*WARNING: The following content may contain mildly mature content that may not be suitable for younger audiences.
In her grandfather's bedroom, the two men surrounded her by the table. They were quiet, listening to the words she had to tell. And she told them. All of it. From when she was born as Princess Liu Rin, to the moment her mother died tragically under her uncle's hands, leading to their fated encounter in the woods.
Both men were silent. Rin could not bear looking them in the eyes, her gaze set down on her lap.
Finally, her grandfather sighed. "I knew there was something unusual about you. What child knows how to shoot a crossbow so young!"
General Guo made a sound of agreement. Rin's head jerked up, astonishment on her face.
"You're not mad?"
"Should we?" General Guo raised an eyebrow.
"I…" She didn't know. All she could think about was the pain and betrayal they would feel once she revealed the truth. Instead, they seemed relatively calm. "I thought you both would be upset…that I deceived you for so long."
"Hah! Deceived?" Bai Han laughed. "What is it you deceived to us about? When we found you, were you not a child who lost their mother?"
Slowly, Rin nodded her head.
"And did you not mean it when you agreed to become our family?"
She nodded her head again. More sure this time. Bai Han smiled and held her hand.
"Do you love us?"
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she weakly nodded. "I do. I love you both very much."
He patted her hand and chuckled. "Then what is it you deceived us about?"
Rin's big emerald eyes grew bigger still. She did not move. She had no words. No way to express the swelling of emotions in her chest at this moment.
General Guo's expression softened. "It must have been hard for you."
The words made Rin's eyes fill up with tears. If not for the way the candle made them glisten, the men might never have known she was weeping. Both were shocked. The girl sat hunched and shrunken, staring at the candle flame, tears glistening in her eyes. Trembling, she wiped at her tears with the back of a small pale hand.
"Thank you…thank you..." She whispered.
Thank you for always loving her.
Bai Han slipped his arms around the girl, stroking her hair. Sitting beside her, General Guo held her hand in comfort. The tears she had tried so strongly to hold back fell harder, streaming down her cheeks like a warm stream.
...
Following the next day, everything operated as it should. Come sunset, everyone returned to their quarters. The nights became more and more quiet. The once boastful murmurs that went around fell mute.
Out in the yard, night was settling over the Western Empire and a full moon was rising over the palace's walls. Its pale light cast the shadows of the tall triangular [1]merlons across the ground, a line of sharp black teeth.
Walking the halls, Rin had just been returning to her room, when a hand clasped her wrist. It was An Sun. Before she could ask anything, he ushered her forward.
"Come with me," He said.
And she did. A full moon swam in the black sky above them. Following him down the marble-floored halls to the yard outside, she noticed they were growing farther from the palace.
"Where are we going?" Rin asked upon stepping down the long steps.
Still holding her hand, An Sun looked up and smiled. He yanked her hand, pulling her close. Rin gasped as she fell forward. He clutched her arm to steady her. Softening his hold, he absently grazed her skin with his thumb, then ducked his head and smiled, eyes tender as he studied her.
"Just be patient." He whispered, face close to hers.
Rin blinked, an eyebrow raised. She frowned.
"You're lucky I am patient. Otherwise, I would have left already to sleep."
He chuckled. "I know." Then, he kissed her nose and continued to pull her forth.
Led to the bottom of a stone bridge, the two walked down the grass hill. To her surprise, numerous cherry blossom trees were surrounding the area, their sweet scent blowing past occasionally.
Drawing closer, the sound of flowing water entered her ears. Just as she thought it, there was a river ahead. Its blue waters lit up by the half-moon floating in the sky above the city, attended by a thousand stars.
Suddenly, An Sun set himself beside a cherry tree.
"Sit down." He patted to the empty space beside him.
Rin complied and sat on her knees.
"Now look up." He said.
As she did so, her eyes widened. Above them, stars shone as sugar spilled over black marble, glistening in the moon. The trees stood mute in the fall air, but their branches swayed and danced against the wind. Petals falling down on them like snow.
Rin smiled, feeling the wind blow her hair into a tousled mane.
"Beautiful…" She whispered in awe.
An Sun's eyes curved into a smile. "I'm glad you like it. For a moment…I wanted you to see something nice here."
Rin turned to him, her eyes deepening. Looking down, she stretched out her hand and interlocked their fingers together. His large hand wrapped around her own small one.
