Chapter Text
Cinder stood by the window in the hallway leading to the imperial chambers, watching the palace gardens, now covered in a thick blanket of snow. A blissful smile played on her lips. Despite the closed window, she could still hear the joyful shouts of two children — eight and five years old. A boy and a girl were engaged in a fierce snowball fight. Their snowballs rarely hit their targets, but nobody seemed to mind.
After a moment, Cinder sensed someone’s presence in the corridor, and then strong arms wrapped around her from behind. A warm breath tickled her cheek.
“Should we call them in for dinner?” Kai asked, also watching the children.
“Let’s give them a little longer,” Cinder shook her head. “Let them wear themselves out. Maybe they’ll fall asleep faster.” Her husband laughed at that.
“Darling, I think Rikan and Peony could play in the snow for several more hours and still have the energy to tear down half the palace before bed.” He smiled fondly as he watched his son let his younger sister win. “They’re an unstoppable force.”
Cinder nodded and relaxed in her husband’s embrace, closing her eyes slightly. They stayed like that for a while, simply enjoying each other’s presence. Kai’s hand slid gently down to her belly and began to softly caress it. Nothing was visible yet, but he knew that would soon change, and they’d be able to share the happy news with the world.
“How are you feeling?”
“Good. Well, aside from being completely exhausted and ready to fall asleep absolutely anywhere. I nearly started snoring this morning during a meeting with Queen Camilla,” Kai chuckled.
“Hey! Don’t laugh,” she playfully smacked his arm. “This is your fault, after all.”
“You’re absolutely right, love,” he kissed her on the cheek to appease her. “When should we tell the kids?”
“I don’t know,” she sighed. “Rikan’s been asking about more siblings for a while now. Peony keeps saying she doesn’t want to be the youngest anymore,” the Empress shook her head, amused. “I want them to be able to enjoy it too, but I think they’d be way too excited to keep it to themselves, and ten seconds later, the whole Commonwealth would know.”
They both laughed for a moment.
“How about during the holidays? Everyone’s coming here this year, and there’ll only be minimal staff in the palace.” Cinder nodded.
“All right. I think that’s a good idea.”
Outside, the children seemed to have grown bored of their game, as they finally noticed their parents. They waved enthusiastically and began racing toward the entrance. Cinder and Kai watched them, hearts full.
“You know,” the Empress began. “Sometimes I feel like this is just a dream. That there’s no way I could be this lucky. That I’ll wake up in Adri’s basement and go back to doing meaningless chores, and you’ll all just be a distant dream.”
“Listen to me, Cinder,” Kai gently took her chin and turned her toward him. His eyes were unusually serious. “This isn’t a dream. We’re here with you, and we’re not going anywhere. You deserve this happiness more than anyone. You’ve made me happy too. You have no idea how proud I am to call you my wife, the mother of our children. You brought joy into my life. Before you, it was mostly darkness and fear. Fear for my father, for my people, for being a terrible ruler, for what Levana would do. But when I met you, I started to hope. Hope that not everything was lost, that my future didn’t have to be so bleak. Hope that I’d find love and fall in love. And you know what? I did. I love you, Cinder.”
Cinder felt a tightness in her chest, and she was sure that if she could cry, nothing would’ve stopped the tears from falling.
“I love you too, Kai,” she whispered softly and nestled closer into his arms.
But the moment didn’t last long, interrupted by the loud slam of doors being flung open.
“Daddy, did you see?! I beat Rikan in the snowball fight!” the excited five-year-old shouted from the doorway. Her brother followed, smiling knowingly at their father.
“Of course I saw, sweetheart. You were amazing.”
Kai and Cinder didn’t even have time to pull away from each other before two pairs of little arms wrapped tightly around them. The children giggled happily. Their clothes were soaked through, so their mother decided it was time to end the group hug.
“All right, my darlings. Now you’re going to go with Daddy, get changed and cleaned up, and then we’ll have dinner together.”
Kai didn’t even get the chance to protest what his wife had roped him into before he was being dragged away by their daughter toward the children’s chambers. Rikan walked beside them, excitedly sharing his plans for building a giant snowman the next day and bombarding his father with questions about snow. The Emperor pretended to shoot a stern look at Cinder, but she just blew him a kiss.
Once the trio disappeared around the corner, Cinder glanced out the window again. This time, she wasn’t looking at the gardens but at the city she had arrived in many years ago, the one she now called home. She sighed quietly and rubbed her belly.
“I’m so lucky, little one, to have met your father. So incredibly lucky.”