Chapter 4
The palace was quiet at this hour, draped in the silver glow of the moon. Soft silk sheets pooled around two figures lying close, their warmth mingling beneath the golden canopy of Golden Cheese’s grand bed. The night should have been peaceful. Yet, neither of them slept.
Golden Cheese shifted slightly, her golden wings tucked carefully to her back, mindful not to disturb the smaller figure nestled against her. “You’re awake again,” she murmured, her voice thick with drowsiness yet still carrying that familiar, effortless confidence.
White Lily, curled against her side, gave a small hum of acknowledgment. Her fingers idly traced patterns against Golden Cheese’s arm, as if grounding herself. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Golden Cheese’s grip on her waist tightened ever so slightly. “Is it your dreams?”
White Lily hesitated. “No… just thoughts.”
Golden Cheese turned her head slightly, peering down at her. “About?”
White Lily sighed, shifting so that their faces were closer, forehead brushing against the soft fabric of Golden Cheese’s night robe. “Everything. Us.”
Golden Cheese smirked, teasing even in the quiet. “Finally realizing how lucky you are?”
White Lily rolled her eyes, but there was no real annoyance in it. “You always say that.”
“Because it’s true.”
White Lily let out a breath, something soft and wistful. “I was just remembering… the first time you held my hand.”
Golden Cheese blinked, her smirk fading into something gentler. “That long ago?”
White Lily nodded. “I was nervous. I thought maybe you’d pull away.”
Golden Cheese’s fingers found White Lily’s, lacing them together as if to silently disprove the thought. “You should’ve known better.”
“I do now.” White Lily smiled, squeezing her hand. “But back then, I wasn’t sure what I meant to you.”
Golden Cheese was silent for a moment before she exhaled, a rare vulnerability slipping into her tone. “I wasn’t sure either.”
White Lily looked up at her, surprised. “You weren’t?”
Golden Cheese turned onto her side fully, their hands still linked between them. “I mean, I knew I cared. I just… didn’t know if it would ever be enough to keep you here.”
White Lily’s breath hitched, something inside her aching at the confession. “Golden…”
Golden Cheese gave her a small, almost sheepish smile. “I wasn’t going to say anything. I have a reputation to uphold, after all.”
White Lily huffed softly, resting her forehead against Golden Cheese’s. “You never had to worry.”
Golden Cheese let out a quiet chuckle, but there was a tightness in it. “Still nice to hear.”
White Lily’s fingers moved up to trace the curve of Golden Cheese’s cheek. “Then I’ll say it as many times as you need.”
Golden Cheese closed her eyes for a moment, breathing her in, letting the words settle deep in her chest. Then, she tilted White Lily’s chin up, pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead.
“You’re going to be trouble for me,” she murmured against her skin.
White Lily smiled, pressing closer. “And yet, you love me.”
Golden Cheese chuckled, her grip tightening around White Lily’s waist. “More than anything.”
The night stretched on, filled with hushed voices and laughter—words only meant for them, whispered into the space between their hearts.
And for once, sleep came easily.
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Golden Cheese had always found comfort in silence, but with White Lily, the quiet between them never felt empty. It was full of meaning—soft breaths, the warmth of their hands still intertwined, the way their bodies instinctively gravitated toward each other beneath the golden silk of the bedspread.
Neither of them made any move to sleep. It was one of those nights where exhaustion should have overtaken them, but instead, they lay in the hush of the midnight air, speaking in murmurs, exchanging pieces of themselves like treasured secrets.
Golden Cheese idly traced patterns along White Lily’s back, her touch slow and deliberate. “Tell me something,” she said, voice low, like she was sharing a secret of her own.
White Lily hummed, her eyes half-lidded with drowsiness but still gleaming in the soft glow of the moonlight. “What do you want to know?”
Golden Cheese tilted her head slightly, considering. “Something about you. Something I don’t know.”
White Lily’s lips curled into a small, teasing smile. “That’s a dangerous request.”
Golden Cheese smirked. “I like danger.”
White Lily breathed a quiet laugh, thinking for a moment before speaking. “When I was younger… before everything happened, before Dark Enchantress, before I even knew what my purpose was—I used to believe that if I stood still for long enough in the middle of a field, I could hear the flowers speak.”
Golden Cheese blinked, caught off guard by the confession. “You thought flowers could talk?”
White Lily smiled softly. “Not in words. But I thought… if I listened close enough, I could hear them sing.”
Golden Cheese was silent for a moment, her fingers slowing against White Lily’s skin. Then, she let out a quiet chuckle. “That’s ridiculous.”
White Lily pouted. “It’s not ridiculous.”
Golden Cheese raised a brow. “So, did they ever sing for you?”
White Lily exhaled, her gaze drifting toward the ceiling. “Maybe. Or maybe it was just the wind. But I liked believing in it.”
Golden Cheese studied her for a long moment, then, with surprising gentleness, she murmured, “You’re so soft, Lily.”
White Lily turned to look at her, curious. “Is that a bad thing?”
Golden Cheese shook her head. “No. It’s just… you have this way of seeing the world that I don’t. Like it’s still worth something.”
White Lily’s fingers brushed against Golden Cheese’s hand. “And you don’t?”
Golden Cheese hesitated, then turned onto her side, her golden eyes unreadable. “I don’t know,” she admitted, quiet. “I used to think I knew everything. That my kingdom was enough, that wealth and power would keep me safe, keep my people safe. But then things started slipping through my fingers—people, trust, even you, at one point.”
White Lily’s expression softened. She squeezed Golden Cheese’s hand, grounding her. “I came back, didn’t I?”
Golden Cheese let out a slow breath. “You did.”
White Lily shifted closer, tucking herself against Golden Cheese’s chest. “Then stop thinking about what you lost. I’m here.”
Golden Cheese stilled. Then, after a moment, she pressed a lingering kiss to White Lily’s lips, letting her lips linger there as if memorizing the moment. “Yeah,” she murmured, voice quieter than before. “You are.”
They stayed like that for a long time, wrapped in each other’s warmth, speaking in hushed tones until sleep finally claimed them.
And when morning came, neither of them felt like letting go.