Yan Yue collapsed onto the plush couch in her sitting room and let out an exhausted sigh. Tired though she was, she still had a lot of work to do. Not as High Arbiter—Yoshika had volunteered to relieve her while she recovered, and while that would inevitably mean cleaning up after whatever mess they left behind, the reprieve was worth it. No, what lay ahead of her was an entirely different sort of political labor.

Though her ascension had been kept secret, it would not have gone unnoticed. Those around her who hadn’t already been in the loop would have caught on, and would soon be knocking her damn doors down to offer congratulations and curry favor.

Jia sat across from her and served a welcome cup of Yue’s favorite tea.

“So how does it feel? It was always your dream to become xiantian, wasn’t it?”

Yue chuckled, savoring the subtle aroma of the tea. For all that she could be clumsy about the strangest things, Jia had brewed it perfectly.

“My dream was to gain my freedom, and thanks to you it’s been realized for quite some time now.”

“But with this, it’s official, right?”

Under imperial law, Yue was technically still betrothed to Xin Wei. Even being the ruler of another country didn’t free her from that obligation—Qin was rather infamous about pretending that ‘other nations’ didn’t exist. Ascending to xiantian, however, did.

Xiantian cultivators were afforded greater rights, which trumped all other oaths and obligations. It was the reason why Yue had been so driven in her cultivation.

“I suppose it is. I doubt I’ve heard the last of it, though. Lin Xiulan and Xin Hai might be willing to forgive my breach, but my father doesn’t back down so easily.”

As if on cue, there was a dainty knock on the door—more a formality than anything, since everyone involved could sense the presence of everyone else all the way across the city.

Eui took a break from cooking to answer the door, and Lin Xiulan stepped in with a wide, excited grin.

“Yue! Darling! You sneaky little minx, you! When were you going to tell me you’d ascended?”

Yue smirked.

“Right now, as a matter of fact. Unlike a certain collective of fools, I had the good sense to keep my breakthrough secret until after I’d accomplished it.”

Jia crossed her arms and pouted.

“We didn’t exactly have much of a choice, either time.”

Xiulan giggled, taking a seat next to Jia and accepting her own cup of tea.

“Fair enough, I suppose. It must be nice having the empress herself waiting on you like this. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were already wedded.”

Yue scoffed.

“I couldn’t rid myself of these two if I tried. They’re insisting on taking care of me while I recover, and you know they’re serious because Eui is using my kitchen and I haven’t sneezed once.”

Eui flipped her a rude gesture without looking up from the stove.

“Keep talking and I’ll make your portion so hot it’ll burn the house down.”

“Please spare this unworthy servant, Your Majesty.”

Xiulan snickered at Yue’s sarcastic deadpan, glancing between the girls with a smile.

“I envy your friendship. Friendly peers were hard to come by after my own ascension. I treasure my girls, but none of them truly understand me. My husband is the only real companion I’ve had in centuries.”

Lin Xiulan was one of the three grandmasters of the Spiritual Flowing Purewater Sect, which had controversially lost its status as one of the great ruling sects of Qin after sheltering her Cult of Harmonious Stars—a sect of healers which had been ostracized for using dual cultivation techniques.

Jia smiled sweetly.

“I’d be honored if you considered us your friends, Xiulan.”

“I appreciate that, but while you may match me in power, you’re far too young to be my peers. Perhaps in a few hundred years, when the difference in age loses some of its meaning. But we’re not here to talk about me. How are you feeling after your ascension, Yue?”

Yue stretched, wincing at some of the lingering pain from her trial.

“Good, all things considered. My companion helped quite a bit.”

The moon spirit flowed happily throughout Yue’s soul, pleased to be acknowledged.

“You still haven’t named her?”

“I’m not sure she wants to be named. Besides, what would I call her? Yue?”

Jia cocked her head.

“What about Dal? Or Tsuki?”

“I’m not naming her ‘moon’ in any language! Aside from the ridiculous hubris of naming her after myself, I just don’t feel right defining her that way against her will.”

“Fair enough, sorry.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Lin Xiulan shrugged.

“Nevertheless, it’s quite a powerful spirit you’ve bonded with. I’d love to know where you found her.”

Yue smiled apologetically.

“I’m sorry, Xiulan, but that’s a secret that I cannot reveal—even to you.”

Only a tiny collection of privileged people were aware that Yoshika’s soulscape had a connection directly to the moon, and Yue was very careful about keeping it that way. It wasn’t likely that anyone could use that connection against her, but obviously someone had been up there, and she wasn’t about to take any chances.

“I understand. So now that you’re free of your betrothal, do you have any plans? I don’t suppose I could convince you to marry my Wei’er anyway? I was so looking forward to having you as a daughter-in-law.”

“I don’t think so. I’m too busy to think about marriage, and while Xin Wei is nice, he is very much not my type.”

“What about Guan Yi? His father is like a brother to me, and I won’t complain about a niece.”

Yue shook her head and chuckled.

“We’ve...courted, here and there, but I’m not sure a mutual attraction is enough to justify spending the rest of my immortal life with someone. Why the sudden interest, anyway? Now that I’m free of such obligations, marriage is the last thing I want to be thinking about for at least a decade or two.”

