Chapter 44 - You Are Not Powerless

"Fine! I'm coming with you." 

Jiang Ying Yue announced as she started wrapping up all the items that were spread over the little table.

"Wait! You should not." Silver tried to stop her as he thought about the outcomes that she would face if she got discovered. Unlike him, she was not only unable to change her forms but her powers were also not working properly at the moment.

"Of course, I'm coming with you. No way I'm going to miss such a chance to finally take a look at that so-called Empress Dowager and the palace that she rules. I'm definitely going to take advantage of this buzz. Since there's something special going on in the palace today, I'm sure everyone would be too busy to pay any attention to me." Jiang Ying Yue quickly responded as she continued to wrap up the ingredients.

"But Yue, it's still not a good idea. What if someone noticed you?" Silver tried to talk some sense into the girl.

"Who's going to pay so much attention to a maidservant?" asked Jiang Ying Yue as she arched her eyebrows with a small smile of satisfaction playing on her lips.

"Maidservant?" Silver did not know that she planning to join the maids of the palace to blend herself among them. Instead, he thought that she would be using her powers to stay hidden from the prying eyes of people as she roamed through the royal palace.

"But I still don't think that it's a good idea. What if someone recognized you even in a maid's getup?" He pointed out the problem that her plan carried.

He watched as the girl shook her head immediately in response. "Only a limited people in the palace got the opportunity to see me during these years. Besides, they haven't seen me for ages. I'm sure as long as I will be careful, no one will find out."

Jiang Ying Yue was not ready to give up yet. There was suddenly an urge that she was feeling. It was telling her to take the chance even though there were chances of failure and danger.

She noticed the deep frown that was decorating the handsome face of her man and it made her sigh as she decided to take a step back just for his sake. "Fine! If worse come to worst, I'll call you to whisk me away. Not only from the royal palace but even from this Cold Palace. Then I'll follow you to wherever you want us to go. There are five more Empires in this world, I'm sure we will find a place for ourselves."

What surprised her was that she actually sounded genuine. She really meant those words that she had just spoken. The realization brought a small smile to her lips and it made Silver relax a little.

The man once again crouched down in front of her as he stared at her in silence. However, Ying Yue noticed the faint trace of a smile that he was trying to not show.

"What? Are you feeling touched?" She asked while raising her eyebrows and folding her arms over her chest.

This time, Silver didn't try to hold back the beautiful smile that spilled on his soft luscious lips. The man was too good looking for his own good. But seeing that he was a Fae Prince, it was not shocking that he was gifted with a perfectly built body, tall frame, immense power, and... a face that could make jaws drop in amazement.

"I'm actually happy to know that I can finally protect you. There was a time when you were way more powerful than me and people used to laugh at me when I told them that I wanted to protect you. I want them to see that I'm finally able to protect the person whom I always wanted to protect."

Though he sounded sincere, Jiang Ying Yue didn't feel any little butterfly fluttering inside her heart at his words. Rather, she scowled at him as she asked, "Are you mocking me for my current powerless state?"

Silver slowly shook his head as he answered, "Never! Mocking you means mocking myself. Plus, you are not powerless. You are still way more powerful than me. I'm just feeling happy to know that I can protect my mate. It's... it's a very nice feeling."

This time... Jiang Ying Yue felt those butterflies fluttering their little wings in her heart and as she gazed into his mesmerizing emerald eyes, she found a small smile making its way to her lips. 

"Alright. Since I really need you to save me later, I'll let you go this time." She told him as she tried to cover her smile with a serious look, knowing fully well that she was failing poorly in it.

Since her attention was focused on her hands as she tried to not look at him, she failed to notice his intentions. A gasp escaped her lips when she felt the warmth and softness of his lips on her left cheek, making her heart stop beating for a second before it resumed its work.

"Stay here. I'll be back in an hour after grabbing a maid's dress and enough information from the royal palace. Be a good girl." Saying that Silver stood up and made his way towards the gate as if he had not just stolen a kiss from the girl.

"Hey!" 

Jiang Ying Yue shouted at him but to her dismay, his silhouette disappeared from the room right at that moment.

She raised her hand to touch her cheek where she still could feel the tingling sensation that his kiss had left behind.

"He's really daring." She muttered before turning her attention back to the scraped herbs that she had been working on.

It took her nearly ten minutes or so to wrap up all the materials that were scattered around in the room. After locking the third courtyard, she made her way towards the fifth courtyard where the Li sisters were working in the garden, trimming an ivy that had spread all over the roof of the little pavilion that was standing near the pond that was filled with algae.