※ Chapter 20 ※

Meihua's POV »☆●

A short while later, Luhan leads us and rest of the nobles to the estate wine cellar. A ring of tasseled pillows, one for each person, circle a pyramid of wine bottles. I glance at the circle of bottles, then survey the number of people in the room.

"Ten bottles of wine for seven people?" I frown.

Rosy nods, then suddenly gasps, "Do you think I should've ordered for more?"

Yangyang clears his throat, "Make it six people instead of seven. I'm only here because the King-regent invited."

"No, you're not backing off," Se cuts him off, "The only thing worse than becoming embarrassingly drunk at a party is being watched by someone sober. Consider it a royal decree. Yangyang is hereby ordered to have fun like the rest of us."

Yangyang looks up, his jaw drops in shock, "It's an..unprecedented ruling. According to the Law of Regency.."

"Oh god you're so boring," Gabrielle groans, "Is someone gonna pour the wine? I feel absolutely naked without a glass."

Dylan smirks, "And how long we must keep you without a glass before you're actually naked?"

Rosy takes two glasses and clinks them together, to draw everyone's attention, "Enough chatter!" she looks at Yangyang, "Everyone will have their wine soon. Because we're playing Queen's cup!"

Rosy reveals a deck of cards and places them face down in a large ring around the wine. Everyone cheers as I follow her movements trying to figure it out. Noticing my confusion, Se leans close to me to whisper, "If you don't know how to play, don't fret. It's quite simple. You'll learn as we go. Look, she's starting."

Rosy pulls a card from the ring and reveals it to the group. She smiles, "Three means me! I've to drink."

Rosy grabs a bottle of wine and takes a deep swig, then gestures me to draw next. I grab a card and turn my card around to reveal it to the group, "What does a seven mean?"

"Oh, nothing," Gabrielle smirks, "Yet."

"Seven means heaven, the first two people to draw a seven have to lock themselves in that wine cabinet together. Now we wait and see who draws the other seven to find your partner. Got it? Great. Moving on," Rosy blurts out in one breath without letting me speak. And before I can question, Dylan takes over.

"Ooh, now me! Which card I should draw, Lady Zzar?" Dylan lets his dog out of his lap and it begins to sniff a nearby card. Dylan grabs it.

"Lady Zzar, you scoundrel! It's a seven," he smirks fixating his eyes on me.

"No way!" I blurt out aloud.

He breaks out laughing as he reveals his queen card, "Kidding, you wish it was."

Rosy clears her throat, "Dylan drew a queen, he gets to make a rule that everyone must follow for the rest of the game."

His eyes bright up as he smirks, "I hereby decree that anytime you say someone's name you must also exclaim what you find most sexy about them. And no cheating by saying their courage or kindness or anything boring like that. It must be physical."

Rosy groans in disgust, "Whatever, now, each time a queen is drawn, the player must empty their bottle into the giant goblet at the middle. Whoever draws the final queen will need to drink the whole thing!"

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The game continues in a circle and soon, four bottles are empty and three queens have been drawn.

"How are there still so many cards left?" I ask.

"Me next! Me next!" Gabrielle raises her hand and screams enthusiastically.

"Please don't yell," Yangyang pleads, which Gabrielle ignores and draws a card. She reveals her king of apples to the group.

"King means sing. Gabrielle begins a song, and everyone must add a rhyming line to the song. If someone messes it up, they've to drink," Rosy explains.

Gabrielle takes a long drink then slowly stands to her feet, wobbling slightly. She clears her throat dramatically and begins to sing, "There once was a lady named Gabrielle Guan..."

"She used to sing the most embarassing song," Se adds, making everyone break out in laughter.

"She never shuts up, oh she talks for way too long," adds Luhan.

"She begs your pardon!" Gabrielle growls.

"She once saw a handsome man, and gifted him a barong," I add, passing it to Yangyang, who awkwardly looks around.

"The barong..was..an well-embroidered barong," he mumbles. The place goes silent as everyone looks at him with disappointment.

