Saimono WIP: Sweetest Dreams Ch 12 (rough / wip)
Chapter 12
Shuurei tilted her head back against the side of the bath and sighed contentedly. Seiran would assist her. Definitely, he’d help her.
Yet, forty five minutes later, she was starting to get worried.
“Seiran?”
The water was cooling; no one had even peeked their heads inside since she’d arrived.
While she’d requested absolute privacy, she’d been assuming that Seiran would be arriving back right away with her change of clothes, after delivering her message to Kijin.
Of course she hadn’t brought a change of clothes with her.
Some distance away she heard a soft clicking, and what may have been footsteps approaching.
A teeny chill swept through the room.
“Seiran?...”
It wasn’t.
From behind his desk, Ryuuki listened impassively as Minister Kou relayed the progress that had been made on his audit.
“And so, we expect to have the results within the next week, and will have the full report ready within a fortnight.”
The Emperor nodded and brought his hands together.
“We expected nothing less. Your diligence in ferreting out the cause of this matter is appreciated.”
It was Kijin’s turn to nod, and he bowed in deference.
“We received the voluntary assistance of a former employee, in order to facilitate the investigation. His services and abilities loaned much to our inquiry. At the time of our full report, we will also propose the permanent hiring of this individual. His contributions and experience would greatly benefit the department of Finance, Your Highness. I have been very personally impressed with them.”
Ryuuki’s hands stilled.
He watched the councilor across from him carefully.
Such a proposal would obviously require imperial authorization; especially a hiring request for a department exiting an internal review. Moreso, both men were clear on this requirement, along with the fact that both already knew who this person truly was, and suspected the motivations and intentions of the other in relation to the mystery assistant.
There was only one reason Kijin would have brought it up in advance.
He was staking a claim.
Ryuuki felt his chest tighten.
… and his sleeves slipped over his hands, which curled into tight, hard, white-knuckled fists.
He was ready to kick himself.
Seiran strode purposefully through the palace, slipping, whenever possible, innocuously through the hidden passageways and shortcuts he remembered exploring as a young child in order to locate the man he sought.
No one could have predicted it would be this difficult to avoid the servant staff and their gossip. Apparently there had been much talk through the night of the Emperor and Consort’s recent activities, and as one of their closest associates-one privy to the goings-on of the most recent intervention-he was a prime target for their interrogations.
Really, the Uringun could stop hiring mercenaries for interrogations and instead hire internally from the palace staff. It was obviously some kind of secret training they all underwent prior to taking their employment there…
Speaking of-
There!
Seiran caught sight of his quarry and slowed to a more relaxed pace.
“Minister Kou,” he called out. “I have a message from--.”
He jolted to a stop as he realized his brother was alongside the advisor.
But both men had already paused and turned to look at him.
Forget kicking, Seiran was ready to curse himself.
Kijin waited for the imperial guard to speak.
It appeared he was hesitant, though.
“Yes?” he prompted.
Seiran glanced at, and then bowed more formally towards the Emperor.
“I apologise, I hadn’t realized you were already engaged in conversation. I will leave a message with your department. Please excuse me.”
“You will continue,” commanded the Emperor.
A quick glance in Kijin’s direction again-who nodded-assured Seiran he would be avoiding food for the remainder of the day, his stomach was so tightly wound in knots.
“Of course.”
He straightened and addressed (mostly) Kijin.
“Sir, I was asked to relay a message that your assistant, Shou, would be absent for the morning. He apologises for the delay in notifying you of this. He is unwell, but will return for the afternoon.”
“Thank you,” began Kijin, but was interrupted by the flurry of purple robes that shot past him.
“Your Highness--!”
“Excuse Us!”
The remaining pair watched him go, wordlessly.
As their esteemed leader nearly tipped over as he turned a corner too quickly, Seiran grimaced.
It took a moment before he realized Kijin was still at his side.
The masked man turned to face him again, and in a monotone, requested, “Could you please deliver my reply to Shou?”
Feeling even more trouble brewing, Seiran could only nod.
-
-
- Shuurei goes to bathing chamber to relax / Ryuuki visits her to talk; Ryuuki asks if she has anything she’d like to talk about
Next chapter
- Ryuuki behind the screen, doesn’t intrude on Shuurei, but demands answer
- After her bath, Ryuuki insists she accompany him as Consort around the palace
- They come face to face with Kijin (as Ryuuki had intended)… and Reishin (which he had not intended).
- Awkwardsauce. (Funny interaction?) Have Reishin trying to get Shuurei away from Emperor, but also away from Kijin, but he is too busy / intimidated to articulate it well - ends up telling her off with compliments to get rid of her; bawling and throwing tantrum at Kijin afterwards.
