lawfullyneutralbee

[lawfullyneutralbee]

A new Telemachus x reader fic?

A Light in the Palace

The first day you saw the palace in person was nine years ago, you were barely ten years old. The war in Troy had just ended. The queen had invited all of the servants and their families to attend a banquet in celebration of the long war's final end. Your mother had been the prince’s wet nurse at the time, slowly shifting back to the queen’s handmaid. You eagerly leapt at the chance to join her, your father choosing to stay at home with your baby brother. 

It felt like a dream. Flowers had been strewn along the tapestries of the walls, jovial music filled the air, and food was plentiful. The palace was a towering building with much beauty to behold.

Now, nine years later, it was a striking contrast. You clutched the strap of your bag a bit harder as you walked in. The halls were clean, but quiet. The occasional bustle of people walking and talking faded through. You followed after your mother as she hurried with practice eased. 

Something had happened with the queen that required her to begin weaving her grieving shroud for the better part of her day. For some reason, that meant more hands were required. You along with ten other young women would be starting your training today. At the end of the month, you would be divided into different groups. Some would work in the gardens, some in the kitchen, some cleaners, and a select few for the queen herself. 

“Now you listen here,” your mother began as she entered the room with the other attendants. “This is no time for games or mouthing off. You come here, you do your work, then you go home. If her head lady thinks you’re fit, you’ll stay. If not, then that’s it. Then no more complaints about the betrothals your father lines up for you.”

You nodded your head quickly. “Yes, mother.”

It wasn’t like the people your father had set up for you were bad, they just were…not what you had in mind. You walked over to the laundry section, listening as someone instructed you and the other girls how to properly clean the clothes. As she instructed, you thought back to the many suitors your father had brought. One had been very dull company, the other way too obnoxious, the last one just…weird. You shuddered, coming back to the conversation at hand. The only way to avoid that fate was to stay focused.

“Honestly, it’s not too bad here, just…be a bit wary of the suitors.”

One of the other young girls already serving, Alena, had been acting as your guide for the day. She was a bubbly girl about your age, fairly pretty with her light brown hair, but taller than your average woman. This was no fault really, but more men than not found themselves standing straighter around her. 

She guided you around the main courtyard, a path many women often took to bypass the men. For the most part, the suitors ate in the dining hall during meal times and lingered around the halls outside of them. The dining hall had an entrance from the courtyard, but the servant’s entrance was inside across from the kitchen.

“How do you know who's a suitor and who's a servant?” You asked.

“If they’re about a decade older and leering they’re a suitor,” Alena said flatly. 

She adjusted the basket of folded laundry on her hip before stopping by a tree. She pulled you to the side, hiding you both. She pointed at a man walking by in plain garb. He had a clean greyish tunic tied with a brown belt; plain. 

“That’s a male servant. They send messages, carry heavy things, and occasionally handle the suitors.” Then she motioned toward another man, this one wearing similar garb but a dark grey sash strewn over it. “That one, is a clerk. They work in the archives, accounting, and different committee tasks. They rank higher than us so offer a bow when you see them.”

You nodded, trying to keep everything straight. 

“And the queen and prince?”

Alena laughed, not in a mean way, but it still made you smile awkwardly. “They’ll be the ones with guards and servants around them. The queen is nice for the most part, she just keeps to herself. The prince is rarely seen. I hear they have him doing a lot of administrative work now since he’s come of age.”

Pretty soon it was time for a break. You’d declined eating with Alena to search for your mother. However, she’d been busy cleaning the queen’s quarters and declined. So, now you were left to wander. 

The rest of the palace was still breathtaking. The large columns were impeccable, and each hallway was lined with beautiful tapestries. You took a bite of the sandwich your mother had packed for you as you continued to explore; turning down hallways you didn’t quite remember on the tour. Over your shoulder you could hear some men mutter. You watched out of the corner of your eye, from the likes of it, these men were significantly older than you. One of them brandished a fork like a sword as they focused on their conversation. 

You figured these must be the notorious suitors that were mentioned before and looked around. There was an entrance to a bigger room down the hall to your left you could slip into. You ducked through the entrance just in time, hearing the men’s conversation continue past the doorway.

You sighed, taking a minute to look back into the room. It was quite a decadent sized room. Several shelves lined the walls, each with a carefully wrapped scroll. In between the shelves hung tapestries recounting several historical adventures and myths. You saw the tale of Perseus, Heracles, and even more you didn’t recognize. Toward the far end, you could see large windows that let in the fresh air. 

You felt your feet pull you further into the room, tucking the rest of your lunch into your bag. This must have been the archives Alena had mentioned earlier. You passed by a particularly interesting map hung in a corner of the room. It seemed to have a random path of markings from Troy to Ithaca. You tilted your head, trying to make sense of what it had been tracking.

