My Beloved, Ferry Me Across

[The aloof Buddhist on the altar] x [The bright and kind little princess]

Core trope: The untouchable flower descends from the altar and falls for her, becoming the other woman for love (not really)

[The official blurb is still in progress. For now, this is just the brainchild version.]

The desireless Buddhist monk uses himself as bait to save the princess after she is drugged.

Back at the temple, he initially thinks little of what happened.

Later, he thinks of that night while chanting sutras, while eating vegetarian meals, and even while copying scriptures, when his brush accidentally writes the princess's name. Even as he carries water as part of his ascetic training, he cannot stop thinking of every smile and frown of hers.

The monk, who has never known worldly love, has lost his peace of mind.

The monk requests a flogging as punishment for himself. Just then, the princess comes to thank him and sees that he is injured, so she takes the initiative to care for him.

He should refuse, but for some inexplicable reason, he says nothing.

Her fingertips, through a silk handkerchief, spread a cool medicinal salve over his wounds. Yet it burns more fiercely than a lover's kiss.

Like drinking poison to quench one's thirst, he cannot stop.

The monk is deeply caught up in his feelings, but the princess sees him only as the man who saved her. Once she has repaid her debt, she plans to return and marry her prince consort.

After much inner struggle, the monk decides to give her up, cut off all romantic attachments, and accept the punishment for breaking his vows.

But then, by chance, he discovers that the prince consort is no good man.

He urges the princess to leave him, but she remains devoted to her husband and insists she will marry no one else.

And so...

On their wedding night, the husband who lifts the bride's veil and shares the nuptial wine and bed with the princess is no longer the prince consort, but the monk (now fallen to darkness).

Theme: Taking refuge.