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In the room of one of the most luxurious palaces in the kingdom, second only to the crown's palace, among herbs arranged on a low table and hair ornaments, Xianrui took the same decoration as always (the one with light blue flowers, finely engraved only for her) and placed it on her long hair with the ease of an experienced craftsman.
The fingers tapping the table and the gaze that returned to the bedroom door again and again betrayed the nerves that she had long ago learned to hide as the most talented lady in the Eight Banners.
But, how to avoid it? It was the most special day of the week, the sacred Tuesdays when Your Majesty without fail came to visit her.
A large blush washed over her face as she placed one of her hands on her cheek in a vain attempt to appease the heat. The maids had long since left her quarters, leaving her alone with her thoughts and forcing her to put away from the table the pile of hair fineries by herself, and then arrange her writing sheets on the right side and infusion herbs on the left. Just as she had calmed down the door opened softly, in such a soft way that one surely wouldn’t expect to come from the most powerful person in the empire, but the moment their gazes collided and Your Majesty's expression became three times softer at her sight, the blush that she had subdued was reborn in a tender red.
"Have you waited too long?"
Your Majesty's voice was always so kind to her.
"The time I address to Your Majesty is never too long"
An amused smile appeared on those perfect lips as with natural grace, her companion sat in front of her on the other side of the table and she soon followed.
"Is that really so, Xianrui?"
The way her name was slowly pronounced inevitably made chills run through her body and for the worse; the expression they were making let her know that Your Majesty knew exactly what it was doing.
It was at times like these that Xianrui wished she had her light blue sunshade adorned with flowers, even if that was ridiculous since they were indoors, at least that way she could hide underneath and Your Majesty would be unable to see all the emotions that one phrase provoked in her.
Or at least, that was what she liked to think. Her partner was always too perceptive to be tricked.
"... In my world, there is only Your Majesty"
That phrase was painfully true, and Your Majesty’s hand, which was on its way to hold hers above the table and which had held others before coming here, was completely unaware of that fact.
To be honest, it was a long time since she didn’t care.
As long as those eyes continued to look at her that way, just as they did the first day they met, for Xianrui that would be fine.
With a smile, she extended her hands to the left side of the table, signaling for Your Majesty to choose what flavor they would drink today.
It took only a moment for them to point to some small blossoms with yellow in the center and creamy white on their petals, and with a smile Xianrui took them and set them aside elegantly, aware that chamomile tea was not her majesty's favorite, but one of hers.
Pouring the boiling water she had prepared beforehand into the teapot, causing it to drop just above the flowers at the right temperature, she well knew that the very act of making tea was a job that could easily have been left to the maids. But since Your Majesty had told her that they liked the taste more when she made it, Xianrui was even proud to personally make tea.
There were high-ranking maids in the palace, other consorts, and thousands of people who would be willing to make whatever flavors Your Majesty would desire, go to the end of the world and beyond to prove their loyalty and bring the crown the most exotic flavors. However, Your Majesty preferred to come here every Tuesday and even some days that were not, to try the simple chamomile tea that Xianrui made.
The sweet, exquisite scent of it reached her nose like a silver dance of steam in the air. While waiting for it to cool down a bit to drink, Xianrui took the sheets that she had left on the right side of the table.
Your Majesty settled into their seat, resting their arm on the furniture, ready to listen to her. She took her writings, where the first sheet was written in the language of another dynasty, a famous poem on which she had relied to make her own. Xianrui did not bother to warn them about it and without further ado, gently began to read.
“Hay besos que pronuncian por sí solos, la sentencia de amor condenatoria”
With a wise and proud smile, the crown interrupted her before she could say more.
“Hay besos que se dan con la mirada, hay besos que se dan con la memoria”
“Hay besos silencios, besos nobles. Hay besos enigmáticos, sinceros” Xianrui replied, the sheet with the same words forgotten in her hands and instead focused on Your Majesty's bright gaze.
"Hay besos que se dan sólo las almas, hay besos prohibidos, verdaderos"
And at that moment, Xianrui was sure that there would be no other person in the world who could understand every word of her poetry. And as if the magic of the words had been transferred to the sensible world, in one blink Your Majesty had moved in front of her, and in another their lips and hers were touching, and in a last blink their hands caressed her cheeks in a tender, soft, slow kiss that felt as forbidden as it was not, and as real as when they separated it did not exist.
In an exchange of glances, her companion sat down in front of her again, without releasing her hand and drank from the cup of tea.
"Isn't it a beautiful spring day, Your Majesty?"
A small internal joke that only they understood finally released a soft laugh from them.
Between their laughter and hers that didn’t take long to leave her body, Xianrui's heart with every beat told her that this was what she most desired, Your Majesty and their precious tea time hours.
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