She was genuinely surprised. She glanced toward the clock on the wall—yes, there was a clock, a fancy imported one—and it read 2 AM.
Two in the morning.
Larus smiled slightly, lowering his head as he scratched the back of his neck in an embarrassed gesture. "I heard that you’ve been working quite hard, and that the servants were already on vacation. So I thought... you might be hungry."
Heena looked at him more carefully. "You’ve been awake all this ti?"
He paused, then nodded. "Actually, I couldn’t sleep after what I heard today."
Heena slowly put down her pen and gestured to the chair across from her desk. "Sit. Please, sit."
Larus walked over and carefully set the tray down on the sa table where so many papers were scattered. His hands stayed on the tray, making absolutely sure that none of the food spilled or touched any of the docunts. Only after he was certain everything was stable did he take his hands away and sit down.
Heena looked at him with genuine concern. "Why are you awake until this ti? And what happened? Did soone say anything to you?"
Larus shook his head quickly. "No, no, it’s not like that. Actually, I was so excited after getting the news that I wanted to talk to you about it, but then I found out you had so much work to do. So I thought I’d co and... and maybe help? Or at least bring you sothing to eat?"
He fidgeted with his hands.
"I was outside your door three or four tis," he admitted, "but I didn’t co inside because I thought it would disturb you."
Heena raised her hand gently. "Calm down. Slowly, slowly, okay? Don’t rush."
A playful smile crossed her face. And really, who wouldn’t smile? She was working hard, exhausted, and soone had brought her snacks. That was basically a miracle.
She looked at the tray of food—there was a beautiful sponge cake, so sliced fruit arranged artfully, and what looked like tea. "The servants are still up at this ti? I need to give them a raise."
Larus paused. He lowered his head, playing with his fingers nervously. "It’s... I made it."
Heena blinked. "You made this?" She pointed at the tray.
He nodded, still not quite eting her eyes. "Yeah. It’s just... a simple sponge cake. I couldn’t make the cream right now because I haven’t learned how to make it properly yet. I didn’t want to ss it up."
Heena reached out, broke off a small piece of the cake, and put it in her mouth.
And—’god’.
It was ’good’.
Like, genuinely good. The kind of good where you could say that even a modern chef in a five-star hotel couldn’t make it this well. It was perfectly moist, perfectly sweet, with just a hint of vanilla and sothing else she couldn’t quite identify but that made it absolutely delicious.
Larus was watching her with a mixture of hope and hesitation on his face.
Heena looked at him and said sincerely, "This is ’so’ good."
Relief flooded his expression. "Really? You’re not just saying that?"
"Really," Heena confird, reaching for another piece. "You made this really well."
Larus suddenly stood up, looking slightly panicked. "Wait—you shouldn’t eat it like that!"
Heena paused mid-reach. "What? Is it for soone else?"
"No!" He shook his head quickly. "But—"
"Then what’s the problem?" Heena asked. "You made it for , right?"
He nodded. "Yeah, but—"
"So what if I eat it?" Heena took another piece. "What’s wrong?"
Larus looked genuinely distressed now. "You’re the ’Empress’. You shouldn’t just eat anything soone gives you without—without checking it first, or having soone taste it, or—"
He gestured helplessly.
"What if I had poisoned it?" he said, voice dropping to almost a whisper. "What if soone else had poisoned it? You just... you just ate it without even thinking!"
Heena looked at him for a long mont.
Then she smiled—warm and genuine.
"Larus," she said gently, "you’re my consort. I an, my ’future’ consort. Right now you’re my fiancé. So what’s wrong with eating sothing you made for ?"
Larus still looked at her seriously and said, "But you are the ruler of this empire. No matter what, you should be cautious about these things."
Heena waved her hand dismissively while taking another bite of cake. "It’s okay. If you want to kill , just say it. If it’s you—even if you gave poison, I would drink it happily."
"Don’t say such things!" Larus burst out suddenly.
Heena looked at him, confused. "What?" A smile played on her lips.
Larus’s expression was genuinely distressed now. "What type of nonsense is that? Do you know how unlucky those words are? How can you even think about saying sothing like that?"
He gestured with his hands, agitated.
"And you’re the Empress! No matter who it is—no matter what—you don’t need to die for anyone. Not for , not for anyone!"
Heena looked at him with a gentle smile. "Everyone who cos into this world has to die one day, whether I’m an empress or not."
"I know that!" Larus said, and his voice was trembling now. His eyes were actually getting wet. "But still—you shouldn’t say words like that. It’s so unlucky. It’s like inviting sothing terrible to happen."
Heena looked at his face, which was on the verge of tears, and her expression softened.
"Fine, fine," she said gently, raising her hands in surrender. "I’m sorry. I won’t say it again, okay?"
"Promise?" Larus asked, voice small.
"I promise," Heena said.
Larus wiped at his eyes quickly, looking embarrassed. "Sorry. I just... I just found soone who actually chose . I don’t want to lose that."
"You won’t," Heena said simply.
She reached for another piece of cake, then paused and offered it to him instead. "Here. You made it, you should eat so too."
Larus blinked at the offered piece, then smiled—small but genuine—and took it from her hand.
They sat there in comfortable silence for a mont, eating cake at 2 AM surrounded by mountains of paperwork.
"You know," Larus said after a while, "I never thought I’d be sitting in an Empress’s office in the middle of the night eating cake."
"I never thought I’d have soone bring homade cake at 2 AM," Heena replied. "So I guess we’re both having unexpected nights."
Larus laughed softly. "Is it always like this? The paperwork, I an?"
"Usually worse," Heena said honestly. "The nobles dumped all of this on as revenge for the engagent announcent. Trying to bury in bureaucracy."
"That’s petty," Larus observed.
"That’s politics," Heena corrected. "They can’t oppose directly, so they make my life difficult in other ways."
Larus looked at the stacks of docunts thoughtfully. "Can I help?"
"You already did," Heena said, gesturing at the cake. "This is the first thing I’ve eaten since breakfast."
"I an with the paperwork," Larus said. "I can read. I can write. I know how to review docunts. My brothers made sure I was educated in administrative matters even if they never let actually do anything."
Heena studied him for a mont. "You want to help with boring tax assessnts and property disputes at 2 AM?"
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