The Prince’s Beloved Shadow Guard: He Deserves to Die

On a snowy night, at the edge of a cliff, I am struck by the incurable poison Lovesickness. The cold-blooded assassin hunting me pins me against the broken cliff face. He is Night Owl, the Regent's foremost shadow guard, a man with power over the entire court. He is also Han Ye, the man I thought I could trust with my life.

“If killing me will help you rise to the top, then go ahead,” I ask with a bloody laugh.

His silver blade is stained red, yet pain I cannot understand churns in his eyes. “It will.”

But the moment he turns away, he slaughters every pursuer. When the poison takes hold, he trembles as he feeds me the antidote. When no one is watching, he kisses away my tears.

Atop the city wall, I ask him three questions, each one tearing my heart apart. “Was saving me just a mission? Was falling for me an act? Are you going to kill me now?”

He gives a cold nod in front of a hundred thousand soldiers. I leap from the wall, only for Shi Meng, a shadow guard who has silently protected me, to catch me at the cost of his life.

Shi Meng says, “Miss, he is the son of your enemy. I would turn the world upside down for you.”

Yet in the dungeon, Gu Ye Han reaches through the iron bars and wipes away my tears with a severed finger. “Trust me. Wait for me.”

I am the last survivor of the former dynasty, the only key to a treasure that can determine the fate of the realm, and a pawn in their game of political intrigue.

When the truth comes to light, the Regent's blade falls. Shi Meng stains the battlefield with his blood to protect me. Gu Ye Han cuts off one of his own fingers to atone, shouldering the condemnation of the world just to keep me safe.

“Zhi Yao,” he kneels before me, the cold-faced assassin's eyes now filled with nothing but humility. “I offer you the realm as my bride price and pledge my life to you. Please forgive me.”

But holding Shi Meng's keepsake and looking at this devastated world, I can only ask:

Can the love you realized too late ever outweigh the protection he paid for with his life?