This chapter is longer than usual but shorter than the previous one! Please do enjoy! Chapter 17.
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Author's POV:
"What did you say?!" She questions in surprise as she is carefully putting on her ruby earrings. Due to that, she is scratched a little on her ears and winces at the slight pain, before her facial expression returns to the normal her.
"Emperor visited Consort Para's palace." Jane repeats, tipping her head down. She knows that her master will be enraged upon receiving this news. It is expected, of course.
"After more than ten years, why did he suddenly visit her palace?!"
"Yo-your humble servant does not know..." Jane's answer only made her master annoyed even more.
"Useless." She curses and hastily stands up, walking back and forth as she ponders about the matter.
"Lady Wane has already died. Consort Para is gone too. That palace is nothing but an empty, deserted and dirty place. What is there to see in that damned palace?!" Her word is thunderously dangerous. She cannot let the Emperor to fall back into those times again. She wants the Emperor all for herself, she wants to monopolise him.
"However... His Majesty did order the palace to be sealed forever. This is something that rarely happens even during the reign of previous Emperors." Jane adds.
"Of course. Thanks to Lady Wane, many thought that Consort Para gained his favour. After her death, he no longer visited Consort Para's palace. Whenever I remember how His Majesty was the one who ordered the execution of entire Wane family, I cannot help but feel so much satisfaction." Consort Shine laughs, her laugh is filled with darkness as though she herself is the darkness.
"Definitely he was the one who chose the Empire over a woman. It was expected. He is just another selfish man. Despicable." As she finishes speaking, Consort Shine bites her lips and her finger nails dig into her flesh, causing a red mark. Her eyes turn glassy for a moment before she blinks it away. Then, she calms herself down and leaves her palace to take a stroll at her palace's garden.
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Jade's POV:
This is horrible. The Phoenix Garden is too big for me to be able to find Crown Prince. I was accompanying him as he needed as break from looking through government books. However, once we have just reached the garden, he asks me to return to his palace to retrieve his bamboo flute.
Now that I am back with his music instrument, I seem to have lost him in the midst of this garden. The pathway in this garden branches and branches again, seemingly to form a maze surrounded by bushes, trees and flowers. There would be servants or guards occasionally passing by. Though I want to ask about Crown Prince's whereabouts to them, no voice seems to be able to escape my throat.
"Oh? This person seems familiar to me." A voice has me stop in my tracks. A familiar feelings of rapidly beating heartbeat instills fear within me, as though my body has memorised this kind of moments. I dare not look around, for fear of the worse that may come. As I never turn around, I hear stomping of feet approaching me and all of a sudden, a hand grabs my shoulder strongly and pull me around to face her.
"How insolent! You have met me and yet you are not on your knees!" Instantly my body falls onto my knees as usual, trembling slightly out of fear.
"Mi-Missy.." My voice comes out shaky and almost whispering. My throat suddenly turns dry and sweat rolls down my forehead and temples.
"Who allows you to call me Missy?! You lowly servant should know to address me as Concubine Leanne!" I keep my mouth shut, for I know that I would just be in deeper troubles if I voice up my comments any day, though I already know that I am in for deep troubles. Crown Prince is still waiting somewhere in this garden for his favourite flute, and I am keeping him waiting longer as I kneel here.
"What? Wherever you go, you will always be below me. Why? Because you are born a slave. You are a taboo to the palace." She lowers her body and whispers into my ears, then stands straight up again, laughing gleefully as though belittling me has become her joy. But, what can I do then? I know I am born a slave. I always have been one. The fact has never changed. Even I have accepted it.
"Just thinking of it angers me still! It is because of you that I cannot have a peaceful life in the palace!" All of a sudden, my body loses its balance from a strong push against my body. I fall hard onto the grounds, my head almost hitting the trunk of a considerably big tree. It hurts, the skin of my hand scrapes the ground and starts to bleed a little. In my other arm, I protect Crown Prince's flute at all costs.
