I give him one last look before I turn around and start walking away. Bai Lei blankly stares at her in confusion. Wrong answer? "N... Nova!" He quickly catches up to her and grabs her hand, pulling her to a stop and asking "Where are you going?"
Nova tries to pull her hand away but Bai Lei has no intention of letting go. I glare at his hand before glaring at him as I say "I'm going to get Zhen and MingMing. Then, we're leaving." Bai Lei's hand tightens on her wrist as his heart nearly comes to a stop.
"Leaving? Why??" He asks with confusion. Nova narrows her green eyes on him and says "Do you really not know or are you just playing dumb?" Bai Lei's face turns dark... was she calling him stupid?
Nova takes a deep breath and says "I just told you, didn't I? I. Don't. Share." She tries to pull her hand back again but Bai Lei continues to hold her in fear. "I don't care who you are! I'm not going to stay here and act like everything's okay with you marrying a bunch of women."
Bai Lei quickly says "But I won't touch them! They would only be a means to strengthen the palace and the relations with other Realms!" I stop trying to pull my hand away and give him a sarcastic look as I say "Who knew you were so weak... I didn't realize you needed to use women to stabilize your kingdom."
Bai Lei completely freezes so I quickly snatch my hand away. I give him one last look of "disappointment" before I turn around and storm off. Bai Lei stands in the courtyard in complete shock... when Nova puts it that way...
He clenches his fists as he thinks back to all the men in court. All of them are insisting that he take several wives to stabilize the kingdom. Since he's been gone for so many years, the powers supporting the Dark Kingdom have weakened and he just took the advice of the council.
Was he really wrong? This was a normal thing... but what Nova said isn't wrong. When he thinks about it, was he really so weak that he had to rely on the marriages to other women? He grits his teeth in anger...
He looks up to the direction Nova stormed off to with conflicted feelings. Because she comes from a different world, her thoughts and ideas are different but if you really think about it, they aren't wrong. He flips his long sleeves and storms off to his court.
He needs to fix this now... those men will have to think of other ways to gain more power! When it comes down to it... this palace means nothing if she isn't here.
~~~~~~
I storm off in irritation but I quickly realize that I'm lost. I've only left the room a few times and the few times I did, I only walked to the courtyard right outside! Bai Lei said that Zhen and MingMing were close so I should be able to find them if I keep walking...
After a few more minutes of walking, I hear a faint voice saying "Your Grace, you need to go in now. The weather is starting to get colder, you shouldn't stay out too long." I frown and follow the first voices I've heard in the last ten minutes.
Maybe they'll be able to point me back in the right direction. I come around the corner to find a beautiful older woman sitting under a large tree. Leaves of different colors were falling around her like petals from a brilliant red and yellow rose.
The woman looks over to me in shock before a beautiful smile slowly crawls across her face, nearly blinding me! She was older but other than the few grey hairs around her temples, you really couldn't tell!
"It's not every day that I see an unfamiliar face inside the palace. Would you like to join me for some morning tea?" The woman asks with kind, warm eyes. I look behind me before quickly looking back to her and pointing at myself in question.
The woman giggles and nods her head while saying "Yes you, my dear." I look around once more before carefully walking over with my hands together. "Have a seat. I'm Lady Xue, and you are?" I carefully sit down and look at the graceful lady with awe.
"Uh... Nova. It's nice to meet you... I was just passing by, I didn't mean to interrupt." Lady Xue gives me a warm smile and says "Nonsense, I'm always lonely here so it's nice to have company." A servent walks over and pours fresh tea into our cups and steps back silently.
Lady Xue lifts her cup to her lips and takes a deep breath before taking a sip. I look back to my cup and quickly grab it and take a sip. It wasn't so bad... I normally don't like tea but this was somewhat sweet!
"Do you like it?" Lady Xue asks with a smile in her Pheonix like eyes. I give her a genuine smile and say "It's the first time I've enjoyed tea, thank you." Lady Xue looks a little shocked before giggling but it ends quickly with a coughing fit.
I jump up and go to her side as multiple maids come running over. "Your Grace, you really need to go in. The cold weather will only make your sickness worse!" I stand to the side as the maids tend to her but she quickly waves them off and says "I just made a new friend, I can't possibly go in."
The maids all turn to look at me and I quickly say "We... we can continue our little tea party inside... I don't mind. It's actually a bit too chilly for my liking." I say with an awkward smile. To be honest, I loved the cool breeze. I could stay out here for hours but judging by the maids' words, this lady needed to go in.
Lady Xue's eyes light up as she says "That's a wonderful idea! Let's continue this inside then!" The maids all look relieved as they begin moving all stuff inside.