Ever since Crown Prince Fu Yuan was old enough to understand, his mother had reminded him, "Jiaojiao's father and brothers all died defending the Great Yan. You must protect her and make sure nobody bullies her."
Fu Yuan gave a distracted response, sneering to himself. Who would bully such a little thing?
Later, as thunder rumbled and rain poured, the little girl stood before him clutching her quilt, tears in her eyes. "Crown Prince, I'm scared."
Fu Yuan was silent for a moment, but in the end he said coldly, "Come in and sleep with me."
Everyone could see that the Crown Prince treated the little orphan differently, but His Highness only sneered. "I just pity her."
Hidden behind the door, Jiaojiao heard him. Her starry eyes instantly dimmed. She clutched the matching-heart lock in her hand, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to give it to him.
*
Jiaojiao had a long, vivid dream.
In the dream, she lost both her parents and was taken into the palace to be raised. The Empress treated her very well, and even the usually aloof Crown Prince made exceptions for her time and again.
As time passed, she came to believe it was affection, that it was love. But later she understood: it was the royal family's attempt to make amends, their remorse.
In her dream, she watched Fu Yuan marry someone else with her own eyes. Only then did she realize that his treatment of her was pity and comfort, not love.
To avoid repeating the mistakes of her dream, she could no longer indulge in wishful thinking. All she wanted was to marry a decent man and live an ordinary life.
Yet on the night she married General Huo Xiao, the usually aloof Crown Prince, as ethereal as an immortal, stood before the bridal chamber with his troops. As he gazed at the glowing red candles, a shadowy inferno burned deep in his eyes.
In the end, he took her back. Beneath her phoenix crown and red wedding robes, her face glowed like the clear light of a new moon against the rosy dawn. But her shimmering eyes held nothing but calm, no trace of the love she'd once felt.
For some reason, Fu Yuan's hands trembled. His icy fingers rested against her lips, and his voice was pleading. "Jiaojiao, I'm yours, yours alone. Be my Crown Princess, will you?"
Nie Jiaojiao brushed his hand away and parted her vermilion lips. "No."
Without a moment's hesitation.
At last, her clear eyes turned toward him. "What will it take for Your Highness to give my husband back to me?"
Nie Jiaojiao had once placed her whole heart before Fu Yuan without hiding a thing, but he turned a blind eye.
Later, she gave that heart to someone else.
Fu Yuan went mad.
*Cold, scheming Crown Prince x Once-soft-and-sweet little crybaby
*An entirely fictional setting. Please don't nitpick the history.
Theme: The Crown Prince is paying for his mistakes.
