What's the Difference Between a Shadow Guard and a Kitty?

The young prince has a personal guard.

At seven, he went bird's-egg hunting with him.

At ten, he copied out his punishment essays for him.

At sixteen, he snapped an assassin's neck beside his bed.

At nineteen, he carried off the pretty girl his rival had sent to his bed.

One day, the young prince said, "Zhaoying, stay with me for a while."

After that, the guard never stood watch on the roof overnight again.

The guard was perfect in every way: peerless in combat, utterly loyal, and more handsome beneath his mask than the celebrated beauties of the capital...

Like a pretty cat who liked to perch on the rafters, and belonged only to him.

Of course, he was supposed to stay with him for the rest of his life.

Until the emperor's elder brother arranged a marriage for him. The young prince hugged his guard and rambled, "I wonder if getting married is a hassle."

The guard replied, "It's not. Yesterday, Lord Cen had me carried into his residence in a sedan chair. The whole thing took barely an hour."

The young prince laughed at him. "That's taking a concubine."

Then he froze.

Wait, what had he just said?

Lord Cen, his sworn rival who had sent him a girl, had taken Zhaoying into his residence?

"Didn't you tell me to gather information?" Zhaoying explained in response to his master's fury.

The young prince fell silent. The young prince flew into a rage. The young prince's eyes turned red in an instant.

Zhaoying: "?"

What was wrong?

Nothing was wrong. The young prince just sat facing the wall all night, then worked until dawn on a three-thousand-word essay titled "The Case for Not Getting Married" to send to his brother.

[Charming, dashing, hopeless-at-romance puppy of a young prince gong X good-natured but ruthless catlike guard shou]

Blurb archived 2022.2.18

Theme: Developing a healthy attitude toward love