one week has passed since the queen's imprisonment. the king had still not informed the public about the queen - who is still in the dungeon. nianzu and prince kun were still at the palace to stay, of course stealing the kings every now and then for 'business' reasons. prince kunhang and xiaomei continued to avoid each other - although they were desperate.
xiaomei wanted her friend back while the prince, he wanted his queen back.
they all continued to rehearse for the autumn festival, which was only two days away. they had gotten used to the idea of dancing with real swords, with the special addition of their styled hanfus.
the days that passed were busy, busier than ever. everyone would run around the palace, trying to get all their errands done. it was normal for the season of autumn to be busy but this year, too many things happened at once.
. . .
xiaomei sat alone on the court of the palace. she sat engulfed in her own sadness with nothing but the cool autumn breeze brushing against her skin. "jiejie?" a gentle voice called for the female. xiaomei turned her head to the side to see renjun. "oh renjun di, what brings you here?"
"i should be asking you that. you only ever come outside to the court when you're down." renjun took the seat beside her on the wooden bench.
xiaomei chuckled to herself quietly. "you know me too well, don't you?"
"oh c'mon, you, kunhang and i basically grew up together. if it's not kunhang then it's me." renjun laughed. xiaomei nodded her head at his factual words.
it was true, the three of them basically grew up together. renjun's mother had gotten a job offer at the palace when renjun was three years old. renjun and his mother moved into the palace together, living there until now. xiaomei on the other hand, was found abandoned in the forest grounds of Cressida at the age of eleven. so out of sympathy, the guards of Cressida had brought her into the palace.
the two boys, kunhang and renjun, had grown used to the company of xiaomei. the three were nearly inseparable but once kunhang turned 15, he had duties to cover as the heir to the throne. the trio soon broke down into a duo.
"what's on your mind this time, jiejie?" the younger asked, looking down at the garden bed in front of him. "something isn't sitting right with me. the weather has been very dull recently despite the autumn festival and so something doesn't feel right." the older girl explained.
"you think something will go wrong, am i right?" xiaomei said nothing and only nodded her head.
xiaomei lifted her head, staring at the dark clouds above their heads. "i'm probably just being delusional, i'm not in the right mind right now." xiaomei let out a bitter chuckle at her own thoughts. "no, tell me. i'm all ears." renjun smiled at the girl softly.
"i may be crazy but, the weather just makes me feel like something big is coming. something dangerous. i need you to help me be on look out the day the festival comes." xiaomei explained. renjun furrowed his brows in confusion but nonetheless still nodded his head.
"there's something else though," renjun says quietly. he knew xiaomei well, possibly too well. he knew there was more than that.
he could see just by the look in her eyes that there was something pulling at her heart. "tell me jiejie. you know you can't hide your thoughts from me."
xiaomei sighed deeply at renjun who looked at her with pity eyes. "the prince..how do i say this?" xiaomei sighed once again.
"you've grown to like him." renjun stated quietly. xiaomei heard his short and quiet words. she looked down at her fiddling hands that sat directly in her lap. "it's a strong word to say, possibly..missing him?"
the tone of her voice sounded doubtful. she doubted herself with her own words and feelings. she wasn't sure how she was feeling. of course she couldn't deny he was an attractive male but, she couldn't tell if she liked him or not?
"oh who are you kidding? you like him and you've liked him for years. you lied to him when you said you gave the necklace back to me, when you actually had it the whole time. don't lie to me and yourself, and say you miss him. you clearly like him more than a friend, more than a prince. you clearly know that he likes you but you always rejected him because you only now started to like him in that way."
renjun ranted to the stunned girl. xiaomei sat there in shock at the amount of words that ran out his mouth - a strong passive aggressive tone heard.
"did i ever tell you that he asked if i wanted to be his queen and i was about to say yes but he didn't let me answer because i was taken aback but he thought i was gonna reject him and so he ran off and then he was on his mother's side and so that's why i'm avoiding him...?" renjun whipped his head in xiaomei's direction with eyes wide.
"HE SAID WHAT?!" renjun yelled. xiaomei scowled at the younger male, slapping her hand over his mouth - which he licked. xiaomei retracted her hand in disgust at his action.
"you were gonna say yes?! and he just left you before you answered?!" renjun whisper yelled. yet again, xiaomei said nothing and only nodded her head.
renjun gripped his hands onto either side of xiaomei's shoulders, staring into her eyes with a wide smile. "you have to invite me to the wedding and the coronation."
"there won't be any, he hates me."
"no i don't." the short three words, spoken by the familiar deep voice. renjun looked over xiaomei's shoulders while xiaomei sat there frozen like ice.
