It wasn’t hard to continue with her duties the next day as she had arrived at Sadina quite early. Aloe had enough time to take the promised long bath and undo the layers of grime, dirt, and sand she had gathered these three days. As soon as her return became noticed, Lulu was quick to serve her like always.
In less than two hours since her arrival at the city, Aloe had gone from looking like a poor farmer who had spent all day working the land to a wealthy noble.
However, she felt less privileged when she woke up the next morning and not even an hour later she had to endure a boring and long audience. That day’s audience was even longer than usual because whilst her personal scribes could substitute her in paperwork, the audiences were solely her business.
No one voiced their opinion on the longer-than-usual audience, though Naila and Nuha didn’t hide their animosity. Surprisingly, the scribe of scholars was the least tactful about it.
“Oh heavens, it’s only going to get worse in a week, why me...” Nuha grunted her way out of the audience hall in desperation. Aloe found the scholar’s honesty endearing; she would never have the nerves to be that... open.
“For being one of the more important and competent people in the city, she hates to work a lot,” Tamara whispered behind Aloe. “Anyways, how was your outing, dear?” The old scribe smiled at her as if she hadn’t badmouthed her coworker.
“Fine, thank you.” Aloe smiled back only if to hide her own exhaustion. “I think I have developed another product.”
“Still going with your business ideas?” Tamara crossed her arms. “Don’t you have enough on your plate?”
“It’s hard to refuse easy money when you were scraping by not long ago.” Of course, Aloe’s description of ‘scraping by’ where far different from that of the average commoner. “And weren’t you the one in counterproductive hobbies?”
“I can’t refute that.” The scribe of commerce raised her hands in defeat.
“Girls, girls.” A step reverberated behind Aloe, only to reveal that Rani was right behind them. She put her hands on Tamara and Aloe’s shoulders, making the petite woman jump on the spot from the scare. “What are you two mussing about?”
“Not much, dear.” Tamara smiled at the emir. “Just about Aloe’s herbalist creations.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go as far as to call me an herbalist...” The scribe of commoners added shyly.
“Oh, count me interested.” Rani greeted them with her characteristic djinnish smile. “Please, enlighten me. The first time it was vegetable ink, what is it now?”
“I... um...” Aloe blushed and cut the line of sight from the two women, preferring to look at the ground. “I’d rather not say...”
“Oh~” Rani curved forward, almost breathing down Aloe’s neck. “Now you are making me more interested~”
Aloe fixated on Rani, her sultry voice making it impossible to not look at her. She found her face barely a few fingers from hers.
“Now, now.” Tamara broke their locked gazes and carefully grabbed Rani’s hand, slowly and delicately removing it from her shoulder as if it were a piece of porcelain. “As much as I would like to indulge in courtship, I have things to do, if you excuse me, my Emir.”
Before anyone could say anything, the scribe of commoners started walking away from them. The first to talk was Aloe a weak “Courtship?” leaving her lips.
“That woman has herself in a high stool. Touching me like that... Only I can touch like that.” More like an entitled tantrum, Rani’s voice came out playful. “She should learn some modesty. Do you no think, Aloe?”
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“I... uhm... yes?” The scribe of commoners added with confusion before talking with more decisiveness. “Modesty, of course.” Wait, modesty? Do you even know what that word means? She kept that last part to herself.
“Hmm?” Rani hummed, examining Aloe from toe to head. Whatever she was thinking seemed to be amusing, as she ended up smiling again. “Now, that we are alone. I must remind you of our coming travel.”
“I have not forgotten, Rani.” Aloe bowed. “I am doing the best at my capabilities so my absence will not affect negatively the palace.”
“Commendable.” The emir responded with an unreadable expression. “But now, I will reiterate myself. We are alone.”
Aloe stopped breathing for a second.
“Yes?” She said for lack of a better response.