“Woahh–” you heard a voice get cut off at the same time you felt something push you over. 

You almost went crashing to the floor, before a hand grabbed your arm.

“Great Zeus, watch where you’re—” you began to say before turning around.

A young man with a grimace and a blush rapidly growing was facing you. Your eyes grew wide as the words died on your tongue. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you standing there,” he said. 

He was tall, taller than Alena for sure and had beautiful blue eyes. You looked over his garb quickly. A clean tunic, practically white, with a dark blue fabric strewn over it. You didn’t remember if Alena had mentioned this uniform and scrambled to think of what to do. At the very least he had to be some sort of clerk to be in the archives. You gave a small bow and dip of your head. 

..... continued on AO3!

[lawfullyneutralbee]

Being a young adult is so strange. You enter a coffee shop. The 20 year old girl waiting behind you cried all night because she just came to a new city for university and she feels so alone. That 27 year old guy over there works a job he is overqualified for, he lives with his parents and wants to move out but doesn't know what to do about it. That one 24 year old dude already has a car, a house, and a job waiting for him once he graduates thanks to his dad's connections. The 26 year old barista couldn't complete his higher education because he has to work and take care of his family. The 28 year old girl sitting next to you has no friends to go out with so she is texting her mother. That couple (both 25 years old) are married and the girl is pregnant. The 29 year old writing something on her laptop has realized that she chose the wrong major so she is trying to start all over. We are not alone in this, but we are actually so alone. Do you feel me

[lawfullyneutralbee]

They are so soft for each other I love them

[lawfullyneutralbee]

Me when I catch myself thinking "I wonder what it's like to be chosen by somebody" but then I remember my best friend chooses to be my best friend and my mutuals choose to follow me and the minimum wage employee chooses to give me sincere kindness that I remember years later because I was going through a hard time and it meant a lot

[lawfullyneutralbee]

God I LOVE THEM IN THE LIGHT NOVELS that’s her brother. That’s her homie. Stays 10 toes down protecting her. That one scene with him and Basen in like the 14th novel??? GAHHHH

ngl one of the things i love about apothecary diaries is that once maomao got lihaku an invite with parin, she became one of his bestest friends (or as much as they can be with their respective statuses). his cherished bro. part of his little dog pack that only consists of two members: maomao and himself. he would do anything for her in a completely platonic sense. come and meet this hunting dog and see how the whistle works. yeah, ill let you into the building that exploded, and ill give you the materials to make something explode again. you want to see my goddamn dick? sure! if its for parin, i dont care!!

most underrated duo imo. black cat and golden retriever besties

[lawfullyneutralbee]

We didn't get a complete kiss, but we didn't have to. The way Jinshi sits with Maomao so comfortable now, not like an adult with too much responsibility, but like the teenager he is, the intimacy in their relationship is so much closer now that they both know who each of them are.

Maomao is the only one who sees him for who he truly is. The fear in his eyes when he asks if his beauty was all he was worth, and the relief when she says no, and even alludes to it holding him back from his true potential.

It doesn't seem like it at first, because he uses it so smartly, but I think Jinshi has been running from his beauty all his life. When he looks in the mirror he sees the late emperor looking back, a sad, cruel, weak man whose visage seduced so many girls to their doom. Jinshi could never be with anyone who just saw him as Ka Zuigetsu, the beautiful moon prince. He wants to be free of that legacy, and Maomao sees him as Jinshi, not a prince, not a eunuch, but as a young man who acts his age and causes trouble.

When he lays so comfortable in her lap that he falls asleep and she continues working, he's not keeping her from her joy and she's not keeping him from his peace, they truly fit together perfectly. They can both feel safe and loved in their own weird ways.

[lawfullyneutralbee]

One of the things I love most about Jinmao is how they make each other act their actual age. The way Jinshi goes from being so composed and dignified to awkward and shy is so cute

[lawfullyneutralbee]

I think it’s easy to forget how Ah-Duo and the Emperor’s relationship haunts the romantic narrative between Maomao and Jinshi.

It’s not addressed often, but based on what little we’re told, it’s very likely that Ah-Duo was (and still is) the love of his life.

She was the Emperor’s childhood sweetheart. She was his only consort for over a decade. Ignoring how rare that is—how it would have been encouraged for a prince to take more than one concubine—he refused to take on any other consorts for the first ten years after Jinshi's birth. He only accepted other concubines after the former emperor passed away, and he ascended the throne.

For as the current emperor, he could no longer avoid the obligation of taking other consorts, producing heirs—especially since he knew Ah-Duo could no longer bear him children.

