The morning light spilled through the sheer curtains of the hotel room. Yan Yuxi stirred awake and propped herself up. She stretched out her hands and yawned cutely before glancing at the nightstand;a habit she had whenever she woke up. Oops! Her phone was not there. Right now she could only rely on the wall clock to find out the time.
It had been twelve hours since the whole nation found out about her identity. She was yet to find out who had exposed her and how or rather why? Maybe they didn't want her deceiving the citizens any longer.
The news of the famous war strategist of the Huaxia Republic identified as female spread everywhere on social media.
Yan Yuxi,like her late father,was obsessed with strategy and diplomacy so she joined the military using a male identity. Reason why? There were very few women joining the military hence they were not allowed to participate directly in anything to do with national war. Only by joining the men's army would she be able to put her skills into appropriate use.
Huaxia Republic was a war prone zone since they had been in constant war with Jinyun Commonwealth for a decade. They took war seriously and every battle was planned carefully by professionals in order to guarantee victory and that's where Yan Yuxi had stepped in. In the five years she had been in the army,her home country had always emerged the winner — thanks to her strategic planning and cunning mind.
Last evening, someone leaked the news about her gender and it circulated online like a wildfire. And now here she was,a wanted criminal on the run, not willing to be captured yet. She got rid of her cellphone to avoid been traced.
The twenty five year old held her breath the moment she heard the first knock on the door. She halted even the slightest movement, her posture alert. When she heard the fourth knock she sighed in relief,her posture now relaxed.
It was definitely her brother. They had agreed to used four knocks as the verification code. If it were less or more then it wasn't him. Her brother was the main reason she had managed to hide her identity perfectly for five years.
Still in her pajamas,she padded across the room towards the door and opened it revealing her brother carrying a shopping bag but there was someone else behind him who made her freeze,her eyes widening in shock,her poor heart picking up its pace.
"Ge... He...,"she stuttered ,the sight of their barracks ' captain freaking the hell out of her.
"It's fine. He's not a threat,"her brother ,Yan Zhen reassured her. Only then did she relax and stepped aside letting them in. She locked the door and trailed behind them.
"I brought you breakfast,"Yan Zhen announced. He had promised to take care of her meals and instructed her not to allow anyone in; not even the hotel staff.
The girl was too flustered by the man beside her brother to register Yan Zhen's words. After all this was the man she had been secretly fawning over since she joined the military but she couldn't bring herself to confess. Mostly because she was regarded as a male so she thought it was weird to make a move under such circumstances. Secondly she was afraid of rejection. Captain Xu Yi was untouchable, seemingly way out of her league.
"Captain,"she bowed.
Captain Xu hummed in acknowledgement.
"Captain already knew about your female identity,"her brother informed.
"Oh,since when?" She gulped in surprise.
"Doesn't matter,"Yan Zhen cut her off .
"Okay,"she pouted,"What's going to happen to me?"
"Captain has promised to help you get out of trouble," Her brother informed.
"Thank you Captain," she bowed once again.
"No problem," Captain answered in his deep voice and the girl almost melted on the spot.
"I have some things to take care of in the lab so do you need anything else before I leave?"
Unlike his sister,Yan Zhen worked as a scientist specialising in chemical and nuclear weapons.
"I'm bored. I don't even have anything to entertain myself with," she whined swallowing a mouthful of food.
"Just be ..."
"Here take this ,"Captain interrupted gently handling her a book.
She took it and ran her fingers over the cover touching it with reverence,her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"The Crown Prince's Unexpected Bride. Is it a historical novel?"
Captain hummed in agreement and the girl beamed, unable to hide her joy. She loved reading those kinds of novels.
"Thanks so much,"she said still smiling.
"You're welcome."
After the two males left,she was left eating while reading the novel. The fact that her crush was the one who had gifted her the novel made it even more enticing.
A few hours had passed since she started reading the novel. It was undeniably captivating. She didn't pace up the reading; instead she took her time reading page by page savouring each scene and even visualizing it.
The four knocks were heard again and she glanced at the clock. It was a quarter to noon.
'Why did he bring lunch so early?' she wondered but nonetheless she went to open the door. What she met made her stumble backwards in shock.
"Liu- Ge,what are you doing here?" She asked still in shock but the real question was how did she know her brother's secret code?
"Didn't expect to see me?" Liu Bo smirked,"I brought you guests,"he gestured to four gigantic men behind him. One glance at them and their uniquely tattooed arms and she could tell they were soldiers from the enemy country. Being a war strategist for years,she had studied every little detail about the enemy country.
"Why are you with them?" She questioned in disbelief.
"Why can't I be with them?" He countered with an evil smile,"Come on in gentlemen."
Yan Yuxi retreated backwards, recoiling in terror.
"You're the one who exposed me,"she stated.
"Yes. Actually I've known for a while. Your brother accidentally blurted out when he was drunk,"he admitted.
"You're my brother's buddy and a citizen of Huaxia Republic. How can you collude with the enemy?" She questioned raising her voice at him.
"I'm not some patriotic shit like you. The Captain from Jinyun Commonwealth army wants to marry you. That way he can have both your brains and beauty while I get a fortune out of it as part of the betrothal gifts ."
"You're disgusting,"she rebuked him." I'd rather die than leave with you guys."
"You have nowhere to go. Even our own soldiers are hunting you down. You're a criminal,"he taunted."Guys seize her!" He ordered.
"Wait!" She blurted out and the muscular men halted instantly.
"What?
"I'll come with you guys but let me change my attire first. I'm... having my period and this outfit... isn't reliable,"she explained. She secretly bit her forefinger harshly drawing blood and smeared it on her butt to make it look convincing. She turned around deliberately and there was indeed a small patch of blood on her pajamas.
"Okay,you have one minute."
She glanced at her novel that was still resting on the windowsill. She thanked the heavens that she had opened the window in the morning while reading.
She walked towards her small suitcase and opened it pretending to look for an attire. Forced by the little conscience left in them,they looked away to offer her privacy. When they were distracted enough she bolted across the room and thankfully the window wasn't that high and she jumped out without thinking much and fell on the hard pavement with a thud.
"This bitch!" Liu Bo cursed.