“Oh, how dense.” The sultanzade put her purple nails around the scribe’s neck, tickling it lightly. Aloe did her best to hide her reactions. Rani slowly circled her body until she positioned behind her. The hands then traveled downwards to the commoner’s chest, and Rani’s arms closed around her neck. Aloe could feel the voluptuous woman’s cleavage on her nape. “Now tell me,” Rani whispered, the hot breath caressing the petite woman’s ear. “What is that creation you are so ashamed of?”
“N-n-nothing...” The scribe’s stutters were so great that even her body shook in response. The physical touch was too much for her to handle.
“Do not be like that, Aloe.” Rani circled her index finger around the woman’s chest. Thankfully for Aloe’s sanity, it was completely covered. “Come on, tell me. This is one of your enterprises, so it will come out to the light at some point, will it not?”
“I...” Aloe knew there was no escape from this situation. If only it wasn’t this embarrassing. “Please,” she turned her head as best as she could to look at Rani, “do not tell it to anybody.”
The scribe of commoners agreed as her visage blossomed red.
“Fret not, your creation is safe with me.” Regardless of the veracity of the sultanzade’s claim, it was difficult to deny Rani’s soft expression.
“It’s a...” Aloe gulped a hefty amount of saliva, her eyes scolding from her red cheeks. “It’s an aphrodisiac.”
Rani had always been unreadable for Aloe. She had a hard time understanding people and could never guess what they were thinking, but with a shrewd-enough mask, she could estimate the agendas of people and their hidden intentions. Unfortunately, the petrified and unreacting visage of the emir gave her none of that. Aloe stopped breathing out of fear. The worst expression an imperial could give to someone wasn’t anger, but impassivity.
What seemed like an eternity, but was most likely a handful of seconds, ended as Rani’s expression shifted. An amused smile was drawn on her visage.
“Haha...” The emir laughed lightly, she freed her hand from Aloe’s body and hid her lips as she chuckled. “That was what you were so embarrassed about? Oh, how cute...”
The infantilization of her actions only made Aloe blush harder. She’s a sultanzade, of course, she’ll find it normal. Her own cradle was filled with debauchery!
“How... delectable...” Aloe didn’t manage to fully catch those two last words as Rani whispered them, besides the hand blocking out most of the noise and the scribe herself locked in her inner thoughts.
For a few seconds, the two young women looked at each other. One avoided the gazes as she flushed, the other delighted in the gesture. Rani took a step back and Aloe used the recently gained personal space to finally breathe. The sultanzade looked at her with her arms crossed under her breasts.
“I understand you are quite impressionable, but no one would blush like that for a simple aphrodisiac. No... I think there’s more at play.” Rani put her index finger at the side of her mouth. “Perhaps its strength?”
At the mention of the power of the aphrodisiac, even if it was a diluted version of the Grace’s Exaltation nectar, Aloe unconsciously clasped her legs together. It didn’t help they already felt weak. The scribe’s reaction wasn’t lost on the emir as her gemstone eyes became keener upon the movement.
“I see...” Rani mused with a finger on her lips. “It must be quite... the experience, is it not?”
Aloe didn’t know how the sultanzade made it, but she trembled upon her every word. Sounds turned caresses.
“I suggest that you...” The emir stopped midsentence as if she had noticed something. “...You already intended to bring that aphrodisiac to Asina, did you not?”
Once upon a time, that read would have thrown Aloe’s trail of thought in disorder, but now she was aware that she was dancing on the seductress’ hand.
“...Yes.” She affirmed taciturnly.
The response made Rani blow air out of her nose. “Well, there is not a better place in all of Ydaz to sell it,” The amusement on her person was palpable. “Bring it if you want then. Maybe I will have a chance to try it myself. For now, remember that we depart in a few days.”
With those words, Rani made her way out of the audience hall with movements as salacious as always. Yet Aloe couldn’t knock the feeling out that there was more than one meaning hidden in the sultanzade’s words.