Work Text:
“There’s no better time than this.” told Ningguang, “We cannot afford to mess this up.”
Chongyun nodded and looked at the photograph again. He would give his all into this mission.
Being the second heir of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, Xingqiu was born a prince - already destined to be hated by the common people. The Feiyuns were known snobs, and rightfully so - they were aristocrats that controlled most of the shipping and trading for the kingdom. Xingqiu was no different. He was mostly quiet during his upbringing, following orders to hide him from the public and instead being taught to be the best successor next to his brother behind the mansion’s curtains. But those within his circle told stories of a mischievous and pretentious boy who was more than ready to take his place in society.
Coincidentally, the underground movement of the people’s resistance was also gaining traction. Slow but sure efforts were being done to overthrow the aristocracy, which everyone knew were using the monarchs for personal gains from behind the scenes. Leading all of this were a small but experienced trio - Ningguang, Keqing, and Ganyu. They were in charge of everything anti-bourgeoisie, from the widespread boycotts to the silent assassinations. That, especially, could not have been done without Chongyun, a young boy who Ningguang had taken in when he was orphaned during his childhood. He was terribly excellent in his job, leaving such a spotless scene that the Millelith were left both baffled and impressed.
The news came during the middle of spring - the palace would be having a light ball to greet the onset of summer. Everyone who was anyone would be attending. It was the perfect opportunity for the resistance; as they had been laying low for quite a while, plans for an ambush attack would go unsuspected. They targeted none other than Xingqiu, who rarely attended such events and was scheduled to leave overseas by the end of summer.
“The attack will show them what we’re capable of,” Keqing reckoned, “and prove that we’re serious about this. That we’re ready to go all out on them.”
“Definitely,” Ganyu agreed. “Plus, I’ve gotten some words that the Feiyun Guild’s profits are at the lowest point ever - in fact, they might start seeing losses by next week. They won’t be spending extra on security, I’m sure.”
“So it’s settled,” decreed Ningguang. “We’re throwing off Xingqiu.” Chongyun was called for immediately.
The plan was simple: get a position as a chef or servant (the palace was always looking for extra hands during a ball.) Poison the hors d'oeuvres. Make sure he eats it. If done right, the poison should take effect during midnight, which would leave him dead by 3.00 in the morning, alone in his bedroom.
With his good manners and equally good reputation amongst the common townsfolk, Chongyun pulled some strings and landed a job in the palace - easy. He was diligent enough to be trusted by the head maids, but laid low enough as to avoid any unwanted attention to himself. And by the time the ball came, he was among the rookies chosen to serve the guests at the ball. He couldn’t have asked for more. Everything was in place.
The day of the ball had arrived no later than scheduled. Chongyun woke up ready more than ever. Donning his cleanest suit for the evening, wearing his mildest perfume, slipping the vial (and another, just in case) into his inner pocket, he went to the ballroom.
The orchestra had just started rehearsing their last set when he came. He studied the preparations - heavy velvet curtains, polished chandeliers, a fountain of champagne. It wasn’t as full blown as a standard ball, but it was fancy enough for him, having grown up as a peasant. He wondered how truly absurd it was for others to have this much wealth, while others had nothing to eat every other day. Nevertheless, with his back turned to the rest of the servants, he could only keep his thoughts to himself as he quietly dropped a good amount of poison onto one of the canapés.
The guests started filtering in by 8 o’clock. No announcements were made as it was a small, private affair, which also made the guests merrier than usual. The first to enter were His Majesty and his queen, followed by their two princesses. Then came the dukes and duchesses, some more of their closest relatives, and finally the family friends - starting with those from the Feiyun Commerce Guild. Chongyun put on a calm manner as he saw his target walk through the maple doors, flanked by his proud parents and his brother. The orchestra started playing, and the attendees began mingling.
The servants took their cue and went to serve the guests. Xingqiu and his parents were chatting among themselves now after making acquaintance with the Duke of Mondstadt. Making sure that no one else was walking over to them, Chongyun strided over to the nobles confidently. He was about to offer his platter when two young ladies skipped over to Xingqiu, cutting him in his tracks.
