You dabbed at the kohl liner whilst Zi-Yu showed you the white of her eyes. Even when she was making such an awkward expression, she looked beautiful. “Alright, I’m done. Now wipe those tears or else they’ll ruin your make-up again.” You put down the brushes and she blinked a little. Chaio-Han had her hands on Zi-Yu’s shoulders and was running her fingers through the elder girl’s long hair.

“Thanks so much.” She smiled gratefully and looked to the two of you. “You’ll be fine from now on?” Chaio-han looked a little worried but her concerned expression lightened when Zi-yu replied with the softening of her eyes, “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, now to line up , again.” The blind room was becoming more suffocating by the second and everyone was excited for what the night had to bring. You fixed your hair and straightened your robes, suddenly remembering what the ‘undercover’ maid had said earlier when she dragged you into that dark alcove. Well, this had better be worth it or else you’d throw a tantrum that’d really upset tradition.

There was a waiting period after all the performances for the waiters and servants to come in and clean the tables – it was in this time that light conversation was made between the old men. It took a while for the process to be finished and the entire hall to be free of plates, both dirty and clean which was only beneficial to the girls as extra time for them to prepare themselves to once again step back out onto the intimidating stage.

Finally, after some time, Lord Sun-Ye stepped back onto the platform. His movements were slow and anticipated and his joints almost visible buckled with his weight as he stepped up the step. He cleared his throat loudly. “Now, as you know with this event comes the tradition that follows. – ‘a colour to pass the night’, as Emperors of the past dynasties have called it.” A chorus of ‘ahh’s followed and he took a sullen breath, “Please bring the harem out for the Princes to make their decision,”

Naturally, the premise was that each Prince would have a pick of a girl to spend the night with based solely on the performances they had seen – and yes, ‘spend the night’ was usually lacquered with innuendos that the current princes really held no interest for.

Brought out in a line according to age, you stood fourth from the left. It was still difficult at this moment to take a good look of the ‘suitors’ and every girl was on the brink of anxiety; mostly not wanting to be chosen to share a bed with a complete stranger, but another part of them wanting to enjoy the honour and pride to be picked.

The ten colours from the youngest to eldest were peach, chestnut, indigo, magenta, silver, azure, violet, ruby, lilac, and emerald. Everything was extremely hierarchical in this place and even the first picking privilege was with the eldest. Xiumin stood up in his seat and glanced awkwardly along the line. He squinted his eyes to get a good look at them but it didn’t suffice because the colours just overruled his vision. Feeling his actions were solely a responsibility out of duty he remembered the brilliant flash of jade he had last seen and chose the girl on the end – he was more concerned with playing off her mistake and making her feel better in sorts. Sure he was fascinated by the girl that danced – violet was it? But this girl was also pretty and sweet-looking, and he wasn’t really interested in ‘that’ per se anyway; the eldest was too caught up in choosing someone, anyone at all, that he settled for sympathy. A string of excuses formed in his mind and had he let the others into his thought processes they would have lectured him once again about how much of a kind er he was. Adding to a list of other idiosyncrasies that he did, like purposely not walking on the side of the pavement where the ants scurried, or looking after stray animals especially, his decision was put at the top of the list titled: ‘compassion at its best’ – or worst, depending on how you looked at it.

“I request emerald.” His voice faltered on the last syllable and he coughed. Zi-yu upon hearing herself being chosen burned a brilliant shade of pink, almost matching the magenta colour of one of the younger girl’s robes. She curtsied and walked hesitantly off the platform –as ushered by one of the eunuchs and escorted to Xiumin’s side. She looked prettier up front and in person.

Next was Luhan and he stood up a smile on his face. Without hesitation, he spoke loud and clear, “I request violet.” At the same time, Lay’s chest crumbled and Tao grimaced. The two younger brothers had also wanted the same colour, both for different reasons but fell victim to birth as Luhan was elder. in a sharp breath you stepped down the platform, one hand on the shoulder of a eunuch so you wouldn’t trip and he led you to where your suitor was. You stood next to Zi-yu behind the Prince’s table and she reflexively held out her hand. You grasped her sweaty palm and tightened your fingers in assurance; neither of you looking at each other. As you walked ever-closer to the table, you finally got to see the Princes in their glory, but what you saw made your heart sink into your toes. Your idiot self had already met two of the six people party and the two in question looked at you strangely as you passed them. Tao instinctively cupped his cheek and you hurriedly looked down, away from his prying glance. Lay on the other hand smirked but kept facing forward, his arms crossed over his chest. When you were close enough, Luhan turned in his spot and looked at you inquisitively and feeling the burn of his eyes on you, you bit your lip and looked down further in uneasiness. ‘Don’t make eye-contact, not yet at least,’ you thought and kept your head lowered till the next brother was called to make his decision.

