When the Princess Falls

[A long-planned romance + one-on-one]

[Princess with emotional detachment × prominent, refined man in power]

(Content warning! The male lead is sharp-tongued and arrogant; the female lead is naturally cold-hearted. Skip if that bothers you!)

After one enchanting, unforgettable night, Shi Lingyao’s designer dress is ripped apart by hand. She looks at her brother’s friend on the bed, dusts herself off, and leaves.

She puts the whole thing out of her mind and never gives it another thought.

But from then on,

she keeps crossing paths with Shang Ting.

*

Her family picks a marriage prospect for her, and she accepts without a fuss. But before long, the man is beaten to a pulp and kneels before her. “Mr. Shang said if I dared marry you, he’d make sure I could never get it up again. Please, I’m begging you, let me go.”

“I’m the only heir for three generations! Waaah!”

“...”

Shi Lingyao is helpless. She seems to have no way to deal with him.

“What exactly do you want?”

His eyes darken with an endless intensity.

“If anyone can have you, why can’t it be me?”

*

Later, they begin a secret affair no one knows about.

It is humid, stifling, and filled with the scent of pine and wood.

On her birthday, her family formally announces her identity. Amid the clinking glasses and bustling banquet, the guest of honor is nowhere to be found.

No one knows

that she is sitting on the lap of a man who has lost all reason, his hand gripping her waist as he coaxes and kisses her against her will. “Won’t you make us public?”

*

One day,

Shi Lingyao tries to make him see reason.

“Stop liking me. I’m selfish and heartless, and I don’t want the pain of love. You know I have emotional detachment, right? In other words, something’s wrong with me...”

He quickly retorts,

“That’s just princess syndrome!”