Yuki & Ling

 

The first time Yuki came to Cadia Riverland, everything seemed safe and peaceful but there was definitely something mysterious behind it. Because he had come just to take a walk after several days of silence in the palace.

The road that the girl was on led to all the small fields near the river where a big tree stood there, she saw someone who was practicing very hard with his sword. The man realized Yuki was watching him practice, he immediately turned to Yuki.

“Don’t you know that spying on others is rude?” He said while holding his sword tightly.

Yuki was shocked when the man realized that she was peeking out from behind the building wall, she immediately put on her hood and turned around, then she walked quickly to leave the place, but accidentally tripped over her own dress and fell on the ground.

The swordsman chuckled when he saw Yuki fall because she tripped over her own clothes.

“That’s what you get for looking at me.” He said he was very confident.

“Who are you?” He asked curiously.

Yuki just looked down, his face was covered by the hood he was wearing, then a female servant approached Yuki with a shocked expression when the servant saw Yuki slumped on the ground.

Waiter: “Oh my gosh, princess”.

The servant immediately helped Yuki up and apologized repeatedly while bowing.

Yuki just nodded with a friendly smile.

The swordsman laughed even louder when he saw the way the servant treated the girl in front of him.

“Are you a noble?” the man asked, looking like he was not at all impressed by the noble status of the girl in front of him.

The waiter widened his eyes because he saw the man’s impolite attitude. He stood right in front of him and protected Yuki.

Waiter: “Sorry sir, you are very presumptuous. What you saw was not just an ordinary nobleman, she is the king’s daughter, you have to apologize to her.”

Yuki just sighed softly, actually she didn’t really care about her status, it was very boring when everyone was desperately protecting her just because she was a woman.

The swordsman looked at the servant suspiciously, he didn’t know whether he should believe the servant or not, but he decided not to.

He stepped back and looked at Yuki again.

“I’m just asking, there’s no need for that.” He said calmly.

“So, are you really from the royal family?” He asked curiously.

Yuki looked at the man for a moment before she looked at the maid and told him to leave her here, even though the maid was a little insistent because she didn’t want to leave Yuki, but in the end the maid did what Yuki ordered her to do, and now it was just the two of them.

Yuki looked at the man with a calm face, her green eyes staring at him, as her blonde hair was slightly visible from under the hood.

“It’s not important, and it’s none of your business.”

He seemed more amused than annoyed at the answer of the girl in front of him.

“Someone with a noble status like you shouldn’t talk like that, but I think you seem different.” He said with a smile.

“So...your name?” He asked curiously.

Yuki was silent for a moment, her eyes remained on the man, a gust of wind hit her face causing her hood to come off and making Yuki’s golden blonde hair slightly visible, but she just let the hood fall over her shoulders.

“My name is Yuki.”

“A very nice name for a very beautiful woman, the meaning of your name is snow, right?.” He said he was very impressed with her beauty, he seemed quite bothered by her feminine appearance.

“Because you are beautiful, I will tell you my name as a fair trade.” He said while grinning.

“I’m Ling.” He introduces himself too.

Yuki was a litle stunned because the man knew the meaning of her name, she just nodded slowly, her face was flat but looked calm and elegant.

“ling? Nice name”.

He seemed genuinely surprised when Yuki didn’t ask him his last name, at least that’s what he expected.

“Wow, you didn’t ask my last name. Aren’t you interested in knowing the full name of a handsome person like me?” He said jokingly.

Yuki slightly raised an eyebrow while looking at him in surprise because Ling’s attitude was quite confident even in front of a princess like her, and that was quite interesting because no one had ever acted this relaxed towards her.

“well, tell me what your last name is”.

“Oh, you really want to know.” He said he seemed excited to finally meet someone who actually wanted to know his real name.

“So you might actually be interested in me.” He said sarcastically.

“Okay, well, let me tell you, my full name is Ling Xiao.” He said he knew his full name would sound very interesting.

Yuki still looked calm, she only nodded slowly in response, even though she knew that Ling came from a famous noble family with the last name Xiao.

But that didn’t affect her, after all she was still a royal princess and no one could match her.

Ling was a little surprised to see Yuki’s attitude, it seemed like your behavior was completely different from any nobleman he had known so far.

“Interesting, if you know my surname.” He said while looking at Yuki curiously, he didn’t know how her attitude was so attractive, but he felt compelled to find out more about Yuki.

“Well, your family is often a hot topic of conversation in the palace because of their skills in using swords, I’m also quite impressed with that.”

