Chapter 3 A Start

Chad watched the lady as she got into position. A question bugged him in his mind.

Had she totally no recollection of the past? Or how they had met before?

First, it was not one, but two times they had met. Second, the relationship they had was too complex!

But he hadn’t asked her directly. Instead, he had done what she asked of him until she had asked for a spar between them.

That just confirmed his doubts about her, that she had indeed forgotten about him! He knew clearly that if she remembered what happened between them half a year ago, she wouldn’t have asked for a spar so authoritatively!

It was because she had lost to him so terribly, that she detested him and never wanted to see him ever again! No matter how long it had passed, he would always remember how she had said those words “I hate you to the core of my heart”. Though he had many consorts during the time he was in the palace, he had paid no attention to them. The girl had captured his attention so deeply that he couldn’t stop thinking about her words for weeks straight!

When she had acknowledged him earlier without recognising him, he realised she had somehow lost her memories of the past. He knew she had so much ego in her, she would have never put her hatred down for the sake of hiring a mercenary!

Something must have happened that time, he thought, as he readied himself for the battle.

“Make your move now!” Jade shouted in what appeared to be a war cry, but he easily defeated her in seconds.

As he expected, she wasn’t happy about it, and shouted, “That didn’t count! Let’s have another go!”

That was it. She really had lost her memory of him! Even when he had infuriated her those times, he hadn’t anticipated that she would not remember him after that. Weren’t those enemies or nemesis the persons who remained in your memories the most, because you weren’t able to get over your defeat by them?

The first time he met her, they had a squabble over the last chicken in the market. As a prince, he never had to give in to anyone, but when he first met Jade, he just wanted to bicker with her. He couldn’t explain why, but he enjoyed how her lips moved, how she pouted and the redness of her cheeks when she got mad at him. He found it awfully cute.

In the end, he had given up the chicken to her. She huffed in displeasure and left.

There were few, if not none, women, not just in Tribute, but also where he came from, that were like her. She was a rarity.

The second time they met, he had triggered her to her maximum because, according to her, he had claimed the credit for a job that she had wanted to do. She had said those painful words to him and left.

He never saw her again after that. He didn’t even know her name, and only today, he knew it was Jade, the recruiter whose name was inked on the scroll, and an Imperial Guard. Regarding Jade, he had long heard about her, but he had totally no idea that the girl that intrigued him was Jade all along.

Perhaps it was a blessing that she didn’t recognise him. Though it displeased him, he was happy to get on her good side.

They got ready for Jade’s order for a rematch. She was the boss. What could he even say? He smiled idiotically as he stood immobile instead of preparing. This time, when she swung towards him, he parried her blow skilfully. She charged at him again, this time like a bull. In a split second, he moved so quickly that she didn’t understand how he came to have caught her in his arms.

She couldn’t move, because he had her tightly in his grasp.

“So, are you convinced now?”

No matter what she did, she wouldn’t be able to escape his grasp easily, due to his supreme strength. All she could do was yell at him, but she was smarter enough than to do that, since it didn’t offer her any solution.

Instead, she just glared at him.

He had all the time on his hands for him to sit down and wait for her to decide to answer him. Letting out a sigh, he sheathed his sword while saying, “Miss Gold, you just need to acknowledge me as your hired mercenary. I assure you, my partner and I will protect you during your mission.”

“Fine.” She didn’t waste any time. “Unlock my acupoints. You have my word.”

He instantaneously did as she demanded. But no sooner had he freed her when she rammed into him, probably to release her fury on him. She hadn’t realised he was one of the fastest swordsmen in his land, probably because he had all the masters to teach him martial arts since he was young. He swerved easily and turned around before embracing her from behind.

Jade’s body stiffened in his grasp. He knew what she was thinking. In broad daylight, the man was brash enough to do this to her! The next thing was, she had stepped hard on his foot. Her move was so abrupt that it forced him to retreat.

She pushed him aside and beckoned for him to follow her back to the office. No words transpired between them for a few long minutes.

Eventually, she rolled up the scroll of parchment paper she was writing on and handed it to him. He took a brief glimpse at the text to understand that it was the pass from her to him and Sky Yale to enter a restricted area in the city for them to proceed on the mission.

There was more that he needed to know and to prepare, but first, he needed to inform Yang Tian of the good news. It was going to go well, and he was enthusiastic about travelling after being stuck in dormancy for a year.

"Thank you," he grinned at the girl.

She glared back.

"You better perform up to standards. And your friend too, whatever his name is."

She pushed him out of the door. "Come back in three days and I'll brief you and your friend about the trip. But remember, the Imperial Guards have no tolerance for lateness. Be one second later, and they will revoke your passes!"

He suddenly moved closer until he was just inches away from her face and subdued her with a hug.

"You don't have to be so worried about me, my dear employer. I-"

She slapped him hard, disrupting his sentence and making him retreat.

"I'll be early," he finished what he was about to say.

She was still fuming. Gathering his energy, he hastily exited and utilised his martial arts to jump over the wall.

Her exasperated visage remained fixated in his mind, but it pleased him extremely that this was just the start between them.