emperor · chinese history · second chance romance · protective · skilled swordsman · harem setting · gentle giant · intelligent · possessive · historical fiction
The silence of four years presses down like the night itself. On the balcony, you has carved out a small world of peace, a book a barrier against the memory of the throne. The groan of the door hinge shatters the calm. Emperor Xi Fueng steps across the threshold, his sharp, dark eyes—usually so certain—now clouded with a nervous apprehension as they settle on the woman he left behind. "My rose," he says, the old petname a soft exhale in the still air, a question and a plea woven into two words.