“Mr. and Ms. Fei,” they greeted happily. Chongyun had only realized they were the two princesses of the kingdom when they tilted their heads.
“And of course, Sir Xingqiu,” they giggled. He simply smiled back at them.
“Princess Beehan, Princess Chunhua, good evening to you both,” Mr. Fei replied. “It’s been a while since we last met. You have been faring well since your short trip to the Qingyun Peak, I presume?”
“Yes indeed,” said Princess Beehan. “In fact, that’s what we wanted to talk about with Xingqiu - we simply had to tell him about the amazing-”
“Before you do that,” Xingqiu spoke, “how about we have some of the appetizers first?”
Everyone turned around to Chongyun. He hadn’t realized he was standing there, idly waiting and listening on to their conversation.
“Poor lad,” said Xingqiu, meeting his eyes, “you ladies had stopped him dead while he was about to serve us.”
“Really?” asked Chunhua, giving Chongyun a side glance. He could only give a polite smile as he extended his arm to the crowd.
Ms. Fei stepped forward and took a canape, followed by the rest. Xingqiu took the last one on the platter, the only one he had poisoned, exactly as he had planned.
Satisfied, he went back to the banquet tables to pick up the champagne.
As he made his rounds, he couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes on his back, but when he turned around, he saw that everyone was too busy chatting and moving around. What he did notice though were the two princesses flanking by Xingqiu’s side, pestering him with all sorts of tales and toddles. He treated them politely, but seemed to get annoyed as time went on. Chongyun too found himself aggravated at this, though he shrugged it off as being worried about his target constantly being around potential witnesses.
After all the appetizers were served, the orchestra began playing their second set, and pairs were formed as the dancing began. Chongyun took the opportunity to rest by the sides with the other servants. The others slipped a few conversations here and there, but he decided to watch the crowd instead. It was a jolly song, and the crowd was all smiles as the pairs twirled, stepped and slid around each other. Xingqiu was among them, accompanied of course by Princess Chunhua. He did not know what bothered him so much - the sight of her bright smile or the whispers of the bystanders, agreeing on how good a couple they were.
He huffed once the last note was played. The partners dispersed into the crowd, mingling together like before. He turned around to prepare the second round of serving when he felt a hand touching his shoulder.
“Good evening,” Xingqiu grinned as he looked back.
“Sir,” he bowed dutifully, a little taken aback by his appearance, “what can I help you with?”
“A glass of that, please. Just wanted to get away from the crowd for a bit.”
Chongyun handed him a glass of champagne. He smiled back as thanks, almost in a childish way. Charming, he thought, devilishly charming.
He picked up the tray and was about to head out when Xingqiu stopped him. “Where are you going?”
Chongyun raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to hand out the rest of these, sir?”
“Well stay with me, won’t you? I’ll be terribly bored sitting here on my own.”
He set down the tray. What was he trying to do? “Well, I’d thought you might like some peace and quiet since you are, I quote, ‘getting away from the crowd.’” He wasn’t supposed to be talking like this, but he didn’t care. He was annoyed.
Xingqiu went silent. “I’m giving you a chance to rest, come now,” he said eventually.
Chongyun thought the best he could do was follow his orders rather than risking him getting mad, so he complied and set down the tray. The heir smiled again.
“So,” started Xingqiu, “I assume that you are new here, yes?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You’re not going to tell me when you started working?”
“Just at the end of spring, sir.”
“How do you find it here?”
“All’s well, sir.”
“Much work to do?”
“Quite, sir, yes.”
Xingqiu furrowed his brows slightly. “Not much of a talker are you, my liege, replying to me so off-handedly?”
“It’s just that I have no care for small talk like such, sir,” Chongyun replied dryly.
Xingqiu huffed. “Well, you’re lucky your looks have enough shine to cover that.”
That caught Chongyun by surprise. What did he mean by that…?
“Second dance will start shortly!” announced the footman.
“Why, I’ve got an idea,” said Xingqiu. “You must join me for this next dance.”
“I- what?” Chongyun stammered. How crazy was this man? “Sir, I… I’m a servant- more so, I’m not a lady-”
“You really are new here,” Xingqiu said with a laugh. “Come on then, the song’s about to begin!”