Shuurei tilted her head back against the side of the bath and sighed contentedly. Seiran would assist her. Definitely, he’d help her.
Yet, forty five minutes later, she was starting to get worried.
“Seiran?”
The water was cooling; no one had even peeked their heads inside since she’d arrived.
While she’d requested absolute privacy, she’d been assuming that Seiran would be arriving back right away with her change of clothes, after delivering her message to Kijin.
Of course she hadn’t brought a change of clothes with her.
Some distance away she heard a soft clicking, and what may have been footsteps approaching.
A teeny chill swept through the room.
“Seiran?...”
It wasn’t.
From behind his desk, Ryuuki listened impassively as Minister Kou relayed the progress that had been made on his audit.
“And so, we expect to have the results within the next week, and will have the full report ready within a fortnight.”
The Emperor nodded and brought his hands together.
“We expected nothing less. Your diligence in ferreting out the cause of this matter is appreciated.”
It was Kijin’s turn to nod, and he bowed in deference.
“We received the voluntary assistance of a former employee, in order to facilitate the investigation. His services and abilities loaned much to our inquiry. At the time of our full report, we will also propose the permanent hiring of this individual. His contributions and experience would greatly benefit the department of Finance, Your Highness. I have been very personally impressed with them.”
Ryuuki’s hands stilled.
He watched the councilor across from him carefully.
Such a proposal would obviously require imperial authorization; especially a hiring request for a department exiting an internal review. Moreso, both men were clear on this requirement, along with the fact that both already knew who this person truly was, and suspected the motivations and intentions of the other in relation to the mystery assistant.
There was only one reason Kijin would have brought it up in advance.
He was staking a claim.
Ryuuki felt his chest tighten.
… and his sleeves slipped over his hands, which curled into tight, hard, white-knuckled fists.
He was ready to kick himself.
Seiran strode purposefully through the palace, slipping, whenever possible, innocuously through the hidden passageways and shortcuts he remembered exploring as a young child in order to locate the man he sought.
No one could have predicted it would be this difficult to avoid the servant staff and their gossip. Apparently there had been much talk through the night of the Emperor and Consort’s recent activities, and as one of their closest associates-one privy to the goings-on of the most recent intervention-he was a prime target for their interrogations.
Really, the Uringun could stop hiring mercenaries for interrogations and instead hire internally from the palace staff. It was obviously some kind of secret training they all underwent prior to taking their employment there…
Speaking of-
There!
Seiran caught sight of his quarry and slowed to a more relaxed pace.
“Minister Kou,” he called out. “I have a message from--.”
He jolted to a stop as he realized his brother was alongside the advisor.
But both men had already paused and turned to look at him.
Forget kicking, Seiran was ready to curse himself.
Kijin waited for the imperial guard to speak.
It appeared he was hesitant, though.
“Yes?” he prompted.
Seiran glanced at, and then bowed more formally towards the Emperor.
“I apologise, I hadn’t realized you were already engaged in conversation. I will leave a message with your department. Please excuse me.”
“You will continue,” commanded the Emperor.
A quick glance in Kijin’s direction again-who nodded-assured Seiran he would be avoiding food for the remainder of the day, his stomach was so tightly wound in knots.
“Of course.”
He straightened and addressed (mostly) Kijin.
“Sir, I was asked to relay a message that your assistant, Shou, would be absent for the morning. He apologises for the delay in notifying you of this. He is unwell, but will return for the afternoon.”
“Thank you,” began Kijin, but was interrupted by the flurry of purple robes that shot past him.
“Your Highness--!”
“Excuse Us!”
The remaining pair watched him go, wordlessly.
As their esteemed leader nearly tipped over as he turned a corner too quickly, Seiran grimaced.
It took a moment before he realized Kijin was still at his side.
The masked man turned to face him again, and in a monotone, requested, “Could you please deliver my reply to Shou?”
Feeling even more trouble brewing, Seiran could only nod.
-
-
- Shuurei goes to bathing chamber to relax / Ryuuki visits her to talk; Ryuuki asks if she has anything she’d like to talk about
Next chapter
- Ryuuki behind the screen, doesn’t intrude on Shuurei, but demands answer
- After her bath, Ryuuki insists she accompany him as Consort around the palace
- They come face to face with Kijin (as Ryuuki had intended)… and Reishin (which he had not intended).
- Awkwardsauce. (Funny interaction?) Have Reishin trying to get Shuurei away from Emperor, but also away from Kijin, but he is too busy / intimidated to articulate it well - ends up telling her off with compliments to get rid of her; bawling and throwing tantrum at Kijin afterwards.