The Tale Continues (Saiunkoku Monogatari Fanfiction: Ryuuki x Shuurei lemon)

Chapter 26: Before Dinner

Chapter 26: Before Dinner

''Let me help,'' Ryuuki said as he folded the sleeves of the clothes he borrowed.

''Fine. It is not my fault if you get wounded.''

''I will not allow myself to lose a knife,'' he said as he picked up a knife and followed Shuurei's example.

''Stop talking weird,'' Shuurei chided. She instructed him what to do and he did exactly as he was told. ''Hm, you learn fast,'' she commented.

''It's because Shuurei is a good teacher,'' Ryuuki said with a wide smile. They acted as if nothing happened between them just a few minutes ago.

But Shuurei knew that he is still thinking about it. She wanted to punch him. He caught her looking at him. ''Did I do something wrong?''

''No.'' She glared and continued what she was doing.

''I see. You cannot forget it either. So do I, it will always remain in my memory.''

''Shut up!'' Shuurei yelled with a flushed face when she knew he was referring to the kiss. Then they heard the door open.

''Good evening Shuurei-dono, His Majesty here right?'' Shuuei asked.

''General Ran, Lord Kouyuu?''

''Please forgive us for coming right after you arrived. We came to pick up His Majesty,'' Shuuei said. Ryuuki glared at the word pick up.

Shuuei felt a cold shiver run down his spine when he spotted Ryuuki behind her and he is glaring at him. Shuuei immediately understood that Ryuuki knew that they were following him but did not show themselves. Shuuei reminded himself not to underestimate Ryuuki's keen observation skills.

''Oh, don't worry about it. It's alright. I was actually wondering why you are not with Ryuuki.'' Shuurei replied. ''Please sit down I'll serve some tea.''

''They already had tea,'' Ryuuki said knowingly. Shuurei's eyes widened at that. Ryuuki glared at the two as if saying 'don't mention that you saw something.' Seeing Shuurei's reaction, he talked of something else. ''How suspicious. I was chased the whole time and none of you showed up,'' Ryuuki muttered.

''We got chased too,'' Kouyuu said with a clenched fist. ''Those annoying women –''

Shuuei stopped him before he could say anymore. ''You are a fast runner Your Majesty. It's hard to keep up while hiding from beautiful girls and armed men,'' Shuuei replied.

''Stop playing with me. I know you were near the whole time and just watched me get chased. One even kissed me.''

''But it's true that we got chased too. And we really hid from them as we trailed behind,'' Kouyuu replied.

''Yeah. And this genius here got lost and so I had to go back and look for him. We lost track of you for a while,'' Shuuei added.

''You are lucky that more men came after you rather than women. It is so unfair that most of the women chased after me,'' Ryuuki retorted.

''Oh I see you still prefer men from women,'' Shuurei teased.

''That's not what I mean,'' Ryuuki protested. ''If the men came after me, I could fight them fair and square. But since it is the women, I cannot just hurt them so all I can do is run. It is totally exhausting.''

''But we are glad to see that you have become a fine man Your Majesty. It is hard to resist beautiful women if they are the one chasing you,'' Shuuei said and Kouyuu had a look of protest at the second statement.

''What are you implying? I have always been a fine man. I did not even get the least bit tempted. I think they are scary.''

''I agree that they are scary,'' Kouyuu said; totally ignoring the fine man statement. ''This abnormal person here says it is hard since he got no taste at all and all he could think about is women.''

''How rude of you, did you hear that from my brother? I told you, you should learn the pleasures a woman can give,'' Shuuei said to Kouyuu.

''I do not need any of that and I have no time for that either,'' Kouyou retaliated.

''Even His Majesty knows a woman's warmth. He just had a wonderful experience I believe,'' Shuuei said.

Shuurei blushed when she heard that and so she quickly turned her back so they would not notice. She excused herself to check something outside. When Ryuuki was sure that she could not hear them he said with a stern look, ''as I thought. You saw that too.''

Kouyuu's face flushed in embarrassment while Shuuei calmly nodded.

''Pretend you did not see anything and never mention it to anyone. I promised not to let anyone else know. If someone else gets wind of it she will think I broke my promise,'' Ryuuki said. He knew they did not see the rest since he heard their footsteps moving away as he kissed her the second time. The two just nodded as they heard Shuurei's footsteps nearing.

After tea, all of them helped Shuurei prepare and cook dinner. They all ate together with Shouka and Seiran who really came after hearing that Shuurei is back. The dinner was lively.

That night, Shuurei could not sleep. What happened kept on replaying on her mind that she can almost see how she responded to Ryuuki.

In the emperor's chambers, Ryuuki is lying on his bed with his eyes open. He cannot forget what happened and he can remember exactly how warm and fervent Shuurei responded to him. Who would have thought that letting her go away from him is what would make her kiss him back when she returned?

Shuurei and Ryuuki fell asleep late at night thinking of the same thing.

Next Chapter: Kouyuu and Shuuei