The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 2 (Light Novel)

The rapid change in the eunuch’s expression from annoyance to amusement reminded her how immature he could seem. But then again, she found him easier to talk to that way, she thought, as she rocked in his arms

Besides—” He lifted her slightly and adjusted his grip so she wouldn’t fall. “—this is the second time I’ve held you like this.”

The second time? she thought. Oh!

It must have been the day she’d injured her leg. She’d been unconscious; someone had carried her away from the scene. It would make a lot of sense if it had been Jinshi. Which would mean he had picked her up in front of an entire ceremony’s worth of people..

There were a great many people in this world who shared Lakan’s predilections.

Now, there are those that like that kind of treatment, and they went mad for her. I mean, listen to me—takes one to know ’em, eh? Ah, the very thought sends a shiver down my spine!”

I’ll bet that wasn’t very appealing. Slowly, uncomfortably, she looked up, to discover Jinshi was suddenly beating his head against a pillar. It made a clacking sound like a woodpecker.

You were certainly hanging on every word Gaoshun said,” Jinshi remarked. He didn’t sound amused.

but Jinshi had ordered her to keep them (though she didn’t understand why), and if her master commanded, she had to obey.

Jinshi was watching her intently. Practically glaring at her, in fact.

and celebrating enough for a solid week

“So, what are you going to do now, O groundskeeper of our garden of lovely blossoms?”

Unwilling to rise to His Majesty’s bait, Jinshi held back a wry smile, instead offering one like that of a heavenly nymph—an expression that could have melted any heart he chose. It might not sound very humble, but Jinshi was confident in his own looks if nothing else.

What a great irony, then, that the one thing he truly wanted, he could not get. No matter how he strived, his aptitudes were hardly more than ordinary. Yet outwardly, if in no other way, he was utterly exceptional.

It had always used to eat at him, but he had come to accept it. If his intelligence and physical prowess were to be irredeemably average, then he would do all he could with the one advantage he did possess. Thus he came to be the gorgeous overseer of the rear palace. His looks, his voice, seemed too sweet to be those of any man, and he would employ them to the fullest.

“Whatsoever you wish, sire.” Jinshi, with a smile at once graceful and determined, bowed to the Emperor.