Everything here was so different from the palace she’d grown up in, so far from the nightmare that had followed.
"You don’t have to be envious of ," Minghao said gently, catching that wistful expression. She set her books aside and turned to face Qing Qing fully. "I can tell the teacher that there are three of us in this debate, you, , and Qin Xinyu."
Qing Qing’s breath hitched, her fingers instinctively twisting together, a nervous habit she’d developed since the trafficking. "But... I’ve never been to school before. Not like this." Her Mandarin ca out slightly halting, the tones not quite perfect but atleast she could communicate. "In the palace, tutors ca to us. Everything was... structured. Formal."
"That’s okay," Minghao reassured her. "The timing could actually work perfectly. In three to five days, you’ll have recovered enough to attend school on Friday. We can show you around, introduce you to everyone. Then the debate is on Saturday."
"Really?" Qing Qing’s eyes lit up with sudden enthusiasm, though shadows of uncertainty flickered beneath. Her voice trembled with hope mixed with fear, that old fear that still woke her at night sotis. "You’d really let join? What if... what if I say sothing wrong? My Mandarin is still...." She switched to English, which flowed more smoothly, "...not perfect. And I don’t know how normal students act."
"Your Mandarin is just fine, and getting better every day," Minghao said warmly, Minghao had grown up learning English so she was good in it. "And you’re brilliant, Qing Qing. I’ve heard you reading those advanced books on the shelves."
"Those are in Veltharian," Qing Qing murmured, using the na of her native royal tongue. The liquid, lodic syllables of her holand rolled off her tongue naturally: "Sai’thora nel vaen ki’tharis..." She caught herself and translated haltingly, "It ans... ’Knowledge is my only anchor now.’ Reading helps ... forget."
Forget the darkness. The cargo container, painful betrayals. The strange hands. The auction house whispers.
Minghao’s expression softened with understanding as she placed her arm around Qing Qing’s shoulders, drawing her close in a gesture of genuine warmth and sisterly affection. "You’re safe now. You’re ho. And you’re going to do amazing at the debate."
"But what if people ask questions about ? About where I’ve been? Why do I speak strangely?" Qing Qing’s voice dropped to barely a whisper. "What if they see that I’m... different?"
"Listen to ." Minghao gently turned Qing Qing to face her. "I’ll ask Twilight to make sure you’re properly enrolled with all the right docuntation. Since you’re recovering right now, the school records will show you’re out on dical leave. It’s not even a lie, you are healing." She gave Qing Qing’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. "By the ti you show up on Friday, you’ll just be another student returning from being ill. Tang Fei has made sure everything is legal and proper."
"Another student," Qing Qing repeated slowly, testing the words. Then, in Veltharian, she whispered: "re’las cin thoral..." A commoner among commoners. Once, that would have been unthinkable for a princess of the House of Seventh Stars. Now, it was everything she dread of.
"I’ve imagined this so many tis," she continued in her careful Mandarin, then switched to English when the words ca easier. "Just... being normal. Having a desk at school, raising my hand to answer questions, eating lunch in a cafeteria with other kids..." Her eyes glistened with tears.
"Well, I should warn you," Minghao said with a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood, "the cafeteria food isn’t that great. And howork can be really annoying. Very different from royal tutors, I imagine."
"I don’t care." Qing Qing’s voice grew firm, determined, a flash of the princess she’d once been showing through. "I want all of it. Even the boring parts. Even the difficult parts." She paused, then added softly in Veltharian: "Nai’thera sol veith ki’mar."
"What does that an?" Minghao asked curiously.
"’To live freely is worth any price.’" Qing Qing’s eyes t hers. "I was taught thirty-seven formal court protocols before I was four years old. I can recite the lineage of twelve royal houses. I speak four languages fluently, Veltharian, English, French, and so Mandarin. I can identify poisonous plants and calculate compound interest and paint traditional landscape art." Her voice cracked slightly. "But I’ve never had a friend my own age. Never chosen my own clothes. Never just... existed without soone watching, evaluating, or..."
She didn’t finish. Didn’t need to.
