Silver Prince

SP :; 27

"We have separate gardens." He says first. "A forest of fruits, and beds of numerous kinds of flowers, which one would you like, your highness?" He offers a smile, earning a gleeful glance in return.

"I'll be honored to see Zhuliu's forest of fruits."

━━

"The apples are so sweet." Chewing amidst her talking, Mu Qing snorts as he cuts through the apples with his blade. "They're very juicy too - I'd love to have Quin taste these, she loves apples."

"You can send some to her room." Yui Quinyang is apparently sick. A fever that she rarely gets, and the queen had blankly joked that she was just homesick. "Even have an apple pie baked for her."

"I can do that?"

Mu Qing nods, handing out the now sliced apples. "Of course." He says, slowly wiping his blade as he puts it back to his waist belt and resists the urge to laugh at himself.

The dagger that presumably got blessed by a might martial god, reduced to cutting fruits.

"What's your favourite fruit?" She asks, munching on the sliced apples bit by bit beneath her mask. "Plums? Strawberries? Or are you one of those that simply does not favour anything?"

"It's not a favourite." Mu Qing shrugs. "But perhaps yes, I'm one of those that simply does not favour one by the other."

"I see." Zi Xianxa nods in understanding, finishing off the rest of the fruit. "The royal adviser stated we'll be practicing a dance tomorrow, aren't we?"

"Another ballroom dance that I'm sure both of us had mastered already from a young age." The prince could not help but sigh. "I'm not sure why they still insist."

"They want it to be perfect." The princess laughs. "Although it is not their wedding. They're molding us into something that could please their eyes regardless if it is a comfort to our own."

"Do you want this engagement, your highness?"

"Hm?" Surprised, the princess halts in her steps. Dumbfounded as she stood beside him with no words.

Mu Qing brushes a hand through his hair in frustration as the question he had wanted to ask escaped from his barely held tongue. "This whole engagement... This whole thing, do you want it?"

"I-" Zi Xianxa visibly bites her tongue. Restraining herself as the prince leads her to a more secluded part of the fruit forest to avoid unwanted ears. "I'm-I'm not sure, my sister... The queen needs more fortune to be able to lift up our kingdom... and king Mu gave us that opportunity -"

"I'm not asking the benefits of marrying Zhuliu, I'm asking if you want to marry me." Boldly, the prince holds her arms. Almost shaking the princess to her senses in distress as he looks at her intently. "Do you want to marry Zhuliu?"

"No." Zi Xianxa shakes her head, and Mu Qing was almost surprised she hadn't cried. "No - I don't - I don't want - I never wanted any of these and if we have any more other options, I would have pushed that through my sister's head. I don't want to marry when I could barely fend for myself."

Relieved, Mu Qing lets her go. Pulling her into an embrace instead to give some kind of comfort as he fairly knew what it feels to be so helpless you're forced into something you never want in order help someone else.

He had experienced those many times before. Even at a young age where one should have been running around and playing things rather than to be put in a place where adults should be handling the situation.

"I'll get us out of this engagement. And I'll find a way to help your kingdom without having to push a marriage." He murmurs softly. "Trust me, and help me."

"I will." Zi Xianxa states firmly. "I will help with everything I can, just don't... don't do anything reckless that would cause a fight."

"Ah, your highness." Mu Qing snorts lazily as memories of his disastrous decisions resulted in a blood bath.

"You won't have to worry about that."

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n. we're getting near the coronation itself and i feel nervous instead of excited AND IM THE ONE WRITING IT wtf. okay anwayaksnwlskdne