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It was easier to break out than you thought it’d be.
You’d been confined to your guest chambers until the Emperor was ready to see you -probably because there were so many foreign princesses spread throughout the palace and it was easier to keep track of them when they were in assigned rooms- but you were bored and you were here against your will. So you snuck out.
As the eldest princess, you’d been sent by your family to woo the Emperor of the neighboring country and forge an alliance between your two kingdoms. But so had every other princess in the land. In fact, ever since he’d announced he was looking for a bride, it’d been an all out social war, with countries pitted against each other as their representatives competed for his affection. You weren’t sure you had anything of worth to offer him and honestly, you didn’t care. You would spend this time enjoying a much needed vacation from your princess duties, and when you returned home empty handed, you’d simply say you gave it your best shot. All would be well.
Stealing your attendant’s spare clothes, you snuck out of your bedroom window, keeping your head down as you explored the palace. Getting out was the easy part. The real challenge would be deciding what exactly it was that you wanted to do. This country was a bounty of wealth and its palace more than showcased it; you wondered just how much of it you could explore before you were caught. Maybe you should pay a visit to the garden? Maybe the library? Maybe the horse stables? Maybe the chapel?
In the end, you settled on the library. You had wondered just how vast their collections were and you weren’t disappointed when you slipped through the library doors to discover walls upon walls of books. At first, you buried your nose in informational texts, learning the terrain of the land, the history of its people. Then, a couple of beautifully bound books on the top shelf caught your attention. They were fantasy stories. You stood atop the bookshelf’s ladder, flipping through several pages of text. You laughed to yourself, thinking that the Emperor of this kingdom was probably nothing like the Prince written within these pages. He was probably nothing like anyone you’d want to meet. Well, no matter- you wouldn’t be meeting him anyway. You closed the book and slid it back into its position on the shelf. You had just been about to climb back down the ladder when you heard the library door open quickly and shut even quicker. From your position up high, you noticed a servant boy sneaking into the library. He hadn’t noticed you yet, he’d been too busy backing away from the door like he was being chased. Had he stolen something? Oh god, were you an accomplice now? You attempted to climb down in a hurry, hoping to remove yourself from this situation immediately, but your foot slipped on one of the rungs and you found yourself tumbling down on top of the boy instead.
“Hey, watch it-” His words came to an abrupt stop when you peered up at him from his lap. Your hair had tugged itself loose from its headpiece and was now tumbling down your shoulders. His breath caught in his throat.
“Are you alright?” His tone softened as he gauged your condition.
“I’m very well, thank you. I apologize for the inconvenience.” You spoke just like a princess. You’d have to stop that. For all anyone knew, you were just another maid in the palace. You pulled yourself off of him and then offered him a hand up.
He hesitantly took it.
When you were both upright, you realized he was quite tall. Handsome too. Was he really a servant? How could a servant be so pretty? If he was your servant, you certainly wouldn’t have him cooped up doing the laundry or sweeping the floors. Not when he could be keeping you company. It was hard -you could argue even impossible- not to be instantly drawn to him. Of course, when you’d first seen him you’d been more concerned about his suspicious activities, but now that you were face to face with him, you found yourself completely mesmerized. As a princess, you’d never have been able to talk to him. You could practically hear your auntie in your head, scolding you for deigning to talk to the help. But right now, you weren’t a princess, just a simple girl, and you very much wanted to continue your conversation with him. “I hope I didn’t injure my rescuer too much.”
He laughed, rubbing the back of his head. “Your rescuer? Is that what you call making me your cushion? I suppose I’m fine, besides irreversible damage to my ego.”
“Ah, well we can’t have that. How should I make amends?” You grinned.
“Your name.” He said quickly. Then, taking a breath to slow his pacing, he repeated more calmly, “If you could tell me your name, I’d be greatly obliged.”
You should’ve known then that he wasn’t a servant. His manners were too practiced, his charm too learned, but all you could focus on was the fact that of anything he could’ve asked for, he’d asked for your name. And you couldn’t give it to him.
You gave a great, dramatic bow. “Mai, at your service.”
He raised an eyebrow, but if he was suspicious that you’d lied, he didn’t say anything. He gave a bow in return. “Pleasure to meet you, milady.” He took your hand and pressed a kiss to it.
“And to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”
“Ji-” He coughed, “I’m Jiang.”
You raised an eyebrow back and he grinned. So maybe you both had your secrets. Didn’t make this any less interesting. “Well Jiang, I was just about to take a turn in the garden. Would you care to join me?”
He hesitated for a moment and you wondered if he truly was on the run. But then his smile returned and he offered you his arm. “Why not?”
If you were doubtful that he’d truly been a servant here, it was hard to deny that he at least knew where he was going. You’d been wandering aimlessly, whereas he strode with purpose. In fact, you almost thought he’d intentionally taken you on the path of less traffic. You wondered if it was for the purpose of intimacy or if he really was just a criminal, trying to avoid prying eyes. Either way, he’d been here before; knowing which routes to take wasn’t something you could fake. You were in the garden before you knew it.
And, in an instant, your alias vanished. Standing among the flowers, you were a foreign princess again, gazing in awe and astonishment at the array of florals before you.