Minghao pulled her closer. "Then we’ll make it happen. I promise. You’ll get to be just Qing Qing. Not a princess. Not a victim. Just... you."
Qing Qing leaned into the embrace, feeling sothing warm unfurling in her chest, sothing that felt almost like hope. "Thank you," she whispered. Then, in her native tongue, the formal words of deep gratitude: "Vel’tharis maera cin, sister’kai." May the stars bless you, sister of my heart.
Even if Minghao couldn’t understand the words, perhaps she could feel their weight.
— — — — —
Two hours passed in focused silence.
His notebook was filled with data points, argunt structures, potential rebuttals. He created separate docunts for different aspects of their preparation:
Core Argunts (Primary)
Statistical Evidence (Supporting)
Emotional Appeals (Closing)
Anticipated Opposition Points (Defense)
Minghao’s Speaking Sections (Tailored to her strengths)
That last docunt was the most important. He needed to structure their presentation so that Minghao’s natural charisma and emotional intelligence shone through. Give her the human interest stories, the parts that required genuine connection with the audience. He would handle the dense data and technical rebuttals.
Together, they would be formidable.
A soft knock interrupted his concentration.
"Xinyu? I brought you so snacks, dear." His mother’s voice filtered through the door.
"Co in, Ma."
Everything here was so different from the palace she’d grown up in, so far from the nightmare that had followed.
"You don’t have to be envious of ," Minghao said gently, catching that wistful expression. She set her books aside and turned to face Qing Qing fully. "I can tell the teacher that there are three of us in this debate, you, , and Qin Xinyu."
Qing Qing’s breath hitched, her fingers instinctively twisting together, a nervous habit she’d developed since the trafficking. "But... I’ve never been to school before. Not like this." Her Mandarin ca out slightly halting, the tones not quite perfect but atleast she could communicate. "In the palace, tutors ca to us. Everything was... structured. Formal."
"That’s okay," Minghao reassured her. "The timing could actually work perfectly. In three to five days, you’ll have recovered enough to attend school on Friday. We can show you around, introduce you to everyone. Then the debate is on Saturday."
"Really?" Qing Qing’s eyes lit up with sudden enthusiasm, though shadows of uncertainty flickered beneath. Her voice trembled with hope mixed with fear, that old fear that still woke her at night sotis. "You’d really let join? What if... what if I say sothing wrong? My Mandarin is still...." She switched to English, which flowed more smoothly, "...not perfect. And I don’t know how normal students act."
"Your Mandarin is just fine, and getting better every day," Minghao said warmly, Minghao had grown up learning English so she was good in it. "And you’re brilliant, Qing Qing. I’ve heard you reading those advanced books on the shelves."
"Those are in Veltharian," Qing Qing murmured, using the na of her native royal tongue. The liquid, lodic syllables of her holand rolled off her tongue naturally: "Sai’thora nel vaen ki’tharis..." She caught herself and translated haltingly, "It ans... ’Knowledge is my only anchor now.’ Reading helps ... forget."
Forget the darkness. The cargo container, painful betrayals. The strange hands. The auction house whispers.
Minghao’s expression softened with understanding as she placed her arm around Qing Qing’s shoulders, drawing her close in a gesture of genuine warmth and sisterly affection. "You’re safe now. You’re ho. And you’re going to do amazing at the debate."
"But what if people ask questions about ? About where I’ve been? Why do I speak strangely?" Qing Qing’s voice dropped to barely a whisper. "What if they see that I’m... different?"
"Listen to ." Minghao gently turned Qing Qing to face her. "I’ll ask Twilight to make sure you’re properly enrolled with all the right docuntation. Since you’re recovering right now, the school records will show you’re out on dical leave. It’s not even a lie, you are healing." She gave Qing Qing’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. "By the ti you show up on Friday, you’ll just be another student returning from being ill. Tang Fei has made sure everything is legal and proper."
"Another student," Qing Qing repeated slowly, testing the words. Then, in Veltharian, she whispered: "re’las cin thoral..." A commoner among commoners. Once, that would have been unthinkable for a princess of the House of Seventh Stars. Now, it was everything she dread of.
"I’ve imagined this so many tis," she continued in her careful Mandarin, t
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