Yuki said softly and gracefully, she pulled her hood up again and covered her hair, because she realized she was in the village, and it was too conspicuous if her blonde hair was visible.

Ling felt quite flattered when Yuki mentioned that her family was often a hot topic among the nobles because of their sword skills.

“You seem to know almost everything about my family.” He said, his eyes focused on the hood covering your hair.

“Do you think it’s inappropriate to show your beautiful hair?” He teased.

Yuki took a deep breath.

“This is too conspicuous, I don’t want the villagers to notice my presence.”

Ling laughed at her answer.

“Oh, so your beauty is something you want to keep away from the villagers. Does that mean I can keep your beauty to myself?” He teased again, his face filled with a cute expression.

Yuki frowned slightly while looking at Ling with a small smile.

“Well, you are quite interesting because you act relaxed with me, I prefer it like that rather than having to bow down respectfully.”

Yuki chuckled, slightly impressed by Ling’s confident attitude. Yuki looked down slightly when she felt another gust of wind and kept her hood from falling.

Ling seems pleased when Yuki finds her charming and interesting, she is actually impressed by the way Yuki doesn’t care much about her family’s reputation as royalty.

Ling looked around to make sure no one was around as he slowly approached her.

“It seems like we’ve had a good conversation here so far, may I ask something personal?” He asked politely.

Yuki looked at Ling again, her green eyes were quite shining when the sun hit her face, Yuki nodded slowly as Ling drew closer to her.

“sure”.

Ling tried her best to calm herself down, she couldn’t believe that she finally had the chance to get close to Yuki.

“Do you have a fiancé or boyfriend?” He asked calmly. He wishes Yuki was still single so he could be more intimate with her.

Yuki was silent for a moment while still looking at Ling, she shook her head in response. For some reason, the atmosphere was a little exciting, but Yuki remained relaxed.

Ling looked relieved when she saw the way Yuki shook her head, meaning she didn’t have a boyfriend or fiancé yet.

Ling smiled.

“Now that I know you’re single, can I ask you one more thing?”

Yuki muttered a little while nodding.

“yes”

The man couldn't hide his excitement when Yuki answered yes, he cleared his throat before speaking.

“May I have the privilege of proposing to you?” He said confidently. He decided to take a bold step, hopefully Yuki wouldn't reject him.

Yuki thought about it, she wondered if Ling was just joking or playing with her, her eyes remained calmly looking at Ling, a gust of wind hit her face again so that her hood opened again and made her blonde hair blow a little in the wind.

Ling was a bit worried that he might be taking too many risks with Yuki, Yuki seemed too calm to even react to his marriage proposal so he thought Yuki wasn't taking him seriously at all.

But he decided to take the risk once again, he knew he might regret it if he decided to keep quiet.

"So can I assume that you are not interested in marrying me?" He said in a casual tone, his eyes filled with curiosity as he waited for Yuki's answer.

Yuki chuckled, Ling's words were really bold and natural, it really interested him.

Yuki looked back at Ling, her hood completely removed and leaving her golden blonde hair visible.

"Are you less confident now than before?"

"Once again, Ling was taken aback by Yuki's actions, he had hoped to see a surprised or perhaps shocked expression on Yuki's face, but instead, he saw a teasing expression.

"No, I'm still confident as usual," he said jokingly.

"But, I'm curious to know what you think of my proposal? Are you interested or not?" He asked with curiosity.

Yuki chuckled again as she gazed at Ling, slowly leaning closer to him while tilting her face as she whispered something to him.

"If you want to know my answer, then you must come to the palace with your preparations to propose to me," Yuki said softly and gently, then she withdrew and looked at the darkening sky.

"See you tomorrow, Ling."

Yuki turned around and put her hood back on as she walked away from Ling and headed home to the palace.

Ling was truly surprised when Yuki gave him what seemed like a challenge, he thought he would get a simple yes or no answer, but Yuki gave him something entirely different.

Ling watched Yuki as she left him. and he pondered on Yuki's actions, knowing it was somewhat too playful and teasing for a nobleman or even a princess in general.

"So she's actually quite challenging to win over," he said after Yuki left, a cute smile etched on his face as he began to plan how to approach Yuki again.

Then Ling left the place after bidding farewell to Yuki, filled with confidence to have another chance to return to Yuki. He already planned to go back to the palace tomorrow to face Yuki's challenge.

Ling couldn't wait to meet Yuki again, and he kept repeating his plan in his head repeatedly, hoping it would succeed.

-Hibary.