Chapter 21 - Sneak Snack.

As usual, Rei passed through that usual narrow hallway and reached that usual building. She looked at that building and noticed that the tall doors of the assembly hall are still wide open, she realised that the King is not yet done with his important meeting. However, since she is already here, she decided to wait for a while, she believes it wouldn't be long until he is done with the meeting. And just as Rei expected, all the ranked officials with formal and uniform attires started exiting the hall after about three minutes.

After Rei confirmed that no one is exiting from the hall anymore, she walked towards the hall with the pastry she bought in the morning. She stopped at the entrance door of the hall and peeped in to make sure the King is in there. And yes, he is in there, still reading some reports he received during the meeting. Just as Rei was about to sneak in and give him a small surprise, some unexpected accident happened.

As the King was busy reading the reports, he subconsciously grabbed a glass on his left side with his left hand, his left hand twitched during the process thus dropping the glass onto the ground and breaking it by accident. He stared at the broken cup with a disoriented look before staring at his own left hand, the disorientation slowly switched to despair.

Rei looked at the King as she slowly approached him, the King doesn't seem to notice her. This is the first time she saw such a despair and sorrowful expression from the King which ached her heart quite a bit, he was so majestic and warm most of the time she saw him, that sorrow and despair are not suitable for him.

"Your Majesty..."

Overwhelmed by the sorrowful sight, she softly called for him out of subconscious which successfully caught his attention. He was astonished to see her and hastily stood up, trying to hide the broken pieces of the cup, like a little child who had done something bad but don't want their mother to find out about it. Worrying that he might hurt himself, Rei immediately rushed to him and stopped him from touching the broken pieces of the cup, due to the rush, she dropped the pastry she brought onto the ground along with the packaging.

After she reached him, she immediately checked on both of his hands making sure that he is not injured.

"Your Majesty, please don't do that again, you almost hurt yourself, it's just a cup," said Rei in a slightly reprimanding tone.

"Heh?" And he is surprised by her attitude and reaction.

Realising that she might be a bit too rude just now, Rei immediately let go of the King's hand and apologized before awkwardly running to the dropped pastry and picking the crushed pastry up from the ground.

"That packaging... Is that the pastry from that pastry stall in the town?" The King asked, a bit surprised as he saw the pastry picked up by Rei.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Mr Satoshi told me that you like this pastry, so, I bought some. But now it's all crumbled." said Rei, trying her best to cover her awkwardness.

"You... bought that for me?" The King asked, even more surprised after hearing her words.

Rei nodded as she stared at the crushed pastry, trying to avoid eye contact with the King.

"It's alright, the packaging is undamaged, which means the pastry is still clean and edible," said the King as he walked to Rei's side and took the pastry from her.

"Come with me." He added before taking her hand and leading her to a corner of the room.

That sudden action makes Rei a bit shocked but at the same time she doesn't feel like resisting, she is a bit curious about what he is going to do.

Then, the King placed his right hand on a cat sculpture on the wall and pressed the cat's nose like a button, in less than three seconds, a secret door opened from the wall.

"Your Majesty, is this a secret emergency path?" Rei asked, rather amazed and curious.

"Yes, it is connected to Ben's mansion. But right now, it has another purpose." said the King with a sneaky smile as he once again took Rei's hand and lead her into the secret path.

"As Ben stayed in the castle most of the time and rarely went home, this is the best place to hide from him." said the King as he turned on the light of the path and pulled out a simple bench from a side.

"I usually sneak snacks here since Ben doesn't really like to see me eating snacks." said the King as he sat on the bench and happily unfolded the packaging of the pastry.

Fortunately, the pastry didn't crumble too much, it only broke into a few smaller pieces.

"Sit down and have a try, might not be as good as those you've eaten in Qin but it's not bad." said the King, inviting Rei to sit with him.

Despite a bit hesitated, Rei seated down at his side after he invited her for the second time. Then, she picked the tiniest piece of the pastry and took a small bite. The pastry tasted nice with a nice buttery taste along with a mild citrusy scent, but just as he said, it could be better, Rei feels that something is missing from that pastry.

Looking at the subtle expression of the lady, the King smiled a bit and took a piece of the pastry for himself as well.

"Mhmm... The usual taste as always." said the King with a satisfied smile.

Rei looked at him without saying anything, she almost can't believe how sorrowful he was a moment ago, she can't help but wonder if the smile on his face right now is a real happy smile or just a smile that was used as a mask to cover his real emotions.

"Do you need some drink?" The sudden question from the King drew Rei out of her own thoughts.

"Eh?"

"How about some tea? I have tried the tea you made, I guess you should taste the tea I made as well." said the King with a warm smile...