Slender Waist

[A goofy historical romance, marriage first, love later, with a slow burn. Before reading, please, please, please read the blurb and the content warning in the first chapter's author's note! If you can't accept what's in them, please don't try to read on. I'm begging you!!!] The Emperor ordered Prince Qin to marry a woman he didn't want as his wife. She was as frail as a willow, spoke in a voice like a mosquito's buzz, was more timid than a rabbit, and wept enough tears to fill a lake. On top of that, her father was his enemy! Prince Qin disliked her intensely, so he shut her away in his mansion and left her to live as a widow in all but name. Until one day, he happened to put an arm around her slender waist, so delicate it looked as if it might snap... That night, Prince Qin tossed and turned alone in his study, suddenly unsure which of them was really being left to live as a widow. [Major warning!!! The male lead is a total jerk. Before the wedding, he had a fiancee who had been dead for a year, as well as a bedchamber woman who looked like her. The bedchamber woman was taken in temporarily to meet his physical needs because his fiancee was in mourning and they couldn't marry. He hasn't touched her since the fiancee died. This is a clichéd substitute romance trope. If you can't accept it, don't read this. Please, please, please don't... I'm begging you...] [This story has plenty of potential landmines. The author has done her best to flag every one she could think of, but if you have high standards for what you read and a lot of dealbreakers, please move on to another book. For example, if you can't stand the female lead liking rabbits and other small animals; or if you think a sweet romance should be sweet from beginning to end without any plot twists, and that it doesn't deserve to be called a sweet romance if it has any conflict, then please leave now and save yourself the trouble.] Reading guide: 1. The female lead likes rabbits. 2. The female lead is exactly as described in the blurb: weak, very weak. She'll grow later, but only to a limited extent. Overall, she's a naturally naive girl who grew up cherished and sheltered from hardship. 3. The setting is fictional, and extremely so. Please don't nitpick historical details or compare it with other books. 4. If you drop the story, no need to tell me. Just click the X. Theme: Find beauty in adversity and enjoy life with a positive outlook.