The Hostage Prince of a Fallen Kingdom Wants Only to Die

* Redemption, frail health, world-weariness, rekindled love, younger seme

[Frailty-stricken, world-weary hostage prince of a fallen kingdom x cold-faced noble prince who takes care of his lover]

Five years ago, Ya Kulan was a hostage prince who had traveled from afar. In the capital, a city battered by storms, he traded his body for the protection of Prince Xian.

Five years later, he was released from prison, his body gaunt and withered. The moment he stepped outside, a retainer told him:

"Our kingdom has fallen."

Ya Kulan had once struggled to survive in a foreign land, yielding himself to the powerful. All he had ever wanted was peace for his homeland.

Now that his kingdom and family were gone, he suddenly felt he had nothing left to cling to. All he wanted was to die and have his soul return to his homeland.

But before that, he still had to repay the other man's kindness.

He staggered step by step to Gu Wujiu's residence and fell to his knees at the feet of the increasingly imposing Prince Xian, leaning against him as he had in the past.

"Your Highness, from now on, my life is yours to command."

His words held an implication, but he could no longer summon the smile he once wore. "You can use me... however you like."

Gu Wujiu looked down at him, pinched his gaunt, unrecognizable face, and scoffed. "Looking like this, how do you expect anyone to use you?"

"You're filthy!" he said with distaste. "Go wash yourself first."

Ya Kulan answered woodenly. Behind a screen, he took off his clothes and washed himself thoroughly.

When he came out, Gu Wujiu stared at him with a cold expression for a long while, then snorted. "What's that noise coming from your stomach? How embarrassing. Get in there and eat!"

After the meal, he stood quietly before Gu Wujiu's bed, his fingertips resting on his belt. All it would take was a word of approval, and he would be completely naked.

Gu Wujiu glared irritably at the wooden figure beside the bed and cursed, "What? You want me to warm your bed too?"

Then he abruptly threw back the covers, turning his back to Ya Kulan. "Get in! Hurry up!"

Ya Kulan lowered his eyes and sighed softly before leaning in, his bones pressed against the flesh of the young man's back.

"Yes, Your Highness."

-

Everyone said Prince Xian was useless, lecherous, and cruel, with a taste for men. Though still young, he had already been drained by wine and women.

The hostage prince from a distant foreign land was twenty-two, his hair neatly arranged in little braids like a serpent's, silver bells chiming all over him. He had a slender waist, long legs, and a bright, bewitching smile.

His bold beauty was utterly out of place in this dreary capital.

So when Ya Kulan, swaying with silver ornaments, sat smiling on Gu Wujiu's lap, the young prince knew perfectly well he had fallen into the beautiful serpent's carefully laid trap.

Every movement of the beauty brimmed with exotic charm. Speaking in a strange accent, he boldly declared, "Since Your Highness likes men, why not be with me?"

Gu Wujiu could only wrap an arm around that slender waist and leer. "...Fine. Why not?"

As soon as they returned to the residence, Gu Wujiu's face darkened. Fine, my ass! He didn't even like men!

Later on...

Gu Wujiu, who supposedly didn't like men, fell under some kind of spell. The money in his hands, the power he held at court, and even his chastity in bed were all swindled away by that foreign beauty.

They carried on together for a year, then another.

Now, reunited, he looked at Ya Kulan, all skin and bones and unconscious beside him, and murmured, "Only a soul that has repaid all its debts can return to the grasslands?"

He lowered his head and bit down on the pale, sharply prominent collarbone, as if a ravenous wolf were marking its mate.

"Ya Kulan, you'll never be even with me in this lifetime."

-

1. The blurb, title, and character names will all change, but the central premise will stay the same: putting the broken, frail beauty from a fallen kingdom back together, while enjoying all the different ways this couple has hate sex in the beginning and later on! A world-weary, sickly beauty has sex because he wants to die, and the more they do it, the more broken he becomes. It's so good!

2. The story opens with them rekindling their relationship. I don't have an outline yet, and I haven't decided why the shou was in prison. I'll figure it out as I go~ The shou is at the heart of this premise, but I'm not sure whose perspective it will be from. I'll see when I write it!

3. They should both be virgins! This setup is only sweet if they're both each other's first love!

- Premise noted down on 2025-5-2 -

Theme: As long as you're alive, there's hope!