After her bath, Mao An’an, wrapped only in a towel, lay on the bed, idly flipping through TV channels with the remote. Li Erben was meticulously washing his hair in the bathroom. Normally, women take longer in the bath, but recently Li Erben had been spending more time in there, especially after Mao An’an casually mentioned that his hair didn’t seem as good as before. Since then, the prince had started to pay more attention, conditioning his hair daily with high-end lamb’s wool.
“Li Erben—” Mao An’an swung her small white feet around, “Are you done yet? I’m going to sleep.”
Li Erben’s magnetic voice came from the bathroom, “Five minutes.”
True to his word, five minutes later, the prince stood by the bed, his hair gleaming like silk, radiating a subdued luxury. Mao An’an quickly crawled over, sniffing like a puppy, “Hmm, smells good. (Pause) Hey, did you use my bath gel?!”
Li Erben coughed, adjusting the wrongly tied belt in his confusion, “I wanted us to smell the same.”
Mao An’an, sitting cross-legged on the bed, pointed at the big rabbit print on her pink pajamas, “Why don’t you wear pajamas like mine then?”
Li Erben looked expressionlessly, “Studies show that sleeping naked is beneficial for both physical and mental health, reduces marital discord, increases intimacy, and promotes mutual appreciation, enhancing marital relationships. From a technical standpoint, it’s a healthy behavior.”
Mao An’an flopped back onto the bed, “Talking to you is like reading a textbook.”
In a low voice, Li Erben admitted, “Well… mainly because I really like sleeping naked.”
Mao An’an turned her head, showing her white teeth with a grin, “You also like not wearing underwear, huh? I wonder if you’ll forget to zip up one day and expose yourself?”
Li Erben calmly untied his robe, removed his clothes, and then, with his sleek black hair, pounced like a predatory wolf. Mao An’an rolled around on the bed, laughing, as Li Erben caught her, pinning her down, his voice dark, “You’re mocking me?”
Mao An’an pinched his cheeks, stretching them apart, “You’re not cute when you don’t smile. Like this, it’s much better. If you could smile more naturally, that would be even better.”