𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 | jinshi

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎

"No it hasn't," she finally answered, removing her knee away from him, "never mind that. It doesn't bother me anymore."

Jinshi gave her a disbelieving pout, only to receive a flick to his forehead.

"Ouch–"

"Shouldn't you be somewhere else?" she hummed, feeling proud of the dread that seemed to wash over the eunuch's face, "Doing papers, perhaps?"

"So cold," he shivered, voice dipping in defeat, "But wait.. What are you doing here then—"

"I think I see Gaoshun over there!"

With a jolt, the purple-haired male turned over his shoulder frantically, only to be met with nothing but darkness. There was no one there.

"What are you talking ab–"

Jinshi turned back over his shoulder, only to see that the consort was nowhere to be found. What was left was her red veil, which had just landed delicately onto the ground where she last stood. The scene caused the eunuch to pout once more.

"You're so cold, Suyin."

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

The ebony haired consort made her way back to her sleeping quarters, only to notice a figure shuffling quietly through the halls. Her eyes narrowed as she followed the figure, only to stop when the person suddenly dropped to the ground.

To her surprise, the figure seemed to begin to pick some plants from the ground, placing them into the basket that they carried. As she got closer, the consort was able to see that the mysterious creeper was actually a girl just a few years younger than her.

"While it's not exactly illegal to harvest those," Suyin commented with a smirk as she witnessed the girl jolt in surprise, "It's quite suspicious to do so in this manner."

The girl had deep green hair that was tied into two small loops on the top and two low ponytails below.

She also wore a baby blue bow on the top of her head, completing the simplistic yet very cute look. She wore an orange tunic with a plain white dress underneath. It was the attire of the worker girls within the inner palace.

Said girl turned around and was met with a pair of silvery eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. Her eyes appeared to wander all over the consort's body before she finally composed herself and stood up.

"My apologies," she bowed politely, "I saw some flowers that were pretty and wanted to show them to the other workers. I'm sorry if I've disturbed you."

Suyin was far from ignorant, especially to the workings of the palace. The plants that were scattered throughout the inner palace were grown specifically for the purpose of either poison or antidote. She had been treated by them several times and knew greatly of their uses.

Along with that, if the girl before her had really harvested the plants for said beauty, she wouldn't have needed to bring such a large basket with her.

It was rare for a commoner, let alone a girl, to have knowledge on such medicines. Perhaps, this was what the Graceful Consort found so interesting about her.

"That's quite caring of you," Suyin replied with a smile, "Though, if I were you, I would wait until those last lanterns die out over there. That would mean the last lady in waiting and her maids would be asleep."

"R-right," the girl muttered, only to turn her attention to the consort's pants.

It seemed that her mind was calculatingly trying to figure out who Suyin was, but it was clear she wouldn't ask, knowing full well that the lady in front of her was of at least higher status than her.