Mama's Princess is Daddy's Beloved

Li Xue smiled looking at her daughter playing and giggling in the shaded royal garden. She looked like she was having a good time here. Her smiles were cheerful, getting all forgetful of the tears that her eyes were holding before. 

And what surprised her more was the person who had become her companion in the fun. She had last expected him to be that favorable to her, especially given the behavior he holds for her. 

"That's a little unbelievable, right?" 

Li Xue was busy staring at the duo from a distance while sitting on the garden couch, when suddenly she was snapped out by a sudden interruption. Her lips curled up a little in a smile when her eyes matched with Chen Rui's. While she has tranced off in her thoughts, the lady has come to sit beside her again. 

"Yes, a bit unbelievable. But since I am seeing it happening, I can only believe it to be true." 

She said as for a minutest second her eyes went to look at Shin Tinming who was sitting not too far away. After all those previous conversations with the queen, she was already all comfortable with her but she couldn't say the same with the king. 

Li Xue doesn't know why, but with His Royal Highness, she always feels like there is a wall that is keeping her separated from him. Or to say, he has purposely built a wall against her. No matter how well she conversed with him, they would still stay at the same place they had begun from. Like they had never begun the talks; like they have never come to know each other properly.

Chen Rui looked at her and also her gaze that went to look at her husband. Her eyes held an understanding but it was hard to tell for whom that understanding was. Reaching out to hold Li Xue's hands into hers, as a mother would do to her daughter, she said in a bit disappointed tone. 

"Tinming, why are you such a bored person. I left Xiao Xue with you for just a few minutes, yet you not only sat with her but also secluded yourself in your work. Like really? Why did you come, leaving your meeting when you still had to work here?" She said, patting on the hands of Li Xue while chiding her husband. 

Hearing her wife say that, Shin Tinming didn't know what to say. "I … Rui, that …". Of course, he was here to see Li Xue but to him, just seeing her was enough. He didn't know what to say to her, so he got himself away with the excuse of work. But every now and then his eyes would come to look after her and order the maid to bring her some juice and snacks. 

"It's okay, Ma. His Highness has works to handle and I can understand. I am already interrupting your precious time today, coming here out of blue. It's better for me to not complain over these petty things." 

Saving the man, Li Xue said, trying to come out sensible. But little did she expect, Shin Tinming to interrupt her. "It's okay for you to come here like this. Don't think too much next time. It is just that I got a little extra work today, or else …" He said, pausing without getting the right full stop to his words. 

But Li Xue understood his incomplete sentence. Smiling, she nodded and seeing her agree like that, His Royal Highness also gave a small nod, before getting himself back into his work.

While on the side, Chen Rui nodded as well to say, "Yes, Li Xue. I am also quite happy to see you visit us like this. Especially bringing the little one with you. I am saying this, the more out of the blue you come to visit us, the happier I will be. Believe me!" She said and hearing her say that Li Xue could not help but nod. 

But then remembering something, she gently facepalmed herself. "Oops, I almost forgot about the thing I was here." 

"You are here for something?" Chen Rui raised her brows at her and as if in a bit of embarrassment, Li Xue nodded. 

"Yes, I was." She said, before turning to the side to get the bag she brought with herself. "I know, hearing me say that you might be disappointed, but I was here to give you this. It's late though but I truly wanted to bring you something." Li Xue said, extending a gift bag to the lady and seeing it, Chen Rui raised her brows. 

"This is?" 

Li Xue scratched the corner of her brows, before closing one of her eyes with some hesitation. "Treat this as a belated New Year present. I know there must be many gifts that arrived during the occasion of the New Year. But I only got the time to shop for it after the main day. So, sorry for presenting it late." 

The queen heard her while keeping her eyes on the gift packet. Her expression remained unchanged and it was hard to tell what she was thinking in her mind. But Li Xue patiently waited to hear her words. While from the side, even Shin Tinming turned to look at his wife. 

Though he has kept himself busy with work, all this while his attention has never left Li Xue. So when he heard her saying something about the New Year gift, he turned to check if there was only one gift bag or if the girl had brought something for him as well.

Chen Rui looked for some more moments and then asked with a bit of suspicion, "You bought this yourself?" 

Li Xue nodded, pressing her lips. "Yep, I got it myself as per my own thoughts. But I am not sure if it would be something you would like. As I have never purchased anything like this before for anyone." 

"Since you have got it by putting your thoughts, there would be no way for me to dislike it. Let me see it and I am confident that I will like it for sure". Her Royal Highness said, taking the gift bag on her lap to pull out the cashmere scarf from inside. Her eyes shining with some familiarity with the product. "This …?" 

"I wanted to present to you the feeling your presence has in my life. So, I got this. It's something very similar to the soft, gentle, and warm feeling this scarf holds. Something like the feeling a mother gives to her child. The feeling that you have always given to me." Li Xue explained her thought behind the gift and Chen Rui couldn't help but feel the coziness of words on the delicate fabric of the scarf. 

Then smiling, she said, "Both your words and the gift are beautiful. Just like you." When she said that, somewhere deep within her eyes held the tears that she tried her best to hide well, but still it appeared on the corners of her pair. Then chuckling she also added, "And also your choice is exactly matching mine's." She said as her eyes did its best in hiding the tears.