Water Master was difficult to pinpoint, she didn't have one personality or one way she would behave, those stone-cold brown eyes which would glare at Jade when she made a mistake would turn to the warmest pools of honey when she spoke to Wind Master or Prince Jīnyú, her stern, slightly deep voice, Jade figured Water Master tried to be intimidating by speaking in a deep voice when there was no need, her cold eyes were enough intimidation for any poor soul to run to their mother which she used when she was around others made Jade question her existence, the stern, disappointed look she received plenty of times when she placed the tray on the table a little harder followed by Water Master's scrutinising glare.

Jade wanted to be seen by those honey eyes which were only for Wind Master and Prince Jīnyú, she wanted to be spoken to with the same softness which Wind Master and Prince Jīnyú received, she wondered how Water Master's touch felt against her skin, the last time she had touched Water Master there was a layer of some paste on her shoulder, Jade wanted to run her finger along the curves of Water Master's face, she wanted to caress the crevices of Water Master's plump lips, she wanted to bury her face in those sharp collarbones, wanted to rest her head on Water Master's soft shoulders, were her shoulders soft? Jade didn't know, but she had a feeling they would be the most safe and soft place to rest your head; she could hide behind Water Master and be certain that nothing could harm her if she was being protected by the water elemental.

"Hey, be careful!" Jade blinked startled as she realised she had been staring at Water Master all this time, "What are you even thinking of placing your hand on the incense burner?" Water Master asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Jade looked down at her hand, which was close to the hot incense burner; she could have burnt herself, but luckily, the incense burner was an inch away from her fingers, which made her frown. Wasn't it placed right next to the ink plate? She was sure that it was there, her eyes widened when she noticed Water Master clenching her fingers, 'Did she burn herself moving the incense burner away so I wouldn't burn my fingers?' Jade wondered, feeling guilty for having caused someone pain and feeling giddy at the same time about Water Master protecting her, even if it was just a small incense burner. Jade could feel the care in the action itself.

"You hurt yourself." Jade pointed out softly as she stared at the redness of Water Master's index finger and thumb.

"It's nothing," Water Master dismissed airily as she sucked on her finger trying to ease the burn, she noticed Jade staring at her again, "You were distracted for a while," she stated as the maid averted her gaze from ShuîYuê's lips to her hands, a growing blush on her cheeks.

"I- I- wa-"

"You are stuttering." Water Master reminded as if Jade needed to be reminded that she looked like a blushing stuttering mess in front of her crush.

"I was here t-to"

"You were here for something?" Water Master asked as Jade nodded her head, "What was it other than staring at me?" Just when Jade thought that she couldn't be any more embarrassed than she already was, Water Master was here to prove her completely wrong; she dared to look back at Water Master, who was sucking on her thumb, looking hot. Jade wouldn't like to describe women in general as hot or cool, but Water Master was an exception. Be it Jade being unable to pinpoint Water Master's personality or Water Master herself; she was an exception, which Jade was willing to make any given day.

ShuîYuê was just cool, calm, reserved and a very hot person according to Jade, effortlessly hot, just leaning against the wall with her arms folded or the slight smirk on her face or the focused look in her eyes, when she was teaching Prince Jīnyú was hot, Hell even her just breathing was hot, and Jade was worried why she was suddenly feeling this way, she had never had a particular liking towards Water Master who was always annoyed with the maid.

Wind Master would be the right person to like because she was the one who had been kind to Jade, she was the one who had comforted her when she was crying, Wind Master had been nicer to Jade than her aunt, so why did she have to go like this rude, and annoyingly hot Water Master when there were so many better people out there.

ShuîYuê was quite amused with the maid's flustered expressions, she wasn't one for being serious about it, she just liked to see when she made girls flustered and shy, most of the victims of her charms were maids, she had tried to flirt with a shopkeeper who looked like she was in her late twenties once and had received a vase thrown at her head which she had luckily ducked right in time, later she found out that the woman she was flirting with was married and had two kids as well, ShuîYuê had sworn to never flirt with anyone other than maids because she knew they were mostly single or even if they were married they won't fling a vase or whatever dangerous thing they could get their hands on ShuîYuê's precious intelligent head.

Jade annoyed ShuîYuê more than usual maids, she was new and inexperienced and was very clear to ShuîYuê but she also happened to have a vendetta against ShuîYuê and tried to ruin her day completely, from overly sweet tea to seeing her in the bathtub, all of it had ShuîYuê loose her well kept calm, she was pretty chilled and unbothered about a lot of things but this maid irked her more than some of the obnoxiously loud officials at Jun Wu's Heavenly court.

"I need to take back the scrolls to Sanbao Gege," Jade murmured, quickly ignoring Water Master's earlier question or, more precisely, teasing as ShuîYuê pushed the scrolls towards Jade, who picked them up carefully; she stole another glance at Water Master, who looked distracted before she exited the room.

Water Master sighed, 'The crowning is in three days. Hopefully, things go well. That sounds bad already.' she thought to herself, worried and stressed and feeling like she could sleep for all eternity.

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A/N: I hope these inner thoughts aren't too boring. If they are, let me know. I'll try my best to reduce them as much as possible, and this and the last chapter were too long around 2400 words I didn't want to overwhelm anyone with the long length and decided to put it out in two parts hopefully you guys like the story so far, and can you guess how much longer before the crowning ceremony?

Word count: 1200