The Day the Sun Shined for the First Time (His POV)
He still can remember that day like it was yesterday.
Strolling along the palace grounds, running meeting notes through his head, absent-minded and oblivious to the world around him. Then, a shuffling and loud THUD! From the bush next to him drew his attention.
He locked eyes with her. Light blue met golden amber, and he felt his heart stop.
She was beautiful, but not in the way that would draw attention. She was a subtle beauty with an air of innocence around her. She looked up at him startled from where she lay in the bush, leaves all scattered in her hair. Her gaze didn’t have a hint of embarrassment in it, as if she wasn’t on the ground covered in leaves right in front of the emperor. Her gazes seemed curious, before a flash of annoyance passed through. That was something he didn’t see every day.
“Pardon, but am I that much of a spectacle to gawk at?” her voice was soft, yet firm.
He smiled to himself. “No, my lady. I was merely caught off guard. It’s not every day you see a damsel appear from a bush.” He chuckled.
“I am no damsel!” she sat upright onto her knees. “I’m merely got lost.”
“And ended up in a bush?”
“I tripped.”
“How convenient that you trip right in front of me.” He found himself wanting to tease her, which he never did. The emperor always had to be serious with everyone. “It’s almost as if you wanted my attention.”
She scoffed. “If I wanted some knight’s attention, I would have gone to the training grounds and asked for someone outright.” She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, looking away from him.
He froze. Did she just call him a knight? Him? Now that he was thinking about it, her behavior was far too casual with him. It was almost as if she had no idea who she was speaking to.
No idea that he was the emperor.
His heart raced. He was so used to people putting on a show for him, trying to impress or woo him, but here was a young lady who didn’t do any of that. She was genuine with him. Granted, that was due to the fact she somehow didn’t know who he was. Formal etiquette compelled him to introduce himself and reveal his true identity, but he found himself hesitating to do so. He knew what would happen if he did. She would immediately stiffen and go to that rigid, formal demeanor everyone else had with him. He didn’t want that. It was already stifling enough in court.
Sure, he had Pacifica, but even then, he felt he couldn’t truly be himself with her. Their relationship was closer to that of business partners who were kind-of friends. After all, their entire relationship was built on an agreement to satisfy their mutual wants. He stared down at the kneeling woman, still halfway through the bush. She started to fidget under his gaze and was peering at him from the corner of her eye. Something in his chest warmed at the sight of the woman, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.
Clearly unsure of what to do, she began to brush the leaves out of her hair. As her fingers ran through her soft pink hair, her hands persistently missed one leaf near her ear. He knelt down next to her and reached for it. She didn’t notice at first, but when she did, she didn’t flinch. She didn’t back away or demand to know what he was doing. She simply allowed him to grab the leaf from her hair. He pulled it back. The two stared at each other in silence for a minute.
“Are they all gone?” she asked softly.
He couldn’t find his words for a moment, merely staring at her in silence. A soft breeze flitted through the air, gently lifting up her hair. Her amber eyes continued to stare at him without a hint of intimidation or fear. When was the last time someone looked at him like that? Looked at him without expecting something?
He smiled, still holding the leaf in his hand. “Yes. They’re all gone.”
They continued to sit there on the ground, saying nothing with their words, but their eyes said plenty enough. He wanted to ask who she was, wanted to ask her some many things, but it was like a spell came over them as the breeze continued gently past them.
He heard the clock tower chime loudly in the distance, breaking the silence.
Just as quickly as the spell had been casted, it was lifted.
“What am I doing?” she shot up to her feet, “I was sent to get some flowers. I must go and collect them before it gets too late. I don’t want to keep Her Majesty waiting.”
That’s when he noticed she was wearing a maid uniform. She was a maid. Pacifica’s maid. His wife’s maid.
Pacifica was very picky about who she employed and rarely consulted him on the matter. She was very independent like that, one of the reasons he proposed their marriage deal to her. He was only vaguely aware that she had very few staff at her residence right now, and it would seem this young lady was one of them. Even though she was a maid, you still had to be a high-ranking noble to be the empress’s maid, so she must be of some noble blood. Why hadn’t he met her before?
As he was lost in his thoughts, she began to walk away. The sound of her retreating footsteps woke him like a blast of cold water. He reached out his hand after her and yelled, “Wait.” She froze, then turned around to face him.
He was intrigued by her. That was no doubt true.
He wanted to get closer to her, wanting to continue having genuine interactions with her, free of all expectations that were placed on him as the emperor.
Even if that meant it had to start with a lie.
“My name is Evan,” he said, “Will I be seeing you around?”
She stared at him suspiciously for a moment, before huffing. “I’m Sianna Gardenia, Her Majesty’s maid. So perhaps we will cross paths again.” She looked at the path in front of her for a moment, then back to him. “I really must be going now.” She turned to jog off but stopped again. She turned once more to look at him. Light blue met amber again. “It was nice to meet you, Evan.” Her voice was deliciously soft and he wanted to hear more of it, but she was already gone. Jogging down the path to fulfill her task.
He stood there unmoving for quite some time. He stared after her, as if he could still feel her presence like a ghost. His heart wouldn’t stop hammering. Sianna Gardenia. That was Marquess Gardenia’s daughter. No wonder he hadn’t met her. Marquess Gardenia was highly protective of his only child and never let her leave the estate. The majority of high society hadn’t met the young lady. He had heard rumors though that she begged her father to let her apply for the position as the empress’s maid. The only reason the marquess let her is because Pacifica is so strict about who she hires, so he didn’t think his daughter would be accepted. Once she was, to his horror and shock, he had no choice but to follow the royal decree and let her.
He smiled to himself again. Sianna Gardenia. For some reason, he kept repeating her name repeatedly. It felt like the sweet nectar of a flower. He found himself excited at the opportunity of seeing her again. He curled his fingers into his hands and felt something crunch between them. He looked down. He was still holding the leaf. Moments ago, it had been in her hair. He wondered if any of her scent still lingered on it. He pressed the leaf to his nose. Smiling ever wider, his eyes returned to the path where she had disappeared