closed starter @crownedprxncess
location: Château de Fontainbleau
He had been so excited to travel. There were so many wonderful stories of these strange and foreign countries to the West, but since leaving China Wen had been plagued by a feeling of homesickness. The buildings were strange, the food unfamiliar, and the people looked so curious. Apparently the Château they are staying in is one of the most fashionable in France, and Wen is grateful that the country has offered such generosity to them. But... it just didn’t feel like home.
And if he was being honest with himself, he was also fretful because meeting all of these new people served as a stark reminder that Lijuan would be expected to find a suitable husband soon. He didn’t really have it in him to be happy about that, because although it would be good for China, it would feel like the loss of his twin. Wen has always been quiet among his siblings, rarely speaking out against Zhao even when he disagreed, pliantly following Yicheng’s orders in their childhood games even when he would have preferred to play something different -- but even by those standards, he had been quiet through the last few weeks.
This was supposed to be a journey of opportunity, but it rather felt like the end of an era to Wen. He was happier on the days when they had no obligations, because at least they could eat their own food. He was distinctly uncomfortable at the banquets of France, where even the cutlery felt different in his fingers. Here in the Château he can use his favourite chopsticks, and he can ask the servants to prepare something he actually enjoys. So far he was finding the French diet far too meat-heavy for his tastes, so he ate little at any banquets they were invited to.
He was seated alone, enjoying a snack -- the distance between lunch and dinner was, sometimes, insurmountable -- when Yicheng entered. His face brightened considerably, the dark clouds of his expression parting. She had never been very fond, but Wen had quite boundless enthusiasm for all of his siblings. Particularly now, when he felt so isolated, he was thrilled by the sight of family. “Yicheng!” he called, laying his chopsticks carefully on the rest by his plate. “Will you sit with me? I can have the servants bring more dumplings.”
