A Phoenix With No Wings

43- A New Start

"Go to her place."

"Huh?"

"Go to her place tonight."

"Crown prince, that's not very wise to-"

"She had always been waiting for you, every night in the past ten years. Every night before she closes her eyes, a little part of her heart wishes the eunuch will declare your arrival."

"..."

"So go, don't make her disappointed tonight."

The emperor doesn't seem to agree with crown prince's idea. "What should I do if I go there?"

Now The crown prince scoffs, "what does your majesty wants to do?"

_

That night the emperor is walking to the Phoenix palace. He takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. He smiles bitterly. The empress is so sure she won't be visited that she closes her gate.

Soon after, an eunuch greets him.

"Y-your majesty?" The eunuch seems unsure of him.

"Yes."

"W-what possibly takes the dragon here tonight?" The guy asks.

"This emperor wants to visit his wife, is that a concern of yours now?" The emperor replies.

"..." The eunuch looks terrified, he is just curious of his majesty's sudden visit. "This servant doesn't dare." He quickly opens the gate to the Phoenix palace and told a younger eunuch to announce the emperor's arrival.

The young eunuch runs as fast as he can to the main chamber. Getting ready to announce his majesty's arrival.

"Announcing the arrival of the empe-dragon-eh the son of heaven that..will..get..into.. her majesty's royal and special chamber. This servant hopes that-" He says whatever on his mind, because actually he's not very sure either.

"What are you saying?!" The eunuch next to him quickly stops him by slapping his butt.
*plat*

But this poor eunuch really doesn't know how to announce emperor's arrival. Most likely because it rarely happens.

_

"The emperor is here?" The empress who just takes off her makeup asks Mumu.

"Seems like it, her majesty." Mumu replies as she hands her a towel to clean her face.

"...son of heaven that..will..get..into.. her majesty's royal and beautiful chambers. This servant hopes that-"

The empress and Mumu turns their heads in unison, frowning. That is one weird announcement.

"Erm.. this servant will make sure to educate that eunuch." Mumu quickly says. She helps the empress to stands and greet the emperor.

The empress seems nervous as she walks.

"Your majesty.." She greets the emperor who just gets into her chamber, getting nods of approval from him.

Seeing the empress is so nervous is funny. She seems so awkward when the emperor gets closer.
"Maybe tonight is the night." Mumu smiles meaningfully as she walks away, raising both of her eyebrows.

The night of what?! The empress doesn't understand. All she knows now is that her heart beats too fast it's almost jump out of her chest. So she forces a smile and tries to control her irregular breathing.

The emperor who sees her awkward behavior quickly reaches for her hands. He pulls her into a hug as soon as Mumu closes the door.

He rests his head on hers, still hugging her tightly. This is it, their new start.

-

After that day, the emperor and empress grow closer. But still act professional on state matters.

The crown prince once told the emperor to just do whatever his heart desires. Because the Lian Kingdom won't ever hurt the empress.

"Empress, would you mind going out with this emperor tonight?" The emperor stops her after the assembly.

"Where?" She asks curiously.

"It's a secret." He smiles and walks away, "this emperor will pick you up at sun down."

The empress smiles in return. She doesn't know what makes the emperor changed so drastically, but it is for good. It's been months since the emperor started being nice to her. She's not complaining though, it's good. It feels good.

Sometimes they even wrote notes to each other and have their eunuch send them. It's like falling in love once again. The empress will always smiles like an idiot whenever she receives one of the letters. The emperor will slip it to the report stroll so whenever the empress opens it she will find the letter. That's how they usually communicate.

But today, perhaps the emperor would want to go on a date.

"Mumu prepare my clothes." The empress orders her servant when she arrives.

Mumu nods and quickly takes some gold pieces. She doesn't ask anymore, because she can sees it by herself that the emperor now favors her lady. What a long story to finally ends beautifully, mumu thinks.

"Here, her majesty."

"Help me to wear it."

"Zhi."

Not long after the sun sets, an eunuch declares his majesty's arrival.

"Your majesty." The empress and Mumu bows.

"That's enough, let's go." The emperor reaches for her hand and leads her outside the palace.

They walk on familiar path and ends up in front of the Dragon's palace. They walks until they arrive at his study.

The empress doesn't understand, why are they here. Because it reminds her of her worst years.

"Get in." He says.

There is nothing there, just the usual study. So why does the emperor want her to be here?

The emperor cuts her thoughts,
"Come with me."

"Where."

"Here." The emperor reveal a secret room behind the book shelf. The place where he stores all of his paintings of her.

"Whoaah. What is this?" The empress who never knew about this place is surprised.

"I-is this me?" She stares at a painting in disbelief. "Your majesty draws me?" She touches the painting.

"Not only this, but all of these." He shows her around the room. Leaving her speechless.

At the end of the tour, a tear drops to her cheeks. How could she be so blind all these years..

The emperor smiles and wipes away her tear.

"Lu Qing Yu, it had always been you." He says in a comforting voice. And then he places a gentle kiss on her forehead. Giving her a validation of his words.

That night, the empress spends the night at the Dragon Palace. Next to her husband, inside his hug. What could be better?

Okay people, now I have to apologize for not posting. I didn't know that college will be so hectic. The reason why I didn't post regularly anymore is because I feel like my English is getting worse since I'm studying my fifth language (Japanese). So please bear with me:(

Anyway, do you guys remember when I made the 'Help Me' chapter? That guy who I like but we never talk before? We finally went out lol 😝

Thank you very much for always supporting me, and keep on loving this story. Please vote and follow me if you'd like to ❤️😘 Have a nice day !