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“It seems that even the great Lan Yexue is wrong sometimes,” I murmured when we stopped in front of a quiet inn close to the center of the city. After nightfall and with lanterns few and far between, it was hard to tell how much damage Yexue had inflicted on the city when he captured it. Most of the buildings seemed to be standing, so they had to have surrendered.

“Even geniuses make mistakes,” Yexue shot back, and came to help me dismount from my horse.

Again, I let him treat me like a damsel, purposely letting my weight press against his hard body as he settled me onto the ground. I stumbled when he let go, my legs almost giving out under me, and he caught his breath like a nervous kid. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I lied. After an entire day of arduous riding, my thighs were numb to the point that I could barely feel them.

The ground beneath me seemed to shift, and I was suddenly nauseous.

Yexue laughed and handed me a piece of scallion pancake from his saddlebag. “The cooks are probably asleep—this is the best you are going to get until morning.”

I reluctantly accepted the food from him and took a bite. It was slightly stale, but the moment I ate it and my stomach was less empty, I felt better.

One of the guards went in first and handed a pouch of coins to the innkeeper. “Seven rooms,” he said.

“We only have one room left for the night, apologies.”

“One room?”I gasped.

“We will take it,” said Yexue. “The guards will sleep downstairs in the hall, and you and I can share the room.”

“Are there two beds, at least?” I asked the innkeeper, who shook his head. I wanted to throw up right there and then.

Yexue laughed. “You don’t expect me to sleep downstairs, do you?”

“I…” Rooming with him would help with the plan, but…“So what if I do?”

“Thenyousleep downstairs. If you don’t want to share the bed, then don’t.”

“I will take the bed if neither of you want it,” said the youngest of the guards.

“Can I have some pillows and blankets for my men, please?” Yexue asked the innkeeper.

“Of course.”

I looked around the space. It wouldn’t be the worst place I had spent the night, but the hall was cold and there were only low tablesand cushions. My back was on fire from riding all day. “Fine, we will share.”

And…a chance to stay in close quarters with an exhausted Lan Yexue was a chance to pry more military secrets from him.

Yexue flashed a smile. “One room it is, then.”

The room was bigger than I had anticipated. A small bed in the corner and a bamboo tea table at the center, surrounded by two chairs that looked a little unsteady from use, and a desk to the far side of the wall. The entire room wouldn’t take more than five steps to cross, however after a long day on horseback, just having stable ground under my feet was a blessing.

When I stepped inside, Yexue remained close to the threshold, leaning against the rickety doorframe with half-lidded eyes that trailed my movement. Suddenly I wasn’t so tired anymore.

Lan Yexue looked like he wanted to devour me.

With a face as beautiful as his, if Yexue had been another man and I had been another woman, I might have let him.

But he was the Prince Regent of Lan. He was the enemy. And I was already in love with Siwang.

Still, my heart beat a little too fast, and I could feel warmth creeping onto my cheeks. I looked away, though cautious not to turn my back on someone like him.

“Stop looking at me like that,” I said. This wouldn’t be the first time that the two of us had spent the night together, yet the privacy of a closed room felt more intimate compared with the cave of last time.

“Just taking in the view,” said Yexue.

“Me?”