"What did you say you heard again?" A maid asked no one in particular but it seemed the person she was referring to knew herself and nodded eagerly, her eyes lighting up as she bent low like she was about to whisper a secret when all of them were still able to hear it.
"Yulong's princess is coming with her brothers and her—" the maid answered but a third cut in sneering.
"Maybe just the whole family?"
"Oh shut up. You don't know anything, I heard from the em-em-emperor… in the…court about it"
"Which day?" The first and third asked simultaneously and everyone chuckled knowing it was a lie, she heard it from the empress probably through eavesdropping.
Everyone had a story to tell in the imperial palace, gossip and rumors moved faster than a bird in the sky. Not knowing anything was like not knowing your name which was impossible.
It's like you're forced to know every information whether you want to listen or not. Like the matter they were talking about, the Yulong kingdom, a small and private kingdom that came out of Shu.
A tight closed family that ruled over their kingdom, they were hardly ever seen out of their kingdom and palace. With them attending the event that Emperor Shufen was organizing clearly meant he invited them and they accepted the invite. Enough to rouse talks.
Their presence was going to be the talk of the ceremony and according to the words flying across the palace, the emperor was trying to trade out his sons for marriage. They're a very powerful small clan that stayed to themselves. This event would be a memorable one.
Most of his sons weren't…the stomping of a foot, heavy footfalls like the person was trying to drop his anger on the poor ground advanced close to where they were, she dropped the leaves she was plucking from a sprig in fright.
They were gathered in the imperial kitchen, putting all the ingredients the cook was going to use together, in the next few days with the event taking days and food needed to be in plenty.
With her staying at the back of the kitchen, the backyard door opened where they poured out water and led to the garden where they used to plant spices and vegetables for cooking. She noticed the heavy footfalls but not the face behind it more than anyone but didn't care to check who it was.
A silence and soft gasp came from the other maids but that didn't make her lift her head to see what they were gasping about. They did all the time whenever they talked so it was no new thing.
Always making shocked faces, sounds and the rest like they haven't heard what they were hearing before, this was just from a new angle and perception with a new voice.
She bent and picked back the fallen sprig, whosoever was marching this way because they were no longer stomping on the ground and the chattering had ended. She exhaled, ready to finish with this and go back to…
"Everyone get out!"
A chill spread through her back, even in her dreams, when she sleepwalked and when she was lost in her head thinking about how to escape this place. That voice would always bring her back, break through her rationality.
He was always there even when she wanted him and when she didn't want to perceive his presence anywhere close to her. She continued what she was doing like no one talked which must have maddened him.
The one thing people always failed to notice was how dominant Li-Rong was. Even before the crown was given to him, his aura made the air shift wherever he entered, Poole cowered at the sight of him.
The shuffling of feet and distant low whisperings with feet meeting the kitchen floor filled the air. They were gone. She knew from the movement from her peripheral view, his advancement towards her and the stance he took when he reached her was enough to say much.
She couldn't understand what all the display of power was for. Calling her out would've been a good idea and they talk privately not like she intended adhering to his call. She was done with him.
They couldn't be.
"The emperor is going to hear about this your highness" she said, head down still picking out the leaves from the strig.
Foolish stupid move that will only get her into more trouble and him out of the punishments because he was a royal and she was nothing.
She closed her eyes, willing for emotional strength. Her in his presence was blood sucking, her emotions were always in the open, bare and accessible to him and he always played with them to his tune.
She couldn't handle him and his orders every single time. He didn't want to digest the fact that they were done. They were whatever they were in the past and that was it was going to be in. The past. She was in the present and awaiting for the future and he wanted what was in the past.
"And you know what would become of the maid who has no status or anyone to help her out of the clutches of the head maid." She sighed, dropping the spice on the plate "stop making my life hell here Li. Please" she whispered. The words rolling between them in a soft caress.
He could stop talking and communicating with her. She was tired and drained from being alone. No friend. No one. Everyone was scared of coming close to her due to not being put out by the crown prince.
All the females avoided and envied her for something she didn't want or understand. No one came close to her. She was a pariah, and about when she started the maid duties after which the bully followed.
She was exhausted from the back and forth from everyone. Him. The emperor. Tears filled her eyes about their meeting earlier today, her throat tightened, clogged with an invisible barrier she almost reached out to touch her neck but resisted.
It was the truth wedging between her throat, a tear slipped and her head fell to the counter. His presence behind her and his hands on her waist broke the spell and she pulled away avoiding his touch.
Heaven help them if anyone sees them in such a position. Her life would be over. She couldn't die here. She wanted to leave this cage and die outside.
"What are you doing Li-Rong? You're going to get me into a lot of trouble" she cried as he dragged her into his embrace, his jaw dropping on her head. So comforting. She nuzzled into the warmth of his body. How she wished to stay here forever.
"I thought something might have happened to you" the depth of his voice in her hair sent shivers down her spine, she remembered when he first started puberty and his voice was one of the first that hit. She teased him a lot about it but now it was arousing so many things in her.