Seeing the crowd grow bigger and bigger, Rong Yuan finally felt his conscience gnawing at him, telling him that he had perhaps gone too far.

Next time, he would find a place where there was no one so that he could do whatever he wanted to do without being called out for it.

“Now, can you let go of her, Your Highness?”

“No way!”

If he chose to let go now, wouldn’t Yan Liang become her knight in shining armor?

“She is going to spend the rest of her life with me, why should I let go?”

He did not care about the bewilderment in the gazes of the crowd that had gathered around them. In fact, Rong Yuan said something even more shocking. “I have already sent people down to the Gu Clan to ask for her hand in marriage, it won’t be long before there’s news that our families have formed an alliance. I’m just treating my fiancée with a bit of affection, why is it any of your business?”

Rong Yuan did not wait for anyone to react as he grabbed Gu Lingzhi and leapt away to his quarters in the Royal School.

Gu Lingzhi was still slightly dazed by what Rong Yuan had said. It was only when they landed on the ground that she started to remember the sensation of his lips on hers once again. She immediately regained her composure and pushed him away.

“When did you send people to ask my father about marriage?”

With a cunning smile, he replied, “Just a few days ago.”

Luckily, he had put some measures in place before things had turned awry. By claiming Gu Lingzhi as his own, he did not have to worry about anyone snatching her away from him.

“Why me?” Gu Lingzhi clenched her teeth, “The capital has plenty of women that are more suitable.”

“But they aren’t you,” Rong Yuan said with a serious tone. He looked at Gu Lingzhi tenderly, “Like I said before, I want to be able to woo you without putting you in a difficult position. If we are engaged, then no one has the right to say anything.”

Gu Lingzhi was shocked to realize that Rong Yuan had indeed said such words to her, but that was when she had taken on the identity of the Black Thorn.

“What? Do you still suspect my feelings for you?” Rong Yuan raised his brows, “You are the Black Thorn. Don’t try to deny it, I’m sure it was you.”

What?!

Gu Lingzhi felt like her head was about to burst.

All this time, he actually knew that she was the Black Thorn? Doesn’t that mean that the person he had loved all along… was indeed her?

“I… I…” Gu Lingzhi stuttered, unable to react now that her identity had been exposed. All along, his words had been for her and only her and knowing this now made her heart race.

“Alright, you don’t have to explain yourself. As long as you know that you are the girl that I have fallen in love with from the beginning, you should stop being misled by that brat Ye Fei.”

Originally, he had wanted to tease her. However, after she had confronted him, he finally understood that any amount of teasing or flirting was just a waste of time to Gu Lingzhi, so he had decided to be more direct in his approach.

The smile in Rong Yuan’s eyes had suddenly caused Gu Lingzhi’s mind to change.

The Third Prince was a pretty nice person after all.

Wait, no, how could she be moved just by a few words he said? 

Gu Lingzhi shook her head violently to wake herself up.

Even if his feelings for her were true, she had no intentions of giving herself to someone else. In this life, her only wish was to become the most powerful Martial Artist, so that no one would ever dare to walk all over her.

“I will not marry you, even if my father agrees to it,” Gu Lingzhi was firm – just like how the Third Prince had cancelled his own engagement to Tianfeng Wei with just a few words.

Rong Yuan raised his eyebrows in a challenge, “You really think that Gu Rong would let you break the engagement?”

In the past, Gu Rong would never give up the chance of being able to leverage on the Third Prince’s status. Now, with the future of the Gu Clan in mind and his position as the Clan Leader was unstable. If he had the Third Prince as a son-in-law, it would secure his position as the Clan Leader. It would be silly of him if he let Gu Lingzhi do whatever she wished.

Even if that was the truth, it was still spiteful hearing it from Rong Yuan. Gu Lingzhi was speechless for a moment and all she could do was clench her teeth. Instead, she chose to ask, “How did you know that I was the Black Thorn?”

“It’s not that hard to recognize you,” Rong Yuan replied, “Other than the difference in your voice, everything else was the same.”

Gu Lingzhi could not help but laugh out loud, “Aren’t you scared that you might have recognized the wrong person?”

“There is no way that would happen.” Rong Yuan lowered her voice and looked at her, “I would never mistake the person I love for someone else. Also, don’t forget that you had forgotten to change your voice the first time that I met you as the Black Thorn.”

Gu Lingzhi suddenly thought back to the first time she met Rong Yuan after taking on the identity as the Black Thorn. She had muttered to herself after watching Xi Hongru’s match. She did not think that Rong Yuan would have heard her and found out who she was so early on.

After that, he did not even bother to expose her, was it just so that he could play tricks on her?

Gu Lingzhi frowned at the thought. She had told him many of her secrets thinking that he would not find out who she was, such as using two sets of skills and not registering her Golden Spirit Root.

“Don’t worry, since you’re the girl that I like, I will not tell your secrets to anyone. As long as you behave, I will not interrogate you about anything that you are not willing to talk about.”

He is despicable!

Gu Lingzhi’s heart that had previously been racing from Rong Yuan’s confession now became a result of anger.

Rong Yuan’s words had sounded touching at first, if not for the fact that he had told her to

behave

.

Does this mean that if she did not behave, he would leak all her secrets?

Knowing that Gu Lingzhi had understood what he meant, Rong Yuan had a smug look on his face and feigned an innocent smile. “Don’t worry, I will not hold you hostage using the things you have done in the past, as long as you do not reject or avoid me.”

Was there any freedom left for her in the Royal School?

“As long as you do not run away from me, I will still give you your personal space.”

The amount of personal space that he would give to her would definitely depend on his mood that day.

Gu Lingzhi’s mouth twitched, yet no words came out.

“Sweetheart, were you going to say something?”

Gu Lingzhi did not smile. “You should be known as the Kingdom’s God of Shamelessness instead!”

He was so shameless that he was in an entire league of his own.

Rong Yuan was silent for a while, before he put on a very serious look on his face and said, “Actually, I think that I should be called the God of Lust instead.”

With that, he pressed his lips onto hers once again.

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