"What? Well-embroidered-barong rhymes with barong, it has the same final syllable," he complains.

Rosy shakes her head, "Uh huh, nice try. Now drink."

Yangyang frowns, "I don't-"

But before he can finish, Dylan and Gabrielle shove the goblet in his mouth. He wipes his lips, as his eyes squeeze close and nose wrinkles in the bitter taste.

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After a few hours, Rosy draws her next card, the final queen.

"Everytime we play, I always seem to draw the final queen!" Rosy whines.

"It's almost as if you set it up," Luhan chuckles.

Rosy pours the rest of her bottle into the giant goblet at the center, then drinks from it.

"That's..alot of wine for one person to drink at once. Is she gonna be okay?" I ask in concern.

Dylan shakes his head, "Never fear. Rosy is like a professional. She'd never-"

Before he can finish, Rosy grunts loudly, as if she's about to throw up. All colors drain from her face.

I laugh, "Let's get you some fresh air."

Rosy nods and wraps her arm around my shoulder as I lead her out the front of the estate and sit her down on an edge of the fountain.

I lower my face on my hand, "The state of you! What were you thinking?"

"But you had fun, right? That's all I wanted to do," she mumbles.

"I would've had fun even without someone practically getting poisoned," I laugh.

"It's not that bad," Rosy takes a deep breath, fixes her hair by the reflection on the fountain, and looks up at me, "I'm proud of you for having the courage to follow through with us and making your place. I know we don't always make it easy. You're a princess, you know better than anyone that as nobles, we're practically defined by who we exclude. If everyone was allowed a title, then the title wouldn't mean anything. Then again, our title doesn't always mean what we think it does.." she takes a deep breath, looking away, as if she'll tear up any moment, "Sorry, I tend to ramble when I drink. And I drank quite alot."

"You're not rambling. Don't apologize," I place a friendly hand on her shoulder, "What did you mean, about title?"

"It's just that.." she wipes her eyes to look at me, "Dad is retiring soon. When he does, gege becomes both the Alpha and the King while I become..nothing."

I nod understandingly, "Uncle should've let the two of you decide."

She shakes her head, "In a way, I'm glad he didn't. I couldn't fight with gege over something like this."

"Have you talked to Se about it though?" I ask.

She laughs, "Why'd I? I don't wanna take anything from him. I love him. He's wonderful. He'll do wonderful things."

I squeeze her arm, "You can do wonderful things too, sweetheart. People respect you. You still have more power than most of Mingluan. Use it. Do those wonderful things."

"Never thought about it like that, thanks," she smiles at me then looks away, "You know, sometimes fate comes at you in a strange way. And you can't do anything about it because there's no right answer. No justice, no injustice, just problems without solutions."

She sighs deeply closing her eyes, "Sorry, I tend to get philosophical when I drink. And I drank."

"Quite alot, I know," I laugh, completing her sentence.

She nods and laughs with me. Then she stands up and smooths out her dress, "I'm ready to go back inside."

We make our way back inside, where we reconnect with other nobles and guests in the main ballroom.

"Still alive?" Se scoffs noticing Rosy's condition. At his sight, Rosy runs up to him and throws her arms around him in a tight hug. I laugh mentally seeing the shocked face of Se as he cluelessly hangs his hands on her both sides.

"What was that for?" he mumbles with great suffocation as her arms hold him firmly. Se gives me a questioning look, to which I just shrug.

"I love you gege," she mutters in his chest that she barely reaches given their height difference.

"That's so embarassing. Leave me, the ascension ceremony will begin now," Se hisses. With great effort, Rosy pulls away when a stern young page arrives at the entrance, asking permission to enter. Luhan rushes towards him and asks his purpose.

He bows, "I've come bearing King Ming's will from the palace, and.."

"And?" Uncle Mark immediately questions loudly.

Luhan takes the document as the court watches, silent and expectant. His face pales and his brows furrow, when he carefully says, "King Ming's will..fails to name any successor for the throne."

To Be Continued »☆●