Grabbing him by the arm, he led him to the middle of the ballroom with the other partners. Chongyun noticed that although they were the only two men, the others didn’t bat an eye at them.
“Do you dance?” asked Xingqiu softly. Chongyun shook his head.
“That’s okay, just follow my lead.”
The soft piano notes floated in the air as Xingqiu placed one hand on his partner’s shoulder while the other grabbed his hand. They were so close - only now did Chongyun pick up the scent of silk flowers coming from the young heir. Although they were both gloved, he swore he could feel a shock running through him at his touch.
The strings started playing. The song was notably much more mellow and sombre than the upbeat tune of the first, which Chongyun had anticipated. He was expecting to hop and skip around merrily as the crowd before. Instead, the noble started to sway to the right, slowly guiding Chongyun as the other partners shuffled around them.
A slow dance. A slow, romantic dance. He wondered if Xingqiu had known the song arrangement beforehand.
How inappropriate this was, he thought. Yet at the same time he felt strangely soothed by the tender moves of the dance (although his heart was beating faster than it’d ever had). It didn’t help that his partner was surprisingly gentle in leading him whenever he swung or swirled, and giving him charming looks while doing it.
‘Surely I’m just relieved that I didn’t have to hop about clumsily to a joyful tune,’ he affirmed himself. But his mind was being swayed with every step they took. It was dizzying, yet he felt sober still.
“Did the chandelier get brighter, or were your eyes always sparkling like that?” Xingqiu asked suddenly, bringing him out of his trance. He giggled lightly looking at his impromptu partner’s startled expression.
“Sorry. I wasn’t…” Chongyun was at a loss for words. In all his 11 years of experience, he did not expect something like this to happen. For a second he wondered how he would report this to Ningguang and the rest.
“It’s fine,” Xingqiu chuckled. “You’re fine. This-” he spun around sharply, “-is fine.” Chongyun was almost left agape at that move.
“Now your turn,” said Xingqiu. “In three, two, one-”
Chongyun had never heard the song before, but he spun in time according to the melody. It was almost like magic running through his veins. He felt more thrilled than ever.
The noble caught him by the waist, which almost sent him jumping. “Well done! Are you sure you’ve never danced before?”
“No, I haven’t,” he whispered back.
“You’re a natural,” said Xingqiu. “We should do this more often.” Chongyun wondered how that would work. To come back, dancing with him under the moonlight that would be brighter than the chandeliers above them, just the two of them, with the stars as their witness…
Wait. What?
He snapped back into reality. Focus, Chongyun. You still have a target to kill. Well, technically, the job had already been done. All he really had to do was wait and make sure that no one would be near him when the poison eventually sunk in, or basically scout for potential women-of-the-night-turned-witnesses.
Avoiding his partner’s gaze, Chongyun scanned the crowd as the song mellowed down. No one was paying any attention to them, instead chatting and drinking as usual. Hmm. He was still surprised to see that everyone was oblivious to the only two boys together in the middle of the ballroom. How odd the rich were.
Out of the blue, his eye caught the two princesses staring them down with haughty expressions, one whispering madly to the other. Still, he guessed that they too were not talking about two men dancing together, rather the fact that one of the men was the kingdom’s most eligible bachelor. After some heated exchanges, they eventually stomped quietly out of the ballroom, with seethingly sour faces.
Xingqiu had noticed the younger glancing over his shoulder for a while and turned around quickly to see what caught his attention. “Ah. Were you looking at Beehan and Chunhua? Well, they- oh my, leaving already.”
“Aren’t they the main stars of the party?”
“For everyone else, yes. Not for me, unfortunately. And you’re not quite fond of them either, as I can tell.”
Goodness, was he making a face just now? Keqing’s tip was to never show any hatred towards the rich.
“Your face… you were envious, one would say.”
...does jealousy count as hatred?
“Don’t dwell on it too much.” Xingqiu chuckled as they swayed, getting more lax accordingly with the song. “You’re here now. With me.”