Xiulan furrowed her brows and set her teacup down gently.

“Oh...oh dear. Yue, I don’t know how to say this but...now that you’ve ascended, the prospect of marriage is going to haunt you more than ever before.”

“Oh, you needn’t try to spare my feelings. I’m well aware that I’ll be turning down more suitors, but living outside of Qin has its perks. I doubt I’ll need to worry about anyone traveling all the way here just to get shot down.”

“I don’t think you fully understand. How many unwed xiantian women do you think exist in all of Qin?”

Yue shrugged carelessly.

“It can’t be many, I imagine.”

“As of today, one—you. It doesn’t matter that you’re not technically in Qin, when word spreads—and it will—there will be a mad scramble to be the first to win your hand.”

Eui scowled as she emerged from the kitchen with a steaming plate of stir-fried meat and vegetables, along with a number of appetizing side-dishes and snacks. She glared at Xiulan as she set the table.

“So you decided to try getting ahead of the competition, did you?”

Xiulan smiled apologetically.

“I’d be lying if I said I had no ulterior motives, but I do genuinely think it would make Yue’s life easier if she simply nipped the issue in the bud.”

Yue waved them both off.

“It’s fine, I understand. But I don’t want to talk about it right now. Let’s just relax over dinner, shall we? You’re welcome to join us, Xiulan.”

“I’d love to, but I know I’d be intruding, and I have other matters to attend to. Congratulations again, Yue. You have once more proven that my confidence in you was not misplaced.”

Lin Xiulan bowed farewell and left the girls to their own devices. The meal was excellent, as always—Eui was an impeccable cook when she wasn’t trying to murder Yue with spices. It was a relaxing way to wind down after such a stressful day, but inevitably the conversation turned back to the topic that Xiulan had brought up.

Jia looked up innocently from her third plate, flicking one of her cat-like ears as she swallowed a mouthful of food.

“So are you actually interested in marrying anybody?”

Yue sighed, but she couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you? Busybody.”

Jia shrugged.

“I’ve always thought it was weird how rich and powerful people think about marriage like it’s a tool. Eunae is like that too, and her clan doesn’t even do marriages.”

“It is a tool, Jia. It’s wonderful that you two have each other, but for most people of our status, marriage is about power, influence, and succession. Love is a distant afterthought, if it even plays a role at all. Lin Xiulan may love her husband, but make no mistake—that is not why she married him. The protection his sect afforded her was much more important.”

“Well, you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. Is there anybody you love? Stoneface, maybe?”

Yue laughed.

“As I said earlier, I share a mutual attraction with Guan Yi, but I hesitate to call whatever we have ‘love.’ Even after over half a decade of courtship, it hasn’t really blossomed into anything. My feelings for him haven’t changed, and I suspect the distance I keep has caused his own interest to wane.”

Eui raised an eyebrow curiously.

“You never tried going any further?”

“I never felt inclined to. Perhaps if I knew I could share a quiet tryst without any further commitment but...well, I think that would end up hurting him, and I prefer to reserve that sort of cruelty for my enemies.”

“Maybe romance just isn’t for you, then.”

Yue bit her thumbnail, frowning. She wasn’t sure why, but something about Eui’s words struck a nerve.

“I’m not sure I would say that. I’m far from a solitary person. I just...Yoshika, no matter how terrible you are at keeping secrets, promise me that this stays between us.”

Jia and Eui moved in the sort of perfect unison that indicated they were speaking as a collective, rather than individuals, holding their hands over their hearts.

“Of course.”

Yue nodded, sighing in relief. She wasn’t even sure why she felt so anxious about it, but the reassurance helped.

“I find myself increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of physical intimacy with someone who I share the rest of my life with. And throughout my meditations, I’ve come to realize that this is because of a mismatch between my preferred partners for physical and emotional intimacy.”

Jia blinked and cocked her head.

“What do you mean?”

Yue blushed. Damn it all—how could four minds working together be so dense?

“I’m saying that while I may be attracted to men, I think that if I were to choose someone to be a lifelong companion with whom I am to spend the rest of my immortal life, I’d rather it were another woman.”

Jia’s eyes lit up with understanding.

“Ohhh...oh! That’s...not that surprising, actually.”

“What?!”

Eui snickered.

“Yeah, you haven’t exactly been hiding that. You practically told Kaede that you were jealous of her joining our cultivation.”

“W-well, hold on—I didn’t necessarily mean you. I—”

“Not necessarily, huh?”

Yue could feel herself getting more flustered by the second as Eui shifted into a more playful tone. She took a breath to center herself. There was nothing left but to own it.

“Yes. Obviously, as the women closest to me, you would make excellent companions—but I’m not in any hurry. I meant what I said—this is quite new to me, and I want to enjoy my freedom for a while before I even consider it.”

Eui chuckled, but took the hint in stride.

“Alright, I understand. Sorry for teasing. You’ve got our full support, whatever you decide. If we have to physically eject people trying to propose, we’ll do it.”

Yue laughed and shook her head.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to blows. For now, all I want from you is dessert.”