"Is that yours?" When her eyes notices the flute partially hidden under my sleeves, she smiles cunningly, as though she has planned on something.
"No..."
"I say I want the flute! Give me!" Her hands reach out to the flute in my hand and forcefully pulls it away from me. It takes me all I have to never let go, but the thoughts of possibly breaking the flute weaken my grip and I cannot help but let go. As she has the flute in her hands, she smirks at me. When she looks around, her eyes settle on the pond and she seems satisfied. Then I realise what she is thinking about.
"No! No!" I crawl to her feet and clutch onto her dress, stopping her and begging her to stop. She may throw it into the pond thinking that that flute is mine, but it is not! It is Crown Prince's, and he is still waiting somewhere in the garden. This is really...horrible.
"What is going on?" A voice, a manly voice appears from behind me. It is a familiar one that I definitely have heard before.For a second, I hope it will be Crown Prince. However, I know it will never be him. As I turn around, I see a man in his glorious dark red suit with a golden crown resting on his head, his appearance neat and speaks of imperial family. Taken aback, Missy, now Concubine Leanne keeps the flute to herself, her eyes squinted and she bites her lips.
"I wonder who may this handsome young man be?" She questions while pretending to be innocent.
"I am Third Prince. Consort Shine's son." I can notice Concubine Leanne's actions, seem as though she is shocked for a moment. Then she smiles all of a sudden, a facial expression extremely different from how she looked before.
"Meeting Third Prince here is such an honour." She fakes a smile though I'm very sure that her legs are trembling under those dresses.
"Seeing that this beautiful woman has a lady-in-waiting following, I assume that you are one of the concubines who have just entered the palace."
"You are flattering me. But Third Prince indeed is smart. I am Concubine Leanne who have just entered the palace." She dips her head to show her politeness, and I see Third Prince doing the same. Then a second of silence kicks in before I notice Third Prince points at the flute which Concubine Leanne hides under her sleeves.
"That flute, is it not the one which Father Emperor gifted to Crown Prince?" Hearing Third Prince's explanation, Concubine Leanne perhaps has the shock of her life. She slowly and gently takes the flute out, then smiles awkwardly faking innocence.
"I was just borrowing it from this palace servant, it indeed is very beautiful." She hesitantly returns the flute to me and I gladly receives the flute.
"I-I still have some matters to attend to. I will take my leave first." Concubine Leanne bows slightly before turning around and leaves in a hurriedly manner.
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Author's POV:
"Rise." After Concubine Leanne has left their sight, Third Prince stretches out his arms to help Jade to stand up. Her dresses have been dirtied from kneeling on the grounds. She bows deeply for being grateful.
"Thank you Third Prince." She says, her tone is clearly awkward and she seems to be avoiding his eyes.
"It is fine. Are you okay?" Jade diverts her attention to his hand, where she finds an opened pot of wine resting on his hand.
"I am okay. Instead, Third Prince should not drink too much." Third Prince eyes her in surprise too, his eyebrows furrowed and disbelief is present in his expression.
"How do you know that I drink a lot?"
"I... I...."
"So...that night was not a dream?" He asks, his heartbeat rising rapidly and he is too scared to hear about the answer.
"Yo-your humble servant has something to do and excuses myself first." Jade curtsies deeply and turns around hurriedly, wanting to escape from the situation she is caught in with Third Prince. However she is too slow for him and he easily manages to grab a hold of her wrist, preventing her from escaping. Then he turns her around to face him though she keeps her eyes down.
"So you have known about me?" She can feel his hand sweating and his grip is slippery.
"I-I do not understand what Your Highness is referring to."
"You understand! You understand what I am trying to say. If not, why would you behave as though you have just committed a crime?" Jade remains silent and says of nothing. She understands, indeed. From that night when she was being forcefully dragged to accompany Third Prince to drink, she has since then known about his feelings towards Seventh Princess. It is something she has been trying to erase from her mind but she is unable to do so.
