He quickly went through the memories of this timid maid in his mind. Everything about her was fine, except for one thing, she was far too easily scared.
His brows drew together slightly. "Sui He, you've been with me since I came from Dongyue Kingdom. Now that Su Jin has made a mistake, from today on, you'll take charge of things here."
Sui He clearly already knew about Su Jin's punishment, but she hadn't expected to be chosen to personally serve the prince again. Feeling overwhelmed, she burst into tears. "Y-your Highness… I-I'll serve you well, I promise!"
Yue Mingxuan sighed inwardly.
Seriously? All this crying just because of that? He really didn't enjoy such displays of emotion.
He picked up a handkerchief from the dressing table and tossed it at her. "Stop crying!"
"Uuuh… I'm not crying… uuuh…" Sui He kept wiping her tears frantically, but her soft sobbing still didn't stop.
While rubbing his forehead, Yue Mingxuan sighed. Clearly, a little scare was necessary. "If you cry again… I'll throw you out to feed the dogs."
The sound stopped immediately. The room went silent.
"Don't tell anyone what happened today," he warned coldly. There was one advantage to being known as the "ugly one." In a palace full of danger and schemes, it was safest to stay unnoticed.
"But, Your Highness," Sui He said hesitantly, "you're so beautiful… didn't you know about it?" She clearly couldn't tell if the person in front of her had gone mad or just had a strange sense of humor.
Yue Mingxuan opened his mouth but didn't know how to answer. Finally, he frowned and muttered, "Why are you asking so many questions?"
Before the words had even left his lips, Sui He was already trembling again and nearly dropping to her knees out of habit.
Thankfully, Yue Mingxuan reacted quickly and gave her another small kick to stop her. "Don't kneel for every little thing."
"Oh." Sui He nodded quickly, like a pecking bird.
"I'm hungry," Yue Mingxuan said flatly. "Go prepare dinner." He hadn't eaten all day and his stomach was already starting to ache.
He waved his hand dismissively, his tone holding a faint note of command. By now, he had figured out the girl's temperament — if he treated her kindly, she'd start babbling nonstop; it was better to be a little fierce.
"Y-yes, Your Highness," Sui He stammered before hurrying out to prepare the meal.
Only after her footsteps faded down the corridor did Yue Mingxuan finally release the laughter he'd been holding in. "Haha… hahaha…"
His laughter echoed through the room, wild and unrestrained. If he hadn't had such good self-control, he probably would've burst a lung by now.
When he finally stopped laughing, he sat back down and looked once again into the mirror. The perfect and flawless beauty that stared back at him made him smile… but slowly, that smile turned faint and a strange sadness filled his heart.
In his past life, his looks had been ordinary, although he's not ugly but he's far from stunning.