"i don't hate you, mei. i also never will." his words rung in her ears like a bell, they stung her heart like an arrow piercing through a stack of hay.
renjun slipped his hands off xiaomei's shoulders and stood up slowly. "i'll uhm..be off. excuse me, your highness." renjun bowed awkwardly and escaped the strong tension that drifted in the air.
xiaomei, too, stood up from the bench and attempted her escape. of course, she was stopped by the prince's hand wrapping around her wrist.
"mei..can we please talk? at our spot?" his honeyed voice echoed in her ears, sending a chain of chills down her spine. "your highness, if you excuse me-"
"xiaomei, please.." his voice was small and brittle.
xiaomei didn't have to look into his eyes to know that they were glassy.
"your highness.." xiaomei tried to project her voice as cold and strong but she couldn't. "just one last time before you leave me completely? please. after this i promise i'll never come to bother you again." the prince pleaded with desperation.
"just this once." xiaomei whispered.
something tugged both their hearts. the feeling of a promise he now had to keep, the feeling of abandonment, the feeling of their hearts breaking into shards.
. . .
"what is it you wanted to talk about?" xiaomei asked directly.
"i didn't mean to say what i said. i didn't mean to agree with mother when she wanted you gone. i didn't mean to be by her side that day. i was forced to because if i didn't agree she would take you away from me forever."
"she was gonna kill me, wasn't she?" xiaomei's voice came out shaky with uneven breaths.
kunhang bowed his head down low with tears rolling down his cheeks. "i'm sorry. i hurt you and your friends, you must hate me now but that's okay. i promise i'll never bother you again."
tears that continued to flow down his cheeks as he looked down at the grass. xiaomei stared at the prince.
never did she see him cry like this before. another rule that he had to follow was that he shouldn't cry in front of another.
"your highness.."
"i'm sorry! i never meant to hurt you or your friends i really didn't. i hurt you and i don't expect you to forgive me for it." dropping to his knees, the prince held his hands tight on the material of his clothing.
xiaomei felt horrible. she avoided him and left him, she caused a person to have such a heartbreak. something pulled on her heart.
was she allowed to hug him? could she call him her friend anymore? was she even in any place to comfort him anymore?
"decline my offer, general. if you hate me then walk away right now. please don't keep me going, please don't keep me believing that you could possibly love me because i know that you don't."
"no," xiaomei said shortly. her tone was monotonous - no hint of emotion.
hendery lifted his head at her response, eyes blood shot red. "i'm not walking away anymore. i'm gonna stop avoiding the problem just because i'm selfish. i can't hate you even if i tried to."
xiaomei sighed softly. she got down on her knees, cupping hendery's face in the palm of her hands. despite her hands gently lifting his head, he still avoided her dark orbs. "hendery, look at me."
her voice was soft and gentle. the softness that hendery hadn't heard in so long. the voice he always wished to fall asleep and wake up to. the voice he loved since he was thirteen. the voice that never left his mind or heart.
"please, look at me just once." she said again softly. slowly, he looked xiaomei in the eyes with sadness. an overwhelming amount of sadness that was found in his eyes. xiaomei left her original aim of words aside, deciding to say something else.
"do you hate me?" she asked. she was hesitant to ask this. she felt scared for the answer that was to come. "i could never hate you, love."
as if boulders were taken off she chest, she flashed hendery a small smile. "well then, love, might i say that i love you too much to ever hate you. of course i am slightly mad you didn't try to fight your mother for my life but there's nothing i can do."
"my love," hendery removed xiaomei's hands from his face and held them gently in his lap, "can i kiss you?" xiaomei let out a quiet giggle at his words.
"must you really ask that to a girl who's overly in love with you?"
without further words spoken, hendery dipped his head down - crashing his lips into his lover's. their lips molded together like two puzzle pieces. their hearts danced with joy, banging on each other's chests like drums.
a euphoric feelings was evidently felt. the strong connection that the two shared with each other. there was a desire - a strong desire. they wanted more and they both knew it.
xiaomei's hand rested themselves on hendery's chest, the tips of her fingers touching his shoulder. while his hands rested on either side of her waist, pulling her closer every few seconds.
the two of them pulled away from each other, grasping for a breath. their eyes staring into one another's.
such a deep emotion was seen in each other's eyes. the emotions that was equally felt, an emotion much deeper than love. it was an amorous feeling that tugged at both their hearts.
"love," hendery spoke. his voice was low and raspy.
"do it, you have my word, do it." that was all hendery had to hear.
he took xiaomei's hand and lifted her off her feet. they both ran, they ran through the courts and down the hallways. a large smile plastered on both their lips.
euphoria,
that's what they both felt.
once arriving at hendery's chamber, hendery wrapped his arms around xiaomei's waist. his smile no longer bright, and instead was an intimate smirk.
"you're mine, love"
well that was an interesting chapter
nah it's weird bc I wrote the second half of the chap in class🧍♀️🧍♀️🧍♀️