"Then let's make this moment last as long as we can." She said softly.
He stared back and smiled.
They looked up to the sky, the floating glow blooming against darkness, vast and bright; it gazed upon the glittering river below. They heard the water splash over rocks, fish swimming about, and the wind so low.
"Sun…I have to tell you something," Rin said. She ran her fingers along the tendons in his hands and looked back at him.
He stared at her without speaking, waiting. Seeing nothing but that unblinking stare, Rin cleared her throat.
"I…" She was very hesitant to speak but still pushed forward. "I want you to know everything I have ever told you was never a lie. Rin, Bai Lan, they're all me. However…there's one side I never told you about."
She stole a peek at his expression, but it was just the same. She inwardly sighed at the man's stone, cold face.
She continued, her voice growing quieter. "My blood uncle he's…Li Chang. The emperor of the Eastern Empire."
Even after speaking, An Sun didn't say a thing. Rin could do nothing but sit still and feel the pressure of his fingers against her. They should have pulled away, one or both of them, but neither did, and every second passed as they stood and stared at each other, hand in hand.
But An Sun still wasn't moving, his deep gray eyes locked on hers and wide with shock, and now he knew. Rin could feel the blood thumping in the ends of his fingers, though it could've been her own pulse.
She couldn't tell.
"So is that why…you want to take over the Eastern Empire?" He said after a while. No emotion in his voice.
Slowly, Rin nodded her head. Her gaze was set to the ground. "He killed my family, Sun. All of them. My mother, my father, everyone close to me, he killed." There was a rising tremor in her voice.
"Such a man who built an empire on lies and murder does not deserve to rule." She whispered in a strained voice as if every moment she remembered was a painful prick at her skin.
For moments, his dark eyes were on hers, and he was quiet. The hand holding hers slipped away. Rin lifted her head. In the moonlight, his gray eyes glowed like pools of dark fire. Then, he tucked a hair behind her ear. She shivered. It was so quiet; she could hear every breath he took.
"Then, I'll be by your side. Whether it's to war or conquering an empire, I will go with you." His hand smoothed the length of her hair as he gazed into her eyes, his expression tender and full of longing.
Rin looked at him, surprised. She was barely breathing, nervous, and petrified but somehow staring at his face and soft eyes brought some ease.
"Sun…" She started to say, but his name grew tangled in her throat.
His fingers trailed down her cheek to her lips, outlining the shape of her mouth. Trying to memorize it. He bent down and brushed his mouth against the hollow of her temple then traced the line of her jawbone.
The aching anticipation for his kiss was suddenly too much to bear, and she reached up and pulled his mouth to hers. An Sun kissed her gently, carefully, but it wasn't gentleness she wanted, not now. Rin knotted her fists in his shirt and pulled him closer. He groaned, low in his throat, and then his arms circled her, gathering her against him as they fell in the grass.
She ran her fingers along his arm—soft skin over lean muscle, a scar on his biceps. He pulled back after a moment, still holding her in place, but Rin was not ready for the moment to end.
Instinctively, her hand moved to his head, fingers running through his hair as she forced him right back to her. He chuckled, not fighting it, and kissed her deeper.
His tongue filled her mouth, stroking the most sensitive spots and retreating only to return. Rin couldn't hold back the moan that escaped. She arched into him, bringing her breasts in contact with his chest, and he made a sound like a growl.
His mouth roamed at will, no longer gentle as he devoured her, ravenous against the smooth curve of her throat, the soft flesh of her ear. With a guttural groan, he jerked her close with powerful arms, consuming her mouth with a kiss surely driven by the sheer will to ravage.
And then in a frantic beat of her heart, he pushed her away. She gasped, numb as she lay on the grass.
"That's enough…otherwise I…" His chest was heaving and his eyes were hard, focused on her with heat.
Rin cleared her vision, eyes glancing down to see something poking beneath his pants. Her cheeks instantly flushed as she crawled away from him a little. She didn't say anything and just hugged her knees to her chest, avoiding looking at…that.
They sat quietly for a while before An Sun finally suggested for them to return. Again, they walked back in silence until Rin arrived at her grandfather's room. She slipped inside and dove under the covers of her bed.
Her gaze rested on the ceiling. She suddenly remembered, months ago, she saw it once.
17 cm long…
Rin's cheeks flushed, and she buried her head beneath the covers, eventually drifting off to sleep with great difficulty.