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Being a leader is always a synonym for being busy with many responsibilities, always looking out for your people and doing what you can to ensure their safety and wellbeing. You lose nights of sleep, skip meals, and sometimes you overwork yourself so much you barely have time to be yourself, just so those you look after get to not worry about things they're not strong enough to prevent or solve.
This lifestyle is fairly draining, the more you indulge in it, the more you're harmed. This is why you need a break from all of those obligations every now and then, to ensure your own sanity so you can keep doing your job just as splendidly.
For the three ancients, this break comes in the form of a week-long trip where they do nothing but spend time with each other. No one knows about those trips other than the three of them, that is a way to keep unwanted guests and their unwanted questions away from their safe place.
Cacao is a stubborn old man, always refusing to step off the confinements from his kingdom, leaving Vanilla and Hollyberry with little options on how to proceed. Months of exchanging letters decades ago resulted in an agreement: once every six months, Hollyberry and Pure Vanilla would leave their kingdoms and head to the Dark Cacao kingdom, they would meet each other midway and arrive together in the castle. As soon as they set foot in there, no guard or priest was allowed to say a word about what happened inside of those walls. Not that they had a lot to say, anyway. Most days would be spent in dead silence while those three stayed in the king’s quarters, and those cookies never had the audacity to try and listen in.
It has been maybe half a day since the two ancients arrived in the snowy kingdom, the dark, oppressive walls loomed over them even in the darkness of the night. Vanilla made a comment on the weather, and as much as Hollyberry tried to remain indifferent, the cold wind pushing them forward was the complete opposite of what she is used to. She had no choice but to agree, not without making it sound as if it wasn’t a big deal to her, however, even sounding mirthful. Cacao himself was the one to receive them, as always, guiding them into the now well-known palace of dark stone and purple hues. Despite the cold aching in their dough, the warmth in the king’s body language filled them with gratitude for the chance to be there once more.
Pure Vanilla’s eye-cings slowly fluttered open, the pale rays of sunlight dispersed in the clouds outside casted pale shades of lavender on Dark Cacao’s somber furniture, but all of those details were nothing more than vague shapes and colors for Pure Vanilla’s milky eyes. His trusty staff rested by the bed, just within his reach, still he made no move towards it. The ancient is very slow in the mornings, afterall.
As his mind adjusted to his surroundings, Pure Vanilla could feel himself being held comfortably from behind, when he made a subtle movement to rub his eyes, the arm draped over his side budged slightly, before a groggy voice came from behind him.
“Are you awake?”
Cacao. Not much of an early bird himself, but still better at handling early mornings than Vanilla.
He couldn't muster anything more than a groggy hum in acknowledgment, turning away from the light and burying his face in the other ancient’s chest, drawing an amused huff from the king and nothing more.
Dark Cacao held the blond ancient in his arms, running his hand through those long stands of luscious hair that gave Vanilla an ethereal look to him, it sent Cacao into a trance every single time.
As he laid there with his beloved, it came to Cacao that Hollyberry was nowhere to be found in the vastness of his quarters. It did bring out his curiosity, but in his current predicament, there was not much for him to do about it, other than simply wait. And so he did.
She has been awake for a few hours now, even with how tiring and cumbersome the trip had been, Hollyberry has been easy with mornings since she has been herself. At that moment, the queen was very invested in preparing breakfast for her two beloved kings, the ingredients were brought in her luggage, it was flavor and warmth enough to melt any ice, just what they needed to start their morning with. If Cacao dared to decline due to it being “too sweet” he would better be ready to have a piece of her mind after travelling for three whole days to get there, even more than Pure Vanilla himself.
Once the queen was done serving the food in equal portions, all she had to do was take it back to Cacao’s quarters, an easy task with the help of her shield.
The walk back was quiet, marked by the shivers Hollyberry would have every few steps, even inside the closed walls of the castle, the air remained just as frigid, but it was nice that Cacao allowed her to borrow one of his myeonboks, along with the heavy coat she allowed herself to borrow before leaving the room. They fit her form nicely, leading her to consider suggesting the possibility of getting a myeonbok of her own as a gift from Cacao once she was back in his room. Imagining their reaction to her surprise filled her with excitement, so she quickened her pace to get there faster.
Hollyberry peeked through the door, such an endearing sight, Cacao and Vanilla were cuddled up against each other, talking in a low voice, they looked so in love, she could feel the warmth spreading through her cheeks before she swung the door open with a wide smile.
“Good morning, lovebirds!”
The queen couldn’t help but chuckle at their little startled jumps, their faces softening as soon as they realized who it was.
Cacao was the first one to speak, his eyes wandering across her garments, his naturally stern face wasn’t enough to disguise the light flush that tinted his cheeks
“It suits you very nicely, Hollyberry Cookie…” - He muttered, a bit entranced by her form.
“Oh, please, Cacao! Decades of dating and you still call me by my full name! What, could it be that I am but an acquaintance to you?” - She said, feigning hurt from his words, the look on his face was priceless, even Pure Vanilla, now with his staff in hands, looked amused by the scene.
“O-of course not! I only aim to address you as respectfully as I can, Hollyberry C…” - His words died down as he noticed the way she raised her eyebrows at him, driving the king into cleaning his throat and averting his eyes - “My love…”
“Were you out preparing us breakfast, Holly?” - Vanilla still sounded a little groggy, he sat up, holding his staff by the bed, a soft grin on his face.
“Yes!” - She exclaimed excitedly, walking over to the bed and carefully setting the “tray” down, no one would eat without getting a kiss first.
Vanilla blushed adorably upon having his icing pecked, but Cacao was a little stiff, in the beginning, Hollyberry thought he would change once he was used to dating, but it turned out to be just how he behaves, she even found it charming.
The three of them shared their meal with hearty laughs and lots of affection. Cacao did in fact, not dare to decline her food, as much as he did not like it much, it was a genuine love gesture from her part, he could never disrespect her efforts by not eating.
“The food is delectable, Holly.” - Vanilla said, enjoying what was probably his first decent meal in witches know how long. The king hummed in agreement.
“Thank you, my love, I am more than happy to know you like it.” - She responded sweetly before seeming to have a moment of realization - “Cacao, my love,” - The queen said, turning her attention to Dark Cacao - “Do you think it would be possible for me to get my own myeonbok to use during my current stay and the ones to come?”
Dark Cacao’s eyebrows shot up – moved slightly, that is – as he considered her words for a few moments, chewing on a bite of food he took a second before.
“Of course, I will make sure to commission the best tailor in the kingdom for your garment, my queen.”
“My queen?” Both Hollyberry and Pure Vanilla snorted, letting out a good few laughs not only at his words, but his absolutely flustered expression that came right after. Nothing endeared them more than Cacao’s attempts at being romantic. So charming.