quinyareioli royalty au poly i brainrotted with @sunnsfw all morning.
emperor/king quincy with his Empress, kuya, from an eastern territory. his Second Wife, rei, whom he met at a brothel and decided to take home. and finally, his Third Wife, olivine, who was offered by the temple of the southwest territory in exchange of funding and support of the foreign king.
trigger warning for some sensitive themes i can't say bcos itll ruin shock factor. pls proceed with caution.
- quincy and kuya married for political power and some sort of a peace treaty between west and east territory. with kuya having to leave his hometown to go live in a palace.
- he did not care about the western tradition and culture when he arrived, an act of defiance, he wore kimonos and other traditional clothing from his hometown and ignores other etiquettes by saying he is quite smart, he knows how to handle his behavior.
- the people of the palace thought the king would disapprove of this behavior. he didnt.
- when they had their wedding ceremony, kuya stood out in the crowd for the reason that he was wearing a white ceremonial bridal dress of the eastern territory instead of the west. but to their disappointment, quincy never said anything about it again and let kuya do whatever he likes.
- the wedding was as western as it could be. but when they arrived at their private chambers for a wedding night, quincy didn't go for it immediately. instead he sets up a low table, placed two cups of tea w ceramics imported from kuya's hometown, and knelt down on the floor to imitate how weddings in the east are usually done.
- quincy apologized for not being able to wear an appropriate attire for this kind of ceremony. kuya laughed amused and said he didnt wear the appropriate attire on their former wedding too anw.
- they drank tea, kneels towards each other and bowed. quincy does it so clumsily but kuya lets him pass
- two years of decent marriage. tolerable. lovey dovey even. there was love to be had.
- then kuya lost a baby due to miscarriage. then another. and another. and it went downhill from there.
- empress kuya had never abused his powers before, in fact he was more neutral than anything. he never thought his title was important and only done work that he is supposed to do. but that day, his rage and grief combined into one, he used the title of an empress to gathered maids, midwives, physicians, healers, everyone. he had them flogged, hit, and cuts and he watches all of it until he is satisfied and left.
- once again, quincy did not say anything. and the palace had to hire new staffs.
- kuya started neglecting himself, and his work, and his duties. he turned away quincy every night and he even shows irritation at the slightest touch on his bare skin. he never took a single maid ever again, he said he does not need any more snakes in his group. quincy lets him.
- this kuya is not the wife he married anymore, not the empress he once had.
- soon enough, quincy started visiting red light districts and went from brothel to brothel, drowned himself in booze as he mourned for a lover who was still breathing but might as well be dead in his arms.
- thats when he met rei.
- rei who was intelligent, smart, witty, sneaky and, most importantly, very good in bed. men's favorite, they used to call him, and now he is the emperor's favorite now too.
- once, while they lay down in the afterglow of their sex lovemaking. rei started tracing out the scars on quincy's body.
- "this one seems like a deep cut with how it scars like this" he says, as he traces one that is across his chest, almost on top of where his heart beats. rei snorts, "your majesty, u might as well be built like a tank."
- "you seem to know your things about wounds and scars" quincy says, a hand combing at his hair, "you couldnt possibly have your own?"
- rei laughed "i wouldnt make such a mistake. atleast not somewhere anyone can just see."
- that night, rei talked about science and medicines and herbs that quincy could barely keep up. such talk would bore a normal man to death but quincy took one look on rei's sparkling and bright eyes as he talked and decided to keep quiet. and besides.... he could be useful.
- by the next day, quincy arrived in a pretty carriage and ready to buy out rei and be taken as a second wife to his harem.
- rei was supposed to refuse bcos why would he give up living in a cage to go to a prettier one? but quincy went "id give u all the equipments and herbs and samples you need for ur learning. i will not stop u. the whole palace is welcome to be ur own laboratory, i swear that in my name" and rei actually stopped to think abt it for a second.
- at first, rei doesnt know what would quincy achieve by taking him as a wife. but he understood quincy's worries the moment he saw the empress and immediately got to work studying specific more unknown symptoms of postpartum.
- rei met the empress, so thin and so sickly and with eyes completely empty and void of any emotions. he understand why the king is very adamant abt this whole thing. their meeting was solely for formality, rei was already married through piece of paper he signed. so even if this empress tried to chase him out, he wouldnt.