“Out of force really.” Chongyun huffed, looking away. He decided that he would hold out to this stoic, sarcastic attitude a bit longer.
“Well. Either way,” Xingqiu bumped his forehead against his partner, “focus on me, just a little longer.”
This was easily the hardest job Chongyun had ever done.
The strings were slowing down, descending almost dramatically. Xingqiu put his hand on Chongyun’s waist, and he tried to keep it cool.
The song was brought back to life with the main melody coming about, the violins, cellos and piano all coming together to make a charming, passionate tune. The chandeliers that hung overhead seemed to burn brighter than ever as Xingqiu grinned and whisked Chongyun along, twisting and turning but somehow never bumping into others, all the while locking his gaze onto his partner. It was sensational. It was intimate. It was, indeed, romantic.
Chongyun felt his heart swelling up completely with such a feeling that he had never experienced before. His thoughts of the assassination had completely dissapeared - he could only feel the present that he was in. It caused him to break into a completely awed expression, which sent him blushing for the first time in his life.
Xingqiu was beaming brightly upon seeing this total change of character from the cold servant just minutes ago, and moved even more energetically than before. The room before them was now a blurry mess, with them holding onto each other for support.
As the song reached its crescendo, the tune descended into a whizzing, spectacular end that concluded with a graceful, blossoming note. In similar fashion, the pair also glided softly on their feet, stopping exactly with the song. Both found that they were out of breath by the time the claps and cheers arrived.
Seeing Chongyun still dazed, Xingqiu ushered his partner amongst the crowd back to the serving table.
“That was great, was it not?” he said lightly, bringing Chongyun out of his trance. “I hope that had eased you for the rest of the night - though by the looks of your face, it certainly did.”
Chongyun was left looking for words. “I didn’t…”
“Didn’t what? Know that you could dance? Well, I do often bring the best out in people.”
“That’s… not what I was about to say…”
“Hehe, but you are better than some of the ladies I’ve danced with, you know.”
“Am I really?” He was genuinely wondering how he could possibly be better than any upper-class girl he’s met with over his lifetime.
“Oh, you enjoyed that compliment now, didn’t you?”
“...”
“Don’t be ashamed, it was genuine praise. It was the most thrilled I’ve felt in months… we should definitely do this again sometime.”
“Again?”
Xingqiu smiled and tilted his head. “Wouldn’t you like that too? Ah, but I supposed I’ve subjugated you for long enough tonight. I understand if you should not want to meet with me ever again.”
By the look of his face, Chongyun could tell that he actually meant that last sentence. Which, of course, didn’t really matter as he would be dead by the coming sunrise. And why would he want to see the face that had feigned him into the worst night of his life anyway?
Or perhaps that was a harsh way to describe it. It was more towards exhilarating, confusing… arousing.
He did not want to admit it, but he was left wanting more.
And suppose this was about to be the last few hours of Xingqiu’s life… what would it matter? He might as well humour the flirts of a dying man.
“Wait,” Chongyun blurted out before he could think straight. Xingqiu, who was about to leave, turned back and faced him.
“That was… it was good. I had fun too.”
Xingqiu beamed brightly at this, with a slight red tint on his cheeks and ears. Chongyun thought he was quite pretty at that moment.
“I’m quite glad to hear that. And I will be staying in the palace for a few nights… so, I look forward to our next impromptu dance.”
“Ah, I do too.”
“Until then,” Xingqiu grabbed his cheek and kissed him lightly, “see you next time, my liege.”
As he saw him scamper away towards the crowd, he brought his hands up to his cheeks, exactly where his partner had kissed him. He was burning hotter than fire. Oh dear. His hands started roaming his hair, which he instinctively did whenever he was bewildered...
Wait. Was there something tucked behind his ear?
He grabbed the piece of paper that he hadn’t even felt until now. It smelled of silk flowers.
Chongyun had heard that guests of the palace who had affairs with the servants would often leave them directions to their room, along with a set time, on a piece of scrap paper for their next rendezvous. Was… was this it?
He unfolded the note carefully.
I know what you did to me.
Nonetheless, I have been charmed by you as a moth to the light.
Thank you for being my last dance, you were beautiful.