Kris was tired from this already and he shut his eyes so that the governors didn’t have to see his them roll inside their sockets from boredom. He didn’t mean the girls any disrespect but honestly, none of them interested him, he had no time for any of this so he just politely nodded at the youngest, “I request peach.” He thought this was a good tactic because the young girl would be too shy to do anything annoying or have any out-of-wack expectations of the night so that he can work in peace. The girl almost fainted and her knees buckled a little before the eunuch came up to catch her and lead her to the princes. She looked a little stable and Kris raised his brow in amusement. Yes, that’s how he liked his girls, unstable and vulnerable – or preferably (if it didn’t make him sound like a creep) completely unconscious. 

Afterwards was Lay. He was a little bothered by the girl Luhan had chosen, wanting to initially have her for himself, to pry out the details of that night. He was more concerned with entertaining himself for the night that actually following tradition and having a bed companion of sorts. Apart from violet, he really had no preference in any of the other colours, but he was one to share – sure that the rotations for the next nights would eventually lead to her and him in the same room. “I request azure,” simply because he liked the colour and sat back down to resume his wine consumption. Chiao-Han was steady and welcomed the choice with a small smile, glad that she got to join her friends up in the line.  

Chen was after and to be honest he was nervous. He liked the elder girls, a sister that would take care of him but the eldest had already been chosen by his brother. So he looked to the end of the line and chose the next in following as if just transcribing protocol. “I request lilac.” His voice was monotone and without emotion, but it only sounded that way because he supressed it all in his throat, worried that at any moment the feeling would bubble to his lips and escape. The girl mirrored his lack of sentiment and stepped down systematically, not needing the eunuch to help her balance.

The youngest was sulking, again. Unlike Kris who disliked the event because of his legitimate aversion to unnecessary occasions in favour of his work, Tao had no excuse but the simple fact that he just didn’t like it. He wanted to ask if he could excuse himself from picking a colour, but he knew that it would bring gasps to the court in going against tradition so he held his tongue. He stood up slowly, “I request…” pausing, “chestnut” – because it reminded him of one of his horses. There was almost a loud sigh of relief from the girls that didn’t get chosen but you could tell that some of them were just holding in their tears from not being one of the ‘lucky’ six. It’s a painful feeling when you’re not showered in affections, especially when the role that you’re put in, as part of the harem – was solely for the purpose of affection.

The remaining 4 were led off the stage to return to their chambers whilst the Princes rose in their seats. The rest of the court stood up as well, it was etiquette that when all 6 members of royalty were standing, the rest of the congregation was expected to stand as well. Lord Sun-ye hollered from his pedestal, “I now conclude the night. The proceedings from whence on will be none of our business, let’s leave the princes in peace.” The court then chorused, “May they live and reign for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years” The old men then got up and began to file out of the room, swiftly and rapidly so that only the eunuchs, servants and maids remained with the Princes and their colours.

“Please the ladies to your respective rooms.” It was him again, that seedy-geezer eunuch with the seedy glasses. He coughed into his sleeve. The Princes got up together and stepped down from their table to stand next to their member of the harem. Luhan stood impossibly close to you and you peeked up at him only to see him flash a soft smile.

“Don’t worry, I won’t bite.” He leant in and whispered whilst the others paired up with their respective partners. You raised a brow at how friendly he was being, maybe it was the alcohol, because even though he didn’t reek of it, you could still smell the sultry aroma on his tongue. You also noticed that he had a little stain on his nose which was annoying and you just wanted to reach up and rub it off.

“That’s what they all say.” You smiled back and his eyes widened a little before he smirked.

“Touché,” he chuckled.  The line started moving with Xiumin at the front. He led Zi-yu gently and as soon as they made it to the corridor, everyone separated to their chambers. You braced yourself, for what? Well, you didn’t know. 

~

YAY~ A new chapter!!!

Did anyone see Luhan with Boa in her song, Only One? It was soo good~

A present for yu guys sticking thus far: EXO camwhoring~

As for the next chapter...