He smirked triumphantly, as though you’d all but given him a confession. “You were the one who proposed taking a turn about the garden and yet you act as though you’ve never seen it before. I wonder why that is?” He pretended to ponder his own question but you knew exactly what he was getting at.
“It appears I’m caught. Alright, I confess, I’ve never been here before.”
He leaned in eagerly, awaiting your explanation. He was sure it was most intriguing.
“You see, I’m used to servicing the outer palace; it was only recently that I was transferred to the inner palace.”
He didn’t believe a word you said but he was impressed that you’d managed to lie so well when he had put you on the spot. “Is that right?”
“And what kind of work is it that you do, Jiang?” You replied innocently, but you both knew you’d turned the tables on him.
He shook his head, chuckling to himself. This was getting more and more interesting by the second. He wondered which of you would crack first. “I suppose you could say I’m an attendant.” If tending to a kingdom counted.
“And who do you tend to?”
“Well, the Emperor, of course.”
You took a seat on a nearby stonebench, pondering his words. “What is the Emperor like, if I might ask? I’m quite curious. I’ve never met him.”
He thought for a moment. “He’s a bit too impatient for my taste. He has trouble focusing on his work.”
“I suppose we’re alike in that way.” After all, you were only here because you’d gotten bored of your room. You hadn’t even given the Emperor a chance to meet you. You wondered if you would’ve liked him had you given him the time of day. But then you wouldn’t have met Jiang, or whatever his real name was. Even if he was lying to you, the way he plucked a flower from a nearby bush to offer it to you was quite possibly the most genuine thing you’d ever seen in your entire life. He was enjoying himself as much as you were; that was real.
“So you fall from high places, you like flowers, and you’re impatient. If you’re not careful, I’ll uncover all of your secrets.” He teased.
“Which secret would you like to know next?”
So you spent the afternoon in the garden with him, tucking flowers into each other’s hair, exchanging stories and secrets. He’d tell you that once he’d been an unruly child and had nearly driven himself off a cliff from urging his horse to go faster. You’d tell him that once you’d hated your governess and would play tricks on her, hiding her glasses, her hats, her gloves, until eventually you held a treasure trove of her things. He’d tell you that once, he’d taken up sword fighting and while he never incurred a single injury during practice, the single scar he bore was from when he’d thrown his sword in frustration and it’d bounced off of a training dummy and slit his arm. You’d tell him that you used to want to be a sailor, and you’d take any chance you could get to be on the open seas just to pretend you were free.
After rambling for what seemed like hours, when your growling stomachs finally rang out in unison, you both decided to raid the kitchen together. You’d almost gotten away with it too- you’d made off with a loaf of bread and he’d stolen some apples and cheese to go with it, when you were finally discovered.
“Princess! We’ve finally found you! With all due respect, your highness, it is ill-advised to roam a foreign kingdom especially when the Emperor has instructed you to remain in your chambers.” Your attendants scolded you incessantly.
“Princess, huh?” Jiang crossed his arms, chuckling.
Your cheeks reddened. Before you could explain yourself, his attendants joined the fray.
“Emperor Jinshi, we’ve been looking for you for ages! What are you doing dressed like that, and here, of all places? You have princesses to be meeting with!” They scolded.
You raised a brow. “Emperor Jinshi, huh?”
He gave you a playful shrug. “Gaoshun- it appears that I am already in a meeting with a Princess, so you’ll forgive me, won’t you?”
His main attendant, Gaoshun, looked back and forth, between you and him. “I’m sorry, you’re a… princess? Forgive me, but you don’t exactly look the part.”
You gave him a deep curtsy. “I apologize for taking up so much of your Emperor’s time. I am indeed a princess, the firstborn to the Jade Empire’s royal family, at your service.”
Jinshi seemed impressed by your instant change in posture and tone of voice. You’d been trained just as well as he had. Maybe that was why you’d snuck out, maybe you’d needed as much of a break as he had. Maybe you were one in the same. And maybe it was fate that you’d run from meeting each other only to run into each other.
“So not Mai, I take it?” Jinshi teased.
“I’m as Mai as you are Jiang.” You retorted, mirth flashing in your eyes.
He laughed at that. “Point taken. Well, either way, I’d like to extend an invitation to either Mai or the Princess to join me for dinner. Would you let me know if either of them are available tonight?”
“And would they be meeting Jiang or Jinshi for a meal?”
He smirked. “I’ll be anyone you want me to be, Princess.”
“And if I asked you to be yourself?”
He froze. Himself. You’d asked him to be himself. It was almost a laughable thought- after playing so many parts, after catering to so many needs, after sacrificing so much of himself, he wasn’t sure he remembered how to be himself anymore, not completely anyway. But he couldn’t laugh. Not when his heart felt warm and light in his chest, not when it fluttered and flitted about like it did. Not when you were the cause. Not when he so very much wanted to be himself around you. When he just wanted to be near you, to touch you, tease you, taste you. Not when he’d just finally decided he wasn’t letting you go back to your kingdom without at least a ring to consider.
He ruled over a whole country, but with you, he'd finally found his whole world.
“Well, then. I’m at your command, milady.”