Temptation

[One-on-one romance | Happy ending | Both virgins | Pretend relationship becomes real]

Jiang Mian had a dream.

In it, for some reason, she spent every day chasing after the Fifth Prince. He was already in love with her elder sister, and Jiang Mian met a miserable end.

When she woke up, she'd just fallen into a lake after approaching the Fifth Prince, only for him to dodge her. Her elder sister sat by her bed, expressing concern and casually asking whether she had someone she liked.

Jiang Mian: ...

She racked her brains and finally thought of Gu Xiaohou, the young marquis of the Lin'an Marquis's household. He'd fallen off a horse, injured his head, and lost his memory.

Amnesia. What a stroke of luck.

*

Gu Jingnian had faked a fall from his horse and pretended to lose his memory to conceal his true abilities. But that day, he heard a young girl sobbing beside him. Her incessant whimpering was terribly annoying.

"Gu Lang, sob, sob, Mianmian misses you so much. If you die, I won't go on living either. In life we'll share a quilt, and in death we'll share a grave."

He couldn't help opening his eyes ahead of schedule.

The little pink bundle met his gaze, her eyes glistening with tears. She threw herself into his arms with deep affection, forcing him to catch her. "Gu Lang, don't you remember? I'm Mianmian. Have you forgotten that we promised ourselves to each other?"

Gu Jingnian gritted his teeth, a vein twitching at his temple.

Promised themselves to each other? Sharing a quilt in life and a grave in death? Her and him?

Then he heard that Jiang Mian had fallen into a lake before waking up and had developed a fever, leaving her delirious.

She'd been so passionate that she must have fallen desperately in love with him in her fevered imaginings.

In his twenty years of life, Gu Jingnian had never felt anything so absurd.

Later, as he listened to the little pink bundle recount those "memories" to him, his gaze darkened.

If those romantic moments were real, the late-night conversations on the rooftop and all, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad?

*

Afraid that her lie would be exposed, Jiang Mian did her best every day to act as if she loved him so much she'd die for him, all while plotting how to get away unscathed.

She never expected him to "recover his memory early," and her lie was exposed soon after.

That day, the candlelight in the bedroom was dim and flickering. Gu Jingnian's expression was impossible to read, and his eyes and brows took on a hint of menace, as if he could see right through her. His voice was so hoarse it was barely recognizable

"Third Miss Jiang, have you had enough of this act?"

P.S.:

/. The setting is very loose, so don't scrutinize the details.

/. Their feelings are strongly mutual, and they dote on each other wholeheartedly.

/. This is my first attempt at a story with both a romance plot and a separate main plot. The setting requires some plotline that isn't romance, but most of it supports the romance. If you only want to read about the couple, feel free to skip around.

/. There will be a secondary couple, but they'll take up very little space in the main story, only about ten or twenty thousand words combined. Some may say I'm forcing them together, OvO. You can't please everyone. If anyone likes them, I'll write bonus chapters for the secondary couple.

/. There will be two brief angsty moments, but over 70% of the story is sweet. I'm not good at writing angst anyway, so I've tagged it as a sweet romance.

Theme: Life is bright, and all things are lovely