"Hmm... I wonder how you manage to get your hands on these 'treasures' of Holly, not even Ben can touch her snacks easily." said the King who sounds kind of curious.
"Heh? Ah... I..."
Rei was in a great dilemma, she was not sure whether she should let the King know about the conversation she had with Holly the day before or not.
"It's okay, just say it. I am the one who asked you first, I have no reason to be mad for the answer I am asking for." said the King.
Rei nodded.
With the reassurance from the King, Rei told him everything about her small chit-chat with Holly the previous night...
***
"Ah... I see... So that's why... Well, what a coincidence we have here? The reason I asked you here is to talk about that matter as well." said the King after Rei told him everything.
"What..."
"Rest assured. It is not like what you were expecting and talked about with Holly. For the very least, I am not mad at you for what you thought you had done." said the King with a soft and gentle tone.
"Eh? But... But didn't you hate being used by other people?"
With a slight confusion, Rei asked.
"Yes, I Indeed hate it when someone uses me for their own benefits but... You are not 'someone' nor 'other people'." said the King with the gentlest tone a man could have especially in the latter part.
"Ah..."
Hearing the response from the King, Rei suddenly lost all of her words temporarily as her face turned all red.
"Or rather, I am concerned about it." said the King.
"Ah? Uhm... May I know what you mean by concerned?" Rei asked, even more confused than before.
"Well... It is a great concern to me that you were always that cautious when you were interacting with me before. Those mentioned matters are not even big matters, you can just ask me directly, and I am more than happy to help you. You don't have to feel so guilty about it and think that you have been using me for something as trivia as those... Tsk... I mean... Even if you want me to conquer the Qin Empire for you as your revenge to the Qin Empire, I am happy to help. It's just that, I would prefer to hear it directly from your mouth, instead of guessing your thoughts through the extremely vague hints you threw out." said the King as he grabbed Rei's hand and looked into her eyes with sincere eyes.
"Ah... I..."
At that moment, Rei didn't know if she should be shocked that the King had totally seen through her thoughts or if she should be shocked by the offer from the King to conquer the Qin Empire for her sake. She never realised how important she was to the King until that very moment. She knows that he has special feelings for her but never would she imagine that he would even be willing to conquer a whole Empire just for her.
"...*cough*... *cough*..."
The sudden coughing of the King successfully draws Rei's attention back from her thoughts.
"Ah! Your Majesty! Are you alright?"
She asked, with anxiousness.
Then, with a worried look, Rei gently patted the King's chest, trying to soothe his cough for a bit.
After a short while, the King stopped coughing, he forced a smile on his slightly pale face as he reached his hand to Rei's head and patted her, reassuring her that he was alright. However, just as he did so, his eyes continued to stare into Rei's with sincerity, as if he was eagerly waiting for Rei's response.
Facing the sincere and passionate eyes from the King, Rei lowered down face, trying her best to avoid eye contact with the King...
.
.
.
"Ah... I see. If you are not ready for that yet, we can..."
"Your Majesty..."
"Eh?"
"I hope... I hope you weren't kidding about helping me with my revenge... Particularly.... Uhm... Conquering the Qin Empire..."
With hesitations and several pauses, Rei finally squeezed those words out of her mouth.
"Ah... So I was right about... No... I mean, it is never a joke, I am serious about it. If that's what it takes for you to let go of your awful past, I shall conquer the Qin Empire for you." said the King as he placed his hand on Rei's shoulder.
As a response to that, Rei hugged the King and leaned her head onto his warm and wide chest. Slightly surprised by that initiative and intimate move from Rei, the King was stunned at the spot for a second before hugged her back.
In his warm hug, she smiled.
Despite being a bit absurd, it doesn't feel bad to have a person who is willing to conquer a whole Empire just for her...
***
After Rei and the King have that slightly unusual confession, they proceed to enjoy the sweet from Holly's personal sweet storage.
"This is one of my favourites from all these varieties of sweets. You shouldn't get fooled by its plain look, it is actually quite flavorful with the scent of vanilla bean mixed with the rich flavour of egg whites, and most importantly, it's really sweet."
With a small jar of meringue in his hand, the King introduced it to Rei.
"Vanilla bean? Despite I never tasted it but I do remember that it is extremely rare. Is it even alright to use it in sweets?" Rei asked in confusion.
"Well, it is true that vanilla bean is quite rare in this dimension, but not in the other dimensions. Anyway, want to give it a try?" The King asked as he took out a piece of meringue from the jar and reached it to Rei's mouth.
With a blushed face, Rei slightly opened and accepted the sweet delicacy from the King's hand.
As soon as the white delicate sweets entered Rei's mouth, she was first greeted by a sweet, florally note from the vanilla bean mixed with the rich aroma of egg whites, followed by the crunchiness of the meringue which immediately melted into a sweet gooeyness that covered her mouth and her tongue.
"Do you like it?" He asked, in anticipation.
And she nodded, in satisfaction...