Chapter Ninety: Deeply Shocked

Long Regret.

After all that had passed between them, the Crown Prince could no longer think of the man before him, upright and resolute as a mountain, merely as a useful subject. He had come to regard him sincerely as a brother, and he hoped with all his heart that he and the princess might one day be joined in happiness.

After all, who else in this world could have gone to such lengths for her?

"Your Highness, I understand what you mean."

Long Regret knew he was about to offer comfort again. With a bitter smile, he said, "But I truly have not taken it to heart. Everything Her Majesty said was the truth. I knew it long ago, and I have told myself so again and again in my own heart: do not indulge in foolish hopes. So hearing it now is not so hard to accept."

The Crown Prince fell silent, leaving only a heavy sigh.

"I..."

Long Regret could no longer feel the pain in his body, for the ache in his heart was more deadly still.

He stared fixedly at the canopy above, the shattered light in his dark eyes faintly trembling. His voice was hoarse. "I am in love with the Princess of Vermilion."

Though the words were spoken softly, there was no wavering in them at all.

It was the first time he had ever admitted his feelings so openly, naming his own heart with such candor.

The Crown Prince was deeply shaken.

"But..."

Long Regret felt a fierce, bloody taste spreading through his throat, as though his body itself resisted the words to come.

"But I know I am unworthy. I do not deserve the princess. She..."

His eyes reddened, his voice shaking, and only with great courage could he force the words out. "She deserves someone better."

"Chou Siyuan, the eldest son of the Grand Protector Duke, is indeed an excellent choice."

The Crown Prince's own eyes stung with tears, and he quickly turned away, unable to bear looking on any longer.

"Your Highness."

A physician's voice came from outside. The Crown Prince hurriedly rose, brushed at the corners of his eyes, and suppressed the surging emotions in his chest before speaking as steadily as he could. "Come in."

The physician entered carrying a bowl in both hands, bowed respectfully to the Crown Prince, and said, "Your Highness, it is time to draw blood from General Long."

"Do it."

The Crown Prince steeled himself and nodded.

The physician came to the bedside with the bowl, looked at the two arms covered in wounds, and for a long while could neither bear to proceed nor find a place unmarred enough to begin.

The Crown Prince stood with his back turned. Hearing no movement for a long while, he looked back and saw the physician standing motionless, dagger in hand. Frowning, he asked, "What is the matter?"

The physician wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his face troubled. "Your Highness, I... I truly do not know where to begin."

"Cut the leg."

Long Regret saw the physician's difficulty and spoke to ease it. "My leg is fine. Make the incision there and take the blood from it."

"But..."

The physician's heart tightened at that. The man's body was already covered in wounds, both arms sliced open like this, his entire being reduced to utter weakness. By now, perhaps only his legs remained unharmed...

If he were to take blood from the leg and continue for ten days to purge the princess's poison, there was a real chance that before she ever woke, General Long himself would have gone first to meet the King of Hell.

"Stop hesitating. Hurry."

Long Regret understood the physician's concern. "Do not worry. I can endure it. I came back from Owlpeak Mountain, did I not? Ten days of blood is nothing. Time is short, and the princess cannot wait. Please, physician, make the cut."

At this moment, the princess's life was indeed the more urgent matter.

Thinking of this, the physician dared no longer delay. He lifted the blanket, pulled up Long Regret's trouser leg, took up the dagger, and brought it down in one swift stroke.

Skin split, flesh opened, blood gushed.

The physician hastily raised the bowl to catch it.

The Crown Prince could not bear to see Long Regret's face grow even paler. His eyes burning, he staggered away from the doorway.

He felt overwhelmed with guilt.

He felt that he, and the entire imperial house, owed Long Regret a debt.

And the only way to repay it was to mend the hollow place within Long Regret's heart.

Yet he was powerless to do so.

He could not help him, could not fulfill the love he held for the one he longed for.