Yes, I Do(n't)

Chapter 11: The beginning of a beautiful friendship

Once they are seated at their table, Bai Zhishi ordered their drinks and food on behalf of Crown Prince Beitang Moran who is still staring at Shen Baiyu with a gentle smile on his face.

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Shen Baiyu does realize this, and she furiously blushes due to his stare. Luckily, she is wearing a veiled hat now. To think that a 34-year old soul is greatly affected by a guy that is probably half her age. Goodness... This man is a force to be reckoned with by her. Even with the glaring fact that she still belongs to Crown Prince Nangong Yingjun, that does not deter him from her obvious interest towards her or, that one time he trespassed into her courtyard.

Then it hits her, for him to have such courage to trespass into her courtyard and openly pursuing her, it only means one thing. He is not afraid of the royal family. This means that he is a royal too, but the original owner of this body did not even recognize who is this person at all. Or, it simply means that he is one shameless guy. He even sits next to her and now their legs keep brushing onto each other. He obviously did that, but she let him while 'accidentally' touches his hand too when he passes her her cup of tea. He blushes upon the sudden skin contact. This man is a fun guy to be played with she thought to herself.

Seeing how her older sister freely interacts with the handsome man makes Shen Lianhua smiles happily as she then looks at Moli who is sitting at the same table as they are. Bai Zhishi calmly sips on his tea while picking a piece of the almond cookie before he personally feeds her while she takes a bite from the cookie that he is currently holding.

Moli pretends not to notice their flirtatiousness with one another but she noticed every single detail of it. As weird as it sounds but she suspected that the eldest miss is openly flirting with that man too which is news for her. She has been growing alongside the eldest miss to serve her as her personal maidservant while being trained secretly by General Shen Jilie so that she will be able to protect the eldest miss who is quite weak and sickly in nature. But the eldest miss always confines herself within her own courtyard, there is never a need for her to use her martial arts ability. Now, she might have a chance to do so because the eldest miss is getting more and more social with others and willing to go out to the public. Then, this handsome man shows up suddenly. As much as she is happy that someone is obviously taking an interest in the eldest miss, but she has a premonition that this man will stop at nothing in order to ensure the wellbeing and safety of her miss. It is not like she did not notice his presence the other day but as the eldest miss instructed her to go to the kitchen, she had to follow her order. His aura is quite intimidating despite displaying a constant smile on his lips. She also noticed that another man always follows her eldest miss in the shadow. But, as she did not detect any malicious aura from the man in black, she can only assume that he is one of this man subordinate. If and when the eldest miss's safety is not compromised, she will accept that man hiding in the shadow.

The second miss of the Xiao family is watching her saviour intently. This is the very same person engaged to Crown Prince Nangong Yingjun. They are supposed to be related as royal sisters-in-law once their marriages have been materialized but her father told her that the crown prince intends to annul his engagement with the eldest miss Shen because he wanted to marry Second Princess Beitang Xing to ensure that the Kingdom of Xing and their kingdom will be an ally. But, is it necessary for him to annul his engagement? As the one engaged to him from birth, eldest miss Shen has every right to be the main consort and the crown princess of their kingdom, but he refused to marry her when he left her on their supposed wedding day. She, as a fiancée to the second prince, worried that will be her fate too.

The eldest miss Shen rumoured to be one with ugly appearance due to her habit of wearing veil hat in the public and confines herself within her courtyard most of the times. Even the royal tutors never have the chance to look at her face which strengthened the rumour.

She stares at her fat hands and softly sighs, she does realize that though she is loved by her family members and Noble Consort Baili Xin Ai, she will always be bothered by her appearance. She is a fat girl due to her habits of eating sweet delicacies ever since she could eat. It did not help much when her family members keep giving her various delicious desserts too. When she was a 9-year old, she first met her fiancé, Second Prince Nangong Heshan and she immediately swept off her feet because he looks so divine, as divine as any delicious treat in the world. When he first saw her whom by then already as round as a dumpling, he gently smiles and pinched both of her cheeks. When she happily ate all the food prepared by the Noble Consort, he stared at her with fascination. She once asked him whether he hated her for being his fiancée, he laughed and told her that looking at her always make him happy regardless of her appearance. He even insisted that she looks adorable. Still... Her heart always feels bothered by this. He should have someone beautiful and slim by his side.

Shen Baiyu heard that soft sigh coming from the adorable dumpling sitting across the table, "Miss Xiao, is there anything that troubles you?"

Xiao Ke Ai looks at her and smile, "Nothing much really... I am just thinking that maybe one of these days, his royal highness will find someone else much better than me..."

Shen Lianhua then says, "Nonsense! I have heard how caring the second prince towards you is. And, I even saw during the last banquet that he always lovingly stared at you during the banquet."

Shen Baiyu further adds, "Though I am not there then, I have heard stories that his royal highness is sincere towards you. Do not worry about others. What matters most is his heart. My engagement is doomed ever since I have been abandoned during my wedding day. Knowing how kind and honest the second prince is, he will not disappoint you."

Xiao Ke Ai then bows her head and softly says, "But, I am fat... I am not suitable to be a princess."

Shen Baiyu laughs and says, "Darling... Appearance can be altered. In your case, you are obviously a beautiful girl despite being such an adorable 'dumpling'. There are those who are borne naturally beautiful such as my sister here, but most have to work hard in order to become one."

Everyone now is staring at her like she is a crazy person. Even Crown Prince Beitang Moran is dumbfounded by her words. Work hard in order to become one? Darling???

"Miss Xiao, with proper diet and exercise, you will definitely be a 'beautiful flower'. Those idiots are obviously groomed to perfection so they will appear as beauties that can topple a city but what makes them undesirable is that their malicious hearts. The second prince is in love with you for who you are."

Listening to Shen Baiyu's words made Xiao Ke Ai look at her with a pair of hopeful yet excited eyes.

"Miss Shen, what do you mean by proper diet and exercise?"