Bai Zihan looked down at the pitiful figure sprawled before him-blood dripping from split lips, face swollen and unrecognizable.
Bai Zihan stepped closer, his boot landing beside the Fifth Prince's face. The marble floor groaned faintly under the pressure of his Qi.
"Tell ," Bai Zihan's voice was quiet now, soft enough to chill bone, "why did you take Luo Qing? Was it to lure out?"
The Fifth Prince blinked in confusion, stunned that the question was even asked.
"W-What? What are you-"
Bai Zihan crouched, his gaze boring into him.
"Answer properly. You dared to take her away on the lies that it was who told her to co. Was that your goal-to provoke ?"
The Fifth Prince shook his head weakly, blood spattering on the floor.
"I don't even know what you're talking about! Lure you? Why would I-"
He coughed hard, grimacing in pain, then managed to speak again, his tone laced with frustration.
"If you're talking about that servant girl, then she was brought to . She was given to , wasn't she?"
"...Given to you?"
Bai Zihan repeated.
The Fifth Prince nodded quickly.
He finally realized why Bai Zihan was so angry and beating him. It was all for that servant girl, though he still couldn't understand why.
Sure, Luo Qing was pretty-but for the Fifth Prince, he only thought of her as a prettier flower, not sothing worth getting angry over for plucking. And It certainly didn't warrant offending a royal.
In any case, the Fifth Prince could see a way to end this torture-by telling the man before him that he wasn't the one who had forcefully taken her away like he seed to think.
"Yes! That maid said she was sent by a young master as a gift to . I was deceived as well!"
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Then-
SLAP!
The sound cracked like thunder. The Fifth Prince's head snapped sideways again, his body spinning as he crashed against the ground.
Bai Zihan straightened slowly, his expression unreadable, but the killing intent around him thickened like a suffocating fog.
His thoughts raced.
(Soone used the Fifth Prince? Or was it who is being used?)
The palace maid had called Luo Qing by using his na. This wasn't random. Soone had planned this.
Either they knew that I would beat the Fifth Prince, hoping to use that pretense to accuse or force so kind of deal...
Or perhaps a rival of the Fifth Prince, wanting to use to get rid of him?
Second Prince, perhaps?
Bai Zihan wasn't too sure, but he understood that the Fifth Prince had been used-but he also didn't regret beating the Fifth Prince.
It didn't erase the sin that he had committed.
If the Fifth Prince were a decent person, he would never have dared to lay a hand on Luo Qing when she had clearly shown no interest.
It only proved that the Fifth Prince was a lecherous bastard who forced himself upon maids and servants.
Bai Zihan normally wouldn't care about such scum-but this ti, the man had touched what belonged to him, whether it was because of a ploy or not.
In the end, the Fifth Prince was the one whol made that choice. To Bai Zihan, he was just as responsible as whoever was behind this farce.
He glanced at the Fifth Prince, whose consciousness was flickering from the blows.
"A maid, you said?"
The Fifth Prince groaned faintly, nodding.
Bai Zihan imdiately glanced toward the place where the maid standing guard had fainted earlier.
She was missing.
(Was she acting? Or perhaps she woke up and escaped?)
There was no doubt that it seed to be the sa maid the Fifth Prince was referring to.
She was definitely under the order of whoever was behind this or perhaps it was her.
In any case, she escaped when he was busy dealing with the Fifth Prince.
Bai Zihan exhaled slowly, his mind sharp and quiet amidst the anger boiling beneath his calm exterior.
He turned away and walked toward the grand chair of the Fifth Prince.
Without hesitation, Bai Zihan sat down.
The Fifth Prince, dazed and barely conscious, stared in disbelief as the young man-his torntor-sat on his chair as though he owned it.
However, he knew it was understandable.
Even while being beaten, he had clearly heard the Commander ntion the Bai Clan-sothing about a potential war with them.
That alone made him realize who the person before him truly was: soone from the esteed Bai Clan of the Desolate Heaven Empire.
No matter how ignorant one might be, every Royal was taught about the Desolate Heaven Empire and its strongest forces-one of which was the Bai Clan.
Therefore, he had already abandoned any hope of the Royal Commander saving him. The only chance for survival now was if the man before him chose to let him go.
Bai Zihan leaned back, resting one arm on the armrest, his gaze sharp and commanding.
He had heard the Commander telling one of his soldiers to call the Emperor, so he waited.
Though, of course, it wasn't to apologize.
Rather, he hoped that with the Emperor's arrival, the true perpetrator of this sche would also show up.
If that person's goal was to implicate him, they would definitely appear to press the accusation.
Otherwise, there was a high chance this was a plot to get rid of the Fifth Prince.
"Fifth Prince," he said calmly, his tone cutting through the thick silence, "I'll give you one order. Stand up."
The Fifth Prince's lips trembled. His pride scread at him not to obey, but his body refused to move otherwise.
Under that oppressive presence, even breathing felt like a sin.
He struggled onto his knees, pressing a bloody hand against the ground for balance.
"Now," Bai Zihan continued, voice utterly cold, "repent."
The Fifth Prince's head snapped up, fury flickering in his swollen eyes.
"You-"
Although he realized the status of Bai Zihan, it was not like he could simply take such injustice.
He was already slapped several tis and now, Bai Zihan demands him to repent if that wasn't enough.
Bai Zihan's gaze t his.
A sudden, invisible pressure slamd down again, forcing the Fifth Prince's words to die in his throat.
His chest heaved, sweat beading along his temples as he felt the weight of Bai
Zihan's spiritual pressure pinning him like an insect.
"I said, repent."
Each word hit like a hamr, infused with Qi that made the marble floor tremble.
The Fifth Prince's last ounce of resistance shattered. His head lowered involuntarily, his voice hoarse and broken.
"I... I repent..."
Bai Zihan closed his eyes briefly, exhaling as though to rid himself of the stench of arrogance and deceit.
"Shouldn't there be soone else you should be apologizing to?"
Bai Zihan asked.
Obviously, it was directed at Luo Qing.
The Fifth Prince looked at Luo Qing, then back at Bai Zihan, as if asking whether he was serious.
He, the almighty Fifth Prince-one of the closest to being the next Emperor- bow and apologize to a re mortal?
That seed an even greater humiliation than being beaten.
After all, he could at least understand losing to Bai Zihan, whose strength and status were undeniable.
But apologizing to a mortal?
That was beyond comprehension for soone who has always treated Mortals as lesser being.
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