
"He laughed?"
"Did the icy Crown Prince actually laugh?"
The image simply refused to match the person she remembered from the novel.
Seeing her bewildered expression, Zhang Jingyuan gently withdrew.
"What nonsense are you thinking about?"
Without waiting for her answer...
His finger naturally reached forward.
Tap.
He lightly flicked her forehead.
It had become an unconscious habit over the years.
Whenever he heard one of Shen Xuan’s absurd thoughts...
He somehow wanted to remind her to stop overthinking.
Or perhaps...
He simply enjoyed seeing her exaggerated reactions.
"Hmmph..."
Shen Xuan immediately covered her forehead with both hands.
Her little brows tightly furrowed together.
The place he had flicked quickly turned red.
Her watery eyes glared at him accusingly.
"It hurts!"
"My forehead isn’t a drum!"
"Why does he keep flicking it?"
"One day I’ll become stupid because of him!"
Seeing the tiny patch of red on her fair forehead...
Zhang Jingyuan paused.
His expression changed ever so slightly.
"She’s... truly delicate."
"Just one light flick..."
"And she’s already red."
An unfamiliar thought quietly surfaced within his heart.
"She makes people want to protect her."
"To keep her somewhere safe..."
"Somewhere no one can bully her."
The thought had barely formed before Zhang Jingyuan’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
He immediately recognized how dangerous that line of thinking was.
For the first time in years...
He questioned himself.
"Since when..."
"...did I begin thinking like this?"
Looking at the little girl still rubbing her forehead pitifully...
A trace of guilt quietly emerged.
He slowly reached out.
His fingertips gently rubbed the reddened spot.
His movements were so careful that they almost resembled someone handling a priceless treasure.
"I’m sorry."
His voice was low.
Sincere.
There was not the slightest trace of perfunctory courtesy.
Shen Xuan stopped rubbing her forehead.
Her eyes slowly widened.
"Eh?"
"Ehhhh?!"
"The obsessive Crown Prince..."
"...actually apologized?"
"Wait."
"That wasn’t in the novel!"
She stared at him in disbelief.
"Did..."
"...did I accidentally change the plot?"
She blinked.
Then nodded to herself.
"That must be it."
"I’m walking the salted-fish route."
"The plot has definitely changed."
"Excellent."
"Very excellent."
"As expected of this salted fish."
Listening to her increasingly confident conclusion...
Zhang Jingyuan almost laughed again.
His expression remained calm as always.
Only the faintest softness appeared within his eyes.
After a long moment...
He slowly stood.
The rain outside had already weakened into a light drizzle.
Looking down at Shen Xuan, he spoke quietly.
"This Prince should return."
He paused before adding,
"Take good care of yourself."
"And..."
A strange look crossed his eyes.
"...beware of men."
Shen Xuan blinked.
"...Huh?"
Before she could ask what he meant...
Zhang Jingyuan had already turned around.
His figure gradually disappeared beyond the doorway.
The room became quiet once more.
Only the sound of dripping rain remained.
Shen Xuan stared blankly at the now empty entrance.
After a long silence...
She slowly tilted her head.
"...Wait."
She unconsciously muttered aloud.
"Did he..."
"...come all this way just to call me Awu..."
"...and flick my forehead?"
The room remained silent.
No one answered her.
Outside the Shen Residence.
Zhang Jingyuan’s figure lightly landed upon the roof of Shen Xuan’s courtyard.
Rainwater still glistened upon the black tiles beneath the moonlight.
A shadow silently emerged from the darkness.
The man immediately knelt upon one knee.
"This subordinate greets Master."
His voice was respectful.
Zhang Jingyuan merely gave a slight nod.
"Wei Zhou."
"Continue protecting her."
"As you command."
Wei Zhou lowered his head.
Only after receiving the order did he dare raise his eyes again.
Before him...
Zhang Jingyuan lightly stepped upon the roof ridge.
His figure disappeared into the night after only a few graceful movements.
Watching the Crown Prince leave...
Wei Zhou finally released the breath he had unknowingly been holding.
He looked toward Shen Xuan’s courtyard.
His expression became rather complicated.
"Five years ago..."
"His Highness secretly ordered me to remain near the Shen Residence."
"At first..."
"I thought it was merely temporary."
"Who would have imagined..."
"...that my duty would become protecting a little girl?"
Shaking his head helplessly, Wei Zhou once again concealed himself within the darkness.
By the time Zhang Jingyuan returned to the Eastern Palace...
Night had completely fallen.
The rain had also stopped.
The palace corridors were brightly illuminated by rows of lanterns.
Just as he stepped into his residence...
A familiar figure hurried toward him.
"Your Highness!"
The elderly eunuch looked as though he were on the verge of tears.
This was Fu Dehai, Zhang Jingyuan’s head eunuch who had served him since childhood.
"Your Highness, where have you been?"
"This servant searched everywhere!"
"The officials have already delivered today’s memorials!"
"Her Majesty the Empress sent someone to inquire after Your Highness!"
"You haven’t even eaten dinner!"
"And you returned soaked by the rain—"
"Too noisy."
Zhang Jingyuan calmly interrupted him.
Fu Dehai instantly closed his mouth.
"..."
He gave an awkward cough before respectfully bowing.
"This servant shall prepare Your Highness’s meal immediately."
Without another word, he hurried away, loudly instructing the palace servants to bring hot food and fresh clothes.
Zhang Jingyuan quietly changed into clean robes before sitting alone at the dining table.
The room gradually became silent again.
His thoughts slowly drifted elsewhere.
Earlier today...
Wei Zhou’s report had reached him while he was inspecting a nearby county outside the capital.
"A young man has been residing temporarily within the Shen Residence."
The moment he heard those words...
An inexplicable irritation had risen inside him.
Without waiting for the inspection to conclude...
He immediately returned.
Even the heavy rain had failed to slow him.
At that time...
He had only wanted to see her.
To make sure she was well.
To hear her ridiculous thoughts again.
And...
To call her by the name only those closest to her used.
"...Awu."
The name quietly lingered in his heart.
Then another thought surfaced.
"Heroine..."
"Obsessive Crown Prince..."
"Author..."
"Salted fish..."
Every now and then...
Shen Xuan’s thoughts contained words completely foreign to him.
Words that seemed to belong to another world.
Despite hearing them for five years...
He still understood almost nothing.
His fingers lightly tapped the table.
"Perhaps..."
"I should visit Master Xuankong."
Master Xuankong, the High Priest of Qingyun Temple, was one of the most respected cultivators and scholars in the empire.
If anyone could explain such strange matters...
It would likely be him.
Soon afterward...
Another memory surfaced.
The image of Shen Xuan pouting while rubbing her forehead.
The tiny patch of red.
The tears welling in her eyes.
A trace of helplessness appeared within Zhang Jingyuan’s gaze.
"I must not let my thoughts become like those in the novel she keeps mentioning."
"She treasures her family more than anything."
"And..."
"She longs for nothing more than a peaceful life."
He slowly raised his head.
Outside the open window...
The rain clouds had dispersed.
A bright full moon quietly illuminated the palace roofs.
Looking at the moon...
A faint smile, so slight that almost no one would notice it, appeared upon his face.
"...Awu."
He softly spoke her name once.
As though the moon itself might carry it across the sleeping capital.
A/N: I await you in the comment section.