despite the late hour, he’s not terribly surprised to see lin standing at attention in front of lihua’s door. the regard of lin’s protectiveness over lihua extends further than all of the kingdoms in the continent of auradon, ben has joked about once before, and lin had only smiled enigmatically in return, acknowledging the point. it felt weird to be faced with lin’s narrow-eyed glare instead of her neutral expression, but he supposed that his actions deserved it.
“your highness,” lin says, tone cold, without the affectionate undertone of “ben” underneath the usual royal title. “regardless of your upcoming status as king, i regret to inform you that -- “
‘ just, let me speak to her, ’ ben interrupts uncharacteristically. he understands the reason for hostility, but ( he does wish that someone could have taken a look at his uncharacteristic behaviour and thought, no, this is not ben, this is not what ben would do. he... might be a little bit upset that apparently his friends think him capable of that kind of cruelty. ). ‘ i understand completely why you don’t want me to see her, but i need to give her the full story first before i can explain this to anyone else. please. ’
lin pauses, and ben can tell that she’s sizing him up, wondering if he was being genuine or not. apparently, he must pass muster because she lets out a breath as she warns, “if she wants you to leave, i will not be so kind in forcing you to do so.”
relieved at being able to get a chance to explain, ben nods, and lin turns around to knock at the door. “your imperial highness,” she says in the northern wei dialect, which she knows ben could understand, “the asshole prince is here to see you. he says he wishes for a chance to explain, and... in all honesty, while i don’t know what he’s going to say, i think you should. but, if you want me to kick him away, i will.”