Despite losing her womb, the child Ah-Duo gave him is the only one that has survived into adulthood. A child he dotes on, loves dearly, and who he deeply wants to be his heir, despite Jinshi's clear objections. And it makes sense why he'd want Jinshi to succeed him. He's the only child he bore with the woman he loves most, who bears such an uncanny resemblance to her, who shares her intelligence, charm, and cleverness.

He loved her so much that he kept her—a woman who could never get pregnant again—in the rear palace for over eighteen years. It hurt their relationship to have her caged there. The one solace they had was being able to be near Jinshi as he grew up.

And by the time the Emperor gives in to the political pressure to replace Ah-Duo with a younger (fertile) consort, he does something that we haven't seen any other emperor do so far: he allowed Ah-Duo to leave the rear palace. Not only that, he gave her the Southern Imperial Villa: an entire compound (comparable to a small palace itself) to call her own in the royal capital, where she can live her life comfortably and privately. It isn't true freedom—not really—since she doesn't have jurisdiction to travel the world as she's always wanted, but it's a hell of a lot more freedom than any other consort has ever received up to that point.

And he leaves the palace often to visit her there. This is extremely uncommon; in theory, an emperor should have no further reason to interact with a former consort if the woman cannot serve the baby-making purpose she was chosen for. He gave her a residence in the royal capital because wants to keep her close. He wants continued access to her, even after she's comfortably installed in her new life outside the palace.

Jinshi knows all of this, and is painfully aware of how easily history could repeat itself with him and Maomao. Jinshi knows how trapped and stifled Ah-Duo felt in the rear palace, knows it strained her relationship with the Emperor, knows that it ultimately pushed her away from him, emotionally. It did not affect the Emperor's love for her, but it did affect Ah-Duo's love for him.

Jinshi watched his own parents' romantic relationship fall apart due to the absolute power that came with his position. He wasn't able to avoid claiming his title as the Moon Prince; he'll do anything he can to avoid making Maomao feel the same way Ah-Duo felt.

[lawfullyneutralbee]

reblog if you're corny and insufferable

[lawfullyneutralbee]

me, watching ep40 of the apothecary diaries: bro why does jinshi even bother to wear a mask in royal mode like anyone with eyes can tell its obviously him

me, booboo the fool, 2 minutes later:

[lawfullyneutralbee]

Maomao could do whatever the fuck she wanted forever in the palace like

If a court lady won’t let her, most—if not all—of the top concubines at a given moment would have her back

If the concubines don’t have jurisdiction she just has to think about the concept of family dinner in the vicinity of her bio dad and he’ll abuse his major political power to fit her whims

If it’s beyond his political maneuvering she could link pinkies with the crown prince and he’d beg to move mountains for her

And at the end of the day if none of that worked the emperor would pardon her for whatever she does bc he’d think it’s funny

[lawfullyneutralbee]

It’s incredibly funny to me that while Maomao always insists he is a stranger, Lahan always talks of and thinks about Maomao as his little sister. She cannot escape being his sister because he brings it up all the time in front of important people. She Will be a part of this family by Lahan’s sheer willpower 😂😂

[lawfullyneutralbee]

Miss Maomao out here gently caressing Jinshi’s cheek multiple times and then going “why does this man keep thinking I’m interested??” Huh, I really wonder Maomao 😂

[lawfullyneutralbee]

Maomao talking about the La Clan (⁠｡⁠♡⁠‿⁠♡⁠｡⁠)

[lawfullyneutralbee]

Tumblr x AO3 gives me the vibes of ‘we were best friends for a very long time and have always been compatible, but you (tumblr) had a bunch of shitty relationships and needed time for yourself and I was more then happy to enjoy life as your friend by your side until you surprised me by making the first move’.

[lawfullyneutralbee]

It’s even better with the light novels bc the man literally tries to find the easiest reason to throw a party (military officials enter Lihaku who’s obsessed with Pairin)

AND ORGANIZES THIS BIG PARTY WITH THE WHOLE ASS BROTHEL JUST SO MAOMAO MAYBE shows up.

All so Jinshi can see her and stop wallowing. Beautiful.

I’m sorry but I just gotta say that I LOVE Gaoshun’s very real phobia of Jinshi’s attachment to Maomao. He’s painfully aware that he can’t just find Jinshi a new girl to make him stop crying. He knows that man is going to cry for the rest of his life and there’s nothing he can do about it. ;-;

For Gaoshun’s sake Maomao NEEDS to reciprocate Jinshi’s feelings 🤣

[lawfullyneutralbee]

I love them

Jinshi: Letting Maomao leave was the hardest thing I've ever done . . . I will be mourning her the rest of my life, but it was the right thing to do. I had to let her be free, even if it costs me my own happiness

Maomao: I can't believe that bitch ass pervert fired me, what the fuck