The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel's Disguise

The banquet that Xiao Zhiren wanted to take her to was in the evening. And the first and foremost job for Xiao Zhiren was Ru’s grooming which she had been avoiding for days now. Whenever he brought up the topic, she’d always find some way to divert his attention.

Most of the times, her way of diversion involved looking into his eyes straight. And Xiao Zhiren was a sucker for those green eyes that entranced him to no end. How could he remember anything else when the world’s most beautiful eyes were right before him? It was unfair to his poor heart which was stuck on her.

But this morning, Ru’s plan didn’t work at all as Xiao Zhiren said, "Love, stop giving me The Look."

"What look?" Ru feigned ignorance perfectly.

"That look." Xiao Zhiren’s finger rounded in a circle right before her eyes as he pointed at her.

Ru frowned again as she said, "But I don’t have a look."

Xiao Zhiren snorted, "Yeah, right. If you don’t have the look then I’m the idiot who forgets his own name just looking into these eyes of yours."

"Blimey! Zhiren, you’re an idiot?" Ru asked wide-eyed with a gasp as she added, "I really couldn’t tell until now."

Xiao Zhiren’s shoulder slumped in defeat as he exhaled a long breath. Talking to her was a tiring job. Physical and mental. Actually, she could even emotionally strain someone with just her words. But how she did it, he didn’t know at all.

Pushing a shopping bag to her, he pushed her towards the stairs saying, "Go to your room and change into these." Ru looked inside and found a simple white t-shirt and black flare bottom jeans. "And don’t forget to cover up your enchanting eyes. I really don’t want anyone else to get mesmerized by that pair of eyes."

Scratching her chin, Ru pursed her lips as she was thinking. Then leaning close to him, she asked, "Zhiren, do you need some sugar?"

"Huh?" Xiao Zhiren was dumbfounded. Where did that question come from?

Supporting her elbow on his shoulder, she said, "I think you need a lot of sugar. Why don’t you get some from the kitchen? I have plenty of it."

"But I don’t want sugar. Why are you even wasting time talking about sugar?" Xiao Zhiren looked at her in half perplexion and half skepticism.

"Well... You love eating lemons all the time. So, I thought you might like some sugar to tone down that tangy taste lingering in your..." Poking his temple, she added, "You mind."

She was indeed talking about his jealousy that seemed to be flaring even when there was no one in the apartment aside from them. How possessive was he? And for her? What did she have?

Xiao Zhiren didn’t know what to say to her. He turned sideways and planted a chaste kiss on her lips taking her by surprise as he said, "I got my share of sugar. Thanks for offering. Now, you’re gonna change your clothes or should I delve into this pot of honey?"

She just hit herself with her own words. He really knew how to find loopholes in her words.

"Pot of honey?" Ru asked uncertainly.

Xiao Zhiren pinched her nose and answered, "Yes. Pot of honey. Since you’re my honey and there are too many bees hovering around my honey all the time. It takes effort to shoo them away." He rubbed his forehead in distress as he added, "And tonight, I’m certain I’ll have to spend extra time guarding around you."

Ru laughed at his expression. "I don’t need guarding at all! I’m enough to do that on my own." With that, she rushed up the stairs to change her clothes.

She hadn’t noticed before but after she unfolded the t-shirt, her eyes stared at the design printed on it. Her lips twitch involuntarily. There was an attitude-filled red chili on the shirt and the words beside it were, ’I’m a little chili.’

Seriously, he definitely took his time to choose this one. Ru rolled her eyes at his choice but still wore it. When she came downstairs, she was glaring at him while he seemed rather amused.

"I knew it. This was made my little chili." Ru punched his arm but his laughter didn’t stop. "What’s with hazel eyes?"

"You have some problem with it?"

"Nada!" Xiao Zhiren shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

And that’s how the both of them started the journey to wherever Xiao Zhiren was taking her. Because he wasn’t keen on telling her. Apparently, it was a surprise. Ru had the urge to kick him out of the car when he said it was a surprise. Couldn’t he like a normal person just tell her where they were going?

In the car, Ru looked out the window in deep thought. "What’s your connection with Adrian?" She asked out of the blue.

"Define connection." Xiao Zhiren replied with a rebellious charm.

"I mean how do you know that wanker Prince?" Ru rephrased her words but they seemed really amusing to Xiao Zhiren as he kept laughing pleasantly. "If you’re done laughing at my not so humorous joke, please enlighten me with your answer."

"Do you really want to know?" Ru threw a deadly glare his way.

"No. I don’t want to know. I’m just so entertained in my life right now that I thought I should talk about that boring prince to keep the balance. Happy?" Her touch of sarcasm made him burst out laughing again.

"Okay. So, let me tell you."

"Finally." She groaned in response.

"We met in college. Had a couple of classes together. Then we became best friends. And that’s about it." Xiao Zhiren stated plainly not delving deeper into how they became close friends and all. He could tell she wasn’t interested in listening.

"Mhmm..." Ru hummed in response as she nodded her head in understanding. That explains why Adrian was with Xiao Zhiren the other day. And also, why Xiao Zhiren knew about her being ’Alev Knight’. Certainly, that prince wouldn’t talk about her to just anybody. And now she knew, Xiao Zhiren wasn’t just anybody to Adrian.

"By the way, Adrian has a lot to say about you. And when I say, a lot. I’m being very humble with words."

Ru snickered at his remark. As if she didn’t know that at all. Adrian had a lot to say right at her face much less behind her back.

"I also have a lot to say about him." She replied as if she had a huge grudge against him.

"Ohh... I wonder what my little chili has to say about my best friend." Xiao Zhiren gave her a look of anticipation.

"Are you sure about that?" Ru asked to reconfirm.

"Yes, I am sure." He replied positively.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I can be..." Xiao Zhiren replied uncertainly. Was she rushing for a battle or something? What’s with all these questions?

"Don’t say I didn’t warn you!" Xiao Zhiren was busy frowning at her words trying to comprehend the complex meaning behind when she took a long breath and started, "For me, His Highness Adrian Alister is the name that I despise the most. Just the name is enough to make every pore in my body to feel repulsed by him. He’s irksome, irritating, lazy, impatient, clingy, hateful, bossy, talk a lot- like a lot as in A LOT! He’s also nosy which I hate about him but then he makes it worse by being a crybaby who has to run to his grandmother after losing. He’s childish and way easy to offend. And the attention he had received from girls all these years have turned him into a cocky flirt. He has a loud and obnoxious personality that makes me want to punch him to a pulp whenever he shows up in front of my face. And-"

"There is more?" Xiao Zhiren asked as he really was having difficulty digesting everything she just said. That was his best friend you know but the one talking was his life. Goodness! He couldn’t even bring himself to take sides right now. "Are you sure he doesn’t have any good qualities?"

Ru thought for a second before her voice turned into a whisper as she said, "He’s honest even about his dislike for me. I like that about him that he doesn’t try to act nice with me just because he’s asked to do so. He’s loyal and kind-hearted. He’s straightforward, fair, and ambitious. I guess he’s a person who has a very good heart but he doesn’t like being vulnerable. Being a part of the royal family has made him hide his good-nature. Otherwise, it’s hard to survive in palace politics."

Xiao Zhiren smiled as he heard her words. See, she was not biased at all. She knew how to judge a person not just from her own perspective but from others’ as well. She just treated Adrian as he treated her. It was a pity that he couldn’t even ask her to be nice to his best friend.