Mingzhe's mother spent most of breakfast asking very, very uncomfortable questions, and he'd never been more grateful that Chenzhou had avoided him and his family.
Lady Zhao sat at the head of the table, next to her husband. Mingzhe's father had always been the dutiful son. Proper, followed the rules, married a respectable woman who made a respectable wife and a good mother.
Zhao Linlin was all that and a bit more. She wore her years well, closing in on sixty. Her black hair was threaded with grey and pulled back into an elegant bun decorated with silver and opal. Her eyes, even lined with crows' feet, were sharp, dark, and always watching. She was tall for a woman, which would probably enrage Eirian to no end, and she was always dressed like she was expecting the king.
She'd been the most intimidating figure in Mingzhe's life when he was a child, and she still was now that he was an adult. Mingzhe had never been able to shake the idea that she knew exactly what he was thinking whenever she was looking at him. It had wreaked havoc on him when he was a teenager and felt guilty about every thought, and when he'd first started to have opinions that didn't necessarily align with his parents.
His father was the quieter of the two of them, and to this day, Mingzhe wasn't sure if that was just who he was or if it was who he'd become after his marriage to Linlin. He'd never gotten the impression his father was upset about it either way. Even when his mother was away visiting friends and extended family, he tended to wait to make any decisions until she returned and they'd discussed it.
It was a partnership Mingzhe had admired for his entire life and one he still wanted for himself. He could see it starting between Chenzhou and Eirian, and it made him happy, if a bit envious. But Mingzhe felt the pull between the three of them, felt the warmth they generated expanding to engulf him, and no matter how illogical it seemed, how much he knew it wouldn't be what his family wanted, Mingzhe wanted it.
In his less charitable moments, he set aside familial duty and considered that he had two younger siblings who could marry and have children. Mingzhe wasn't necessarily required for the safety of the family line.
"These rumors have me concerned." His mother spoke, shaking him out of his thoughts.
Mingzhe put his tea down as his father, brother, and sister all turned their gazes to his mother.
"They are particularly…voracious. More so than usual." Zhao Linlin did not look happy, and Mingzhe shrank in on himself, ashamed. It was his failure that had led to the rumors that were now plaguing his family. "Even the quick end to the war has not silenced them."
Mingzhe ignored the sympathetic looks his siblings shot him. The short end to the war had intensified the rumors, especially with Chenzhou's new treaty with the tribes and their ambassador due to arrive any day now.
"I fail to see how they are angry at a quick end to the war." His father huffed. He didn't argue with his wife's assessment of the situation, just that it existed at all. "It is disheartening how fast they have forgotten the last ten years we spent fighting and dying."
His mother waved a dismissive hand. "There is always a war to fight. Just as there are always those who are jealous and wish to take the power of others for themselves. This is not that. This is targeted, and yet there seems to be no one who benefits from it."
Zhiyu leaned forward, always eager to impress their mother. "We may be too early in the game for them to show themselves. Perhaps it would be wiser to focus on the end goal? Our fall?"
Mingzhe's father and sister looked alarmed.
Zhao Linlin shook her head, and a calculating look came over her face. "No. It is not our destruction they wish." Her eyes pinned Mingzhe in place. "We are a stepping stone to the true target."
Mingzhe swallowed around a painful lump in his throat. Deep down, he knew what she was going to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. When he'd first started growing close to Eirian and Chenzhou, he'd never imagined he'd become so close to them…
Or that he could become a weakness that could potentially aid in their destruction. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt them, but how could he stop others from trying to do so?
Would it help if he pulled away?
But he didn't want to, and realistically, the Camelia was small, and he could only go so far away.
He shifted under his family's gaze. He didn't doubt their love. Never had, but he'd never had anyone that could possibly be as important to him as them. It was a conflict he'd hoped to avoid, even when he did inevitably have to marry.
His mother's face softened in a way that was uncharacteristic of her. "You do not need to leave them."
He jolted in his seat, more surprised at her words than he'd ever been before.
"The advantage of your attachment outweighs the danger, but that does not mean we can simply continue as is. Lord and Lady Ye cannot risk showing you favoritism right now. Lady Ye's cousin is in a tenuous position in the capital. I understand her father is not an ally, and he has made some progress, I'm afraid."
Mingzhe frowned. He hadn't heard anything about that. Eirian was still waiting to hear from Eric.
"The King cannot help her, and they cannot help us." Linlin continued, the mood around the table falling dark. "But that will not always be the case. We simply need to handle the situation until then."
~ tbc