- kuya started talking to him, called him a slut and a whore in one sentence, muttered a death threat under his breath, and another threat in case rei tried to usurp his position and empress title. rei winced at the words and rolled his eyes and says "keep your title or whatever, i dont want to suffer like you thank you very much" and a sparkle crinkled in kuya's eyes that rei didnt notice. but quincy definitely did.
- as they leave the empress' room, quincy says ".....that went well." and rei turned to him with a big frown and confusion and goes "WHAT PART OF IT WENT WELL" quincy did not elaborate.
- rei started stalking kuya around despite whatever he said. hes noting down everything he does, how much energy and effort he puts on everything, the way he walks, the way he sits. until kuya gets frustrated and just told rei if he wants to watch him like a hawk hunting prey then stop being sneaky about it.
- and rei took it all in the goodness of his heart (really). he even respects the fact that kuya doesnt want to be touched. in fact he played it off cool one time, when he goes "if ur so great, how much do u breath in a minute" so be so witty abt it. he thinks he was being slick about it. it worked out.
- when quincy finally confessed that he did brought rei home for kuya, he gave rei all the documents and medicines that kuya has to undergo during his pregnancy. rei read over it so intently and then he went "the doctors who wrote this.... where are they now?" and quincy silently goes "......kuya fired them" and rei is like "all of them?" and when quincy said yes. rei's eyes hardened and says "he made the right choice." and then started pointing out that everything in their documents are either opinionated or complete assumption w no evidence
- even the medicines are given without the thought that the empress is with child, rei's eyes darkened even more when he realized that some of them is completely harmful with pregnancy. he knows, he lived in the brothel, he knows the drugs to use if women wants to terminate a pregnancy.
- rei placed down the papers and goes "i want full power over the clinic of this palace" and quincy stared back at him, also with a similar dark glare. and say "you have my permission"
- as everything calmed down, rei smiled softly at quincy, "you must really cared about the empress huh?" and quincy said, "i loved him." and rei hums, "...not anymore?" quincy did not answer. instead he leaned down and kissed rei tenderly. the king has spent the night with his second wife that day.
- in the following days, the palace has been busy. the empress is obviously getting better slowly, he is now coming out of his room more, always seeking where the second wife is. and during this, the second wife will fuss over him and asks so many questions and pokes and pinches at everything. the empress lets him. the king took most of the work in the palace.
- the three of them made it work. the staffs has been fired and replaced once more, especially with the physicians that is under rei's mercy. kuya started working with finance and accounts of the palace again. and quincy is busy going in and out of town to complete businesses.
- everything is going well, until the temple gave them yet another interesting gift. a cute little priest in training, wrapped so nicely in southwest clothing to present as the new king's wife.
- oh olivine heard A Lot of things about the western royalties. the empress and the second wife doesnt seem to he in good terms, Oh God of Klein, olivine heard they tried to kill each other! the empress who feels threatened about another wife and the second wife who tried to get a higher position.... and olivine has to join them? he could only pray for safety.
- olivine arrived at the palace at the wrong time, His Majesty is still away and is not expected to come back in the next few hours. as an apology, staffs has instructed him to wait at the beautiful palace gardens where he can enjoy tea and the beautiful sight of floras.
- oh but olivine is too nervous to even appreciate the flowers. that is until a man has sat beside him by the bench.
- olivine squeaks in surprise, looking up to see who it was and— oh my. with this kind of armor and the sweat going down the side of his face, a tired expression as if he had just done extreme exercise... could it be a knight?
- so olivine, as oblivious and innocent he is, started to spill out his woes and anxiety to this very trustful and nice looking knight who stares at him in shock and understanding. olivine said he is so so nervous, what if the king doesnt like him? and his two wives!!! what if his Two wives doesnt like him? what will become of him then?
- "mr. knight" huffed a laugh and asked, "youre scared of the empress and the second wife?" and oli nodded his head vigorously, "who wouldnt be!" then mr. knight patted his head and says "your concerns are valid."
- so imagine olivine's surprise when he entered the hall and saw this "mr. knight" is sitting on the throne— next to two most beautiful men he had ever seen in his life.
- olivine almost fainted.