"Why? Why did you not tell others about this?" Again she keeps quiet.
"If you reported this to your master Crown Prince, he would definitely reward you and you would have lived a much better life." He continues.
"I have no reason to tell him." Jade gathers enough courage to look at Third Prince in the eyes. Still not understanding her words, Third Prince keeps quiet, waiting for her to continue.
"This is Your Highness' secret. If anyone were to tell it, it will be Your Highness, for I have no rights to do so."
"..."
"Furthermore, I do not wish to live a great life by sacrificing others. I may enjoy my life for a moment, but I will feel deep remorse for a lifetime."
"..."
"Your humble servant excuse myself." Jade curtsies deeply before hurriedly leaving Third Prince, who is left stunned at his position. As Jade leaves, his eyes follow her until she disappears around the corner.
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Author's POV:
That night, the full moon is shining so brightly, so much that perhaps candles are not needed at all. From afar, a woman can be seen walking alone holding a lantern as her source of light other than the moon. Her outfit suggests that she is clearly not a servant of the palace. Her steps are gentle and carry so much elegance. As she passes by a small pavilion, she notices a familiar figure sitting on the low wooden fences of the pavilion, leaning against the pillar and staring at the moon. In his hand is a bottle of wine. She hesitates for a moment before deciding to stop by the pavilion.
As she enters the palace, the man just eyes her for a moment, unfocused and returns to staring at the moon, longingly. When she pours herself a cup of wine, he jumps off the fence and snatches the cup away from her, his eyebrows furrowed. Then he finishes the wine off for her.
"Still a young girl, you cannot drink!"
"Then... I do not even have the rights to drink now?" She asks with eyes full of hope. He just looks away from her and sits down on the wooden stool across her without muttering any word.
"We have not seen each other for quite some time. Should our encounter be so ugly?" She asks, putting the lantern down on the table. She stares into the flickering light of the candle, observing how the wax melts hardens.
"It is already so late. Why are you not sleeping? Where are your servants?"
"I ordered Ere not to follow me."
"Go back." His words are short and straightforward. They hurt her so much but she puts up a strong front.
"I thought we were close." She comments, her hands under the table are nervously entangled together.
"...."
"Am I wrong? Or do you perhaps really dislike me, such that you want me to just be married to the North? So that I will disappear from your sight forever?" Her words are like a thousand needles piercing through his heart. Of course he has never disliked her. In fact, it is otherwise. He never wants her to be married to the North. He sometimes even hope for her to end up being an old spinster, but he knows his wish will only remain a wish forever.
"I heard from the palace servant that the Third Prince has been drinking almost every night at the pavilion here. Why did you not come and see me?" As she finishes her question, he eyes her in silence. His gaze never leaves her and they stare into each other's eyes, looking for answers.
"I thought you would be hating me by now." Third Prince finally says something, and Seventh Princess is surprised by his answers. Then again, she has expected that.
"At first I was. But after Crown Prince came to talk to me, I understand that what you said were all for my good."
"..."
"Looking at the moon so longingly, is there anything wrong?" She asks curiously.
"I like to look at the moon. Tonight the moon is especially beautiful." He says while intently looking at his sister. His words can contain two meanings, for Seventh Princess' given name is also Moon. However, sadly enough, he knows that she will never catch that hidden meaning behind his words. When she says nothing and just follows him to stare at the moon, he sighs silently and stands up, putting aside the bottles of wine and lifts the lantern in his hands.
"I will send you back to your palace." He leaves the pavilion first, followed by Seventh Princess who has to lift up her dress and runs like a kitten towards him.
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It has been quite sometime since the last appearance of Seventh Princess and here she is! :)
So, I realise that I have not casted anyone for the characters in this story. Sorry to say but I will not cast anyone for them, mainly because I want you to imagine how they will be. Though, I will upload some songs(sooner or later) which I believe will suit the story!
Thanks for reading, see you in the next chapter!