𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙈𝙖𝙟𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙮

ＣＶＩ

˜”*°• Imperial Majesty •°*”˜

After her conversation with Rashta, Navier suspected that the silver-nette might shift the topic of gossip to someone else.

And so she told her ladies-in-waiting to inform her of any questionable rumours right away.

The next day.

"Navi~!"

"Oh. Empress (Y/n)."

The (h/c) haired woman rushed towards her and tackled her in an embrace.

"Are you feeling better now? Piere said you were unable to do your meeting with Sovieshu because you were tired."

"Yes, I'm feeling much better now that I get to see you!"

"Aren't you happy to see me as well?"

The ravennette chuckled as he entered his wife's office. A bright smile was plastered on his face.

"Well, of course."

His smile brightened even more and he failed to notice the slightly flat tone in her voice.

"Anyway, it takes several hours to go to the villa by carriage, so we should finish up our work and leave the day before."

He said as he leaned against Navier's work desk. Navier— who had just finished to report the Imperial budget, looked up and his words made her realized what he was talking about.

"Ah, birthday..."

"Oh goodness."

(Y/n) chuckled at her dazed state. She was so cute! That it made her slightly blush just by looking at her.

"You really have a one-track mind when your preoccupied with work."

The (h/c)-nette let out a teasing smirk, "Can you guess whose birthday we were talking about?"

The blonde had a small smile on her lips, giggling at the Nevivon Empress' teasing remark.

"I remember now."

"You should remember your own birthday."

She poked her soft porcelain cheeks as she continued to tease her friend.

Sovieshu shook his head before changing the topic, "Is it alright with you if we leave the day before?"

The Eastern Empress flipped through her schedule and nodded. "Yes, I will rearrange my schedule accordingly."

Then he spoke again.

"Do you remember the tree that we planted at the Imperial Villa?"

"Oh I remember that one."

In the Eastern Empire, there was a story of a wishing tree, and they say that if you made a wish while planting a tree— your wish will come true.

Navier was still a Crown Princess back then— she was a very short one for her age. And she was constantly being teased by (Y/n) because of her height.

She knew she meant it in a playful way, although the stress of being constantly surrounded by adults made her feel a bit intimidated.

So she decided to plant a tree and wish for herself to grow taller.

She was so young and small, and she recalled her younger self hugging the seed close to her chest while she was passed out due to exhaustion from digging inefficiently.

And when she woke up, she found (Y/n) and Sovieshu digging a hole.

"Your highness! If you dig, I’ll have to do it over again!"

"It’s all right. We're husband and wife. If you're married, it's like you are one with your partner, so it doesn't matter which of us dig it."

The young Crown Prince beamed and answered confidently.

"...Is that true?"

"Yup! That's what my father the Emperor said."

"Then why is Crown Princess (Y/n) also digging?"

Her younger self pointed to the (h/c)-nette who was digging the hole without even breaking a sweat, and she was just a child like them.

"A-Ah well..."

"Sovieshu had a bit of trouble digging, so I decided to help him out. I don't think his noodle arms can take it any longer."

"Hey! My arms are not noodle like!"

"Then why does your arms temble whenever you dig?"

"Because it's heavy!"

"Nu-uh! You're just weak!"

"I am not!"

Shoveling was tough job, but with (Y/n)'s questionable strength, it made it easier and faster for them to dig a hole.

Once they were done digging— and making fun with one another, mainly the Nevivon Princess and the Eastern Prince— the blonde planted the seedling down inside the hole and covered it back with dirt.

—Although, (Y/n) was the one who covered it back with dirt, the ravennette had complained that his arms hurt.

"What did you wish for?"

"I wish to be taller."

"Why? It's nice to be small."

"I follow the Empress and she always goes beyond a partition. But the screen is bigger than me, so I can't see…"

Navier could remember getting sick that day. Meanwhile, young Sovieshu and young (Y/n) got into trouble because their palms were ragged.

Although, the Nevivonnian Crown Princess got an extra scolding for not only digging up a hole, but also for skipping her studies and for sneaking off in to the kitchen for getting some biscuits.

Her lips twitched up upwards, the three of them were all smiling and laughing cheerfully as they recall their happy childhood days.

"It seems the wishing tree granted your wish to grow taller."

The blonde smiled as her response. She had mixed feelings in with the memories.

Actually, the truth was...

She didn't wish to grow taller.

Instead, she wished for a long lasting good relationship with her husband...

But that obviously didn't come true.

After (Y/n)'s little visit to Navier, she felt herself fully calming down again and was walking along with Sovieshu.

"So, are you going to work with me now or are you going to skip your work again this time?"

The (h/c) haired woman hummed mischievously and grinned, "I'll probably skip again."

She shot him a wink to which earned her a chuckle from him. "Ah, you're still the same, aren't you?"

"Honestly, all of this is just an excuse by the High Priest to get us both to be close."

She playfully scoffed, "He said that communication and trust is key to a healthy union. I swear, he still thinks of us as children."

Sovieshu laughed, "Well, you know him."

"Oh— before I forget to ask."

"Hm?"

She paused, making him halt in his tracks as well.

.

.

.

"Are you going to bring your...concubine with us to the Imperial Villa?"