The Empress Wears Gucci

26

        I kept on thinking about Jaxon and last night's unexpectedness. It wasn't as if I liked Jaxon. I didn't want to have any romantic commitment, nor have a small fling. I was here on a mission. A mission that I am still confused about, but nevertheless, I was on a mission. Jaxon and I only had each other in this place. How could I not want to be with him? I need him. We both need each other or else we wouldn't be able to go back home. 

         Jaxon. The name sounded so good on my tongue as I whispered it to myself in the morning. I wasn't falling in love with him but his soft satin-like lips pressed against mine... I wanted to go back into that moment and never pull away. 

        I'm just touch-deprived from the opposite sex.

        It was the day. On the day of the gathering, I was a nervous wreck. We were lined up to get our body measurements checked, and this was when my heart raced and my anxiety kicked in. My body wasn't the skinniest. It wasn't 'ancient China' standards I don't think. I had a tummy. Not a flat stomach, and not a beer belly, but I had a fluffy stomach that was almost flat—just not flat enough to societal standards. My hips were wide, my thighs are thick, and my buttocks were on the thicker side. 

        "Next!" called a maid, and I looked around first before walking into a small section of the room. Another maid gave me a small bow before pulling a screen to block anyone else from viewing. 

        I stripped down to my bare skin. The room was chilly and my nipples hardened at the sudden cool air. My pubic hair looked like a lion's mane. I can't recall the last time I've shaved and neither did anyone else here. I doubt body hair removal was a tradition in ancient China. My mother would always scold me for shaving my pubic hair and I would never know why. It was a weird thing to scold your teenage child about. I should be uncomfortable in front of the palace maids but they didn't care about my body. However, I still felt vulnerable. I stood tall. The maid stretched a skinny rope and straightened my back. "We'll have to measure your height first, stand still for me, milady." 

        I held my posture and watched as she stepped on the bottom rope and lifted it. I wasn't the shortest nor the tallest. I was probably average, a whopping five foot four. Or, one point six metres if we're talking about a better system of measurement. 

        I felt the rope wrap around my waist, gently pressing above my navel. The maid knitted her eyebrows and checked a scroll. "Milady, have you gained weight? Your waist was at a twenty-four* last time, and now it's at a twenty-five. Your stomach—" 

        "I might have." I rolled my eyes. I guess Uncle Bin's late-night snacks were catching up on me. 

        "Hips," the maid says to the other palace woman that was keeping track. "Thirty-five."

        I hope the Emperor likes his women with an hourglass body. 

        The maids finally let me out and I walked out to meet Jaxon. He leaned back against the wall outside a pavilion. "That was fast."

        I gave a simple smile.

        "Listen, I was researching a little bit. There's an old book about worlds," Jaxon whispered before pulling it out. "We can get back."

        "Worlds?" I asked again while taking the book from his hands. It looked semi-new. The spines were a bit cracked, but that was it. Similar to other literature in the Imperial library, the book cover was a simple piece of paper with the Chinese writing of 'Worlds' on it. I flipped through the pages. Diagrams of mathematical equations that looked similar to physics equations, rough sketches of things I couldn't understand, and words. There were more equations than words. The book had white pages which meant they were fairly recent. I flipped back to the front cover and stared at it. The other side had the author's name written in English writing. 'Pax Mlanck.' It sounded familiar. I handed the book back to Jaxon and waited for an explanation.