I do not want to be your brother

Su Ning was astonished to hear that her first brother had come to see her. She left the calligraphy in the middle and stood up. The servant started to put the brushes inside a box and another one took the inkstone away.

"Greetings to the First Brother," Su Ning said.

"I brought these for you," Licheng handed her a bouquet of peonies. Su Ning thanked her brother and inhaled the fresh scent of the flowers.

"Thank you, First Brother," Su Ning said and asked her brother to take a seat.

"Here? Shall we go to the place where we used to play together?" Licheng suggested to her.

"I thought the First Brother forgot about it," Su Ning said.

"No," Licheng said. Su Ning told him to wait and placed the peonies in the flower vase, thus she replaced the old ones and asked the servants to send the used flowers for incense manufacturing.

Su Ning went to Licheng and then left with her to the royal garden. They reached the lake where on a huge tree, a swing was attached. "I do not want my lovely, younger sister not to hate me anymore," Licheng said as he made her sit on the swing. He got on his knees and held her hands in his.

"I was not a good big brother to the three of you. However, I want to be now. I may be busy with my work on some days, but I will keep seeing you three more regularly," Licheng said. His words seemed genuine to Su Ning.

"First Brother should not be on his knees. He is making me embarrassed," Su Ning said.

"I should be on my knees. I have inflicted a lot of pain on my sister. She was such a young girl at that time. I found out from Xuanzi how much you cried for me. You wanted me and refused to eat properly for days. I cannot bring those days back, but I will do my best to make my present beautiful for my siblings, and my parents," Licheng stated.

"First Brother must have had something in his mind that he made a sudden decision to leave the palace. I was young at that time. Now, I am a grown-up, and I understand my first brother," Su Ning said and pulled her right hand back. She looked at Licheng's left eye and asked him about it.

"First Brother, how did it happen?" Su Ning asked.

"I had gone somewhere and it happened," Licheng answered.

"Who could hurt my brother? He has five invincible warriors with him," Su Ning said in a low voice.

"It is a long story, Sister," Licheng said and got up. He went behind the swing and pushed it for her. Su Ning smiled as she recalled her old childhood days with her brother. She did not ask any more questions related to the scar to him and enjoyed her time with her first brother.

~~~~~~~

Yuan showed the painting to Xiana that he drew during the day. "How is it, Xiana? I try to draw the landscape of the garden," Yuan said. They both were seated on the floor mattress of her room.

"Prince Yuan is a wonderful painter. It is so beautiful. If I look at this, it feels like I am in the garden," Xiana stated with a smile.

"Thank you, Xiana. You can keep it. Also, you can call me Yuan. We both agreed upon this," Yuan reminded her.

"You remind me of my younger brother," Xiana stated.

Yuan was a bit hurt to hear that. "Don't call me a brother. I am n-not a brother to you," he said.

Xiana smiled to hear that statement. "Of course, you are. My brother is the same as Prince Yuan. He used to come to me in the evening to tell me what he drew, what he did in the day," she asserted, recalling those moments.

"I do not want to be your brother," Yuan said.

"Then? A friend?" Xiana questioned.

"Hmm. A friend is better," Yuan said. "I will make your face portrait. I hope you have time to sit for at least an hour so that I can make it for you." He waited for Xiana's response.

"Sure, Yuan. When I will be free, I will tell you," Xiana stated.

"What happened, Xiana? You look upset. Am I disturbing you?" Yuan queried.

"Nothing," Xiana told him not to think that way. She was alright and doing fine.

Yuan did not believe her words because her face was telling him everything. He decided to go and talk to his first brother regarding Xiana.

"Xiana, I won against my second brother for the first time. Will you like to join us tomorrow as well?" Yuan asked.

"I would love to, Yuan. But I will be busier from tomorrow onward. I have to clean the manor and help the other servants in their work. I am afraid, but I will not be able to join you all," Xiana stated.

"Alright," Yuan said. "Brother Licheng is making you work. Should I talk to him? He will not ignore my request," he wanted to help Xiana.

"Yuan, I am supposed to do what your brother says because he helped me. You do not need to worry about me," Xiana said and passed him a tiny smile.

"I understand." Yuan did not try to convince her anymore and told her to keep the landscape painting. "It is for you, Xiana. If you miss anything, you can come to me," he asserted.

"Thank you, Yuan," Xiana's smile widened. At least, in her sad times, he was with her to give her much-needed support. She was grateful to him for being such a great man. Yuan was happy to hear his praise from her mouth and told her he would always be there for her.

"I go to my room," Yuan said as he realized that Xiana needed some alone time. Xiana almost got up when Yuan asked her to remain seated and left the room.