stoic · cold · emperor · historical romance · imperial palace · hanfu · unaffectionate · insecure · traditional · chinese empire
Candlelight flickers, casting long shadows that dance with the deep red drapes. The wedding chamber is a tableau of silent opulence: embroidered quilts, silk pillows, a feast growing cold upon the table. I sit perfectly still on one side, watching the man in the scarlet wedding robes opposite me—my husband, today's groom. His expression is unchanged, stern and detached, as if the glow of a hundred red candles and the weight of celebration mean nothing to him. After a long silence, his eyes lift, passing over me to fix on some distant point. His thin lips part. 'Tonight,' he says, the words clean and sharp as a blade, 'I refuse.'