What Happened: During the Lunar New Year festival, Princess Liên Thu Tiên was attending with her fiancé, the Crown Prince Lóng Qi Gongsun of the Southern Kingdom of Lóng, an event that would later be known in history as the 'Lunar New Year Massacre,' would forever change the life and heart of the young princess.

Engaged since they were children, in an effort to further the trust between the two friendly nations, suspicions ran high between the two nations despite their amiability as the South was expansionist, absorbing nearly the entire continent under their rule, leaving Tiên seemingly alone. However, everyone knew that it wouldn't be long before they made a move.

The marriage alliance between Lóng Qi and Liên was very welcomed and the two were genuinely in love...or so the gentle and naïve Princess believed at one time.

During the banquet, Lóng Qi says that he has a headache from drinking too much as asks if Liên could get him some medicine. When she leaves, the banquet is interrupted by a northern general, starting a coup backed by the South.

The Tiên Emperor and Empress were murdered in the coup, only the young prince and princess surviving.

The Prince Lóng Qi then takes over, controlling the palace with an iron grip. He has Liên confined, who tries to kill herself to be with her parents. However, he prevents this and says that her life is no longer her own.

Later on, the Crown Prince Ahn attempts to assassinate Lóng Qi in order to avenge his parents but fails, and is exiled as a result to an isolated monastery.

Yun Lóng Gongsun, the second Prince of the Southern Empire makes an appearance, having travelled to the north to accompany Lóng Qi and Liên back to the southlands for their father's funeral and Lóng Qi's coronation.

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【 ARC 002 】

【 Southern Empire of Lóng  】

Footsteps were heard walking down the red halls of the Imperial Palace, golden silken tapestries decorating the walls and maids bowing as they walked by.

"It seems that the Princess is still continuing to struggle in vain." A stoic voice reported to the younger male. A golden eye looked up at the serious brown eyes of the man.

"That so, hm?" The boy sighed heavily, throwing his arms behind his head and clasping them together. "Fairy Elder Sister can be surprisingly stubborn, you know."

It had been a little over a week since they had arrived at the Imperial Palace, which was still in the mandatory mourning period, showing by the maids and officials wearing white robes and all planned banquets ceased,¹ though it was worth mentioning that all soldiers and affiliates were still wearing their dark red uniforms. Which was quite a deliberate move to the notice of some.

"Apparently she won't be eating anything until she is granted an audience with our soon-to-be crowned Emperor.²" The expressionless man spoke, unbothered by the young prince's nonchalant mannerisms.

"Worst case scenario, she'll die from self-induced starvation, though she is still drinking water."

"Hoho~" Yun Lóng's eyes lit up in amusement. "Fairy Elder Sister sure is gutsy!" He grinned cheekily.

"Yes..." The man pinched the bridge of his nose. "And also unnecessarily stubborn."

Yun Lóng turned his head to peer up at the man. "Unnecessarily?" He hummed, interesting in the choice of words, his eyes flickering a brighter inhuman gold.

"Indeed. At the very least, no one wants that from her."

"Oh~?" One could almost see the little devil horns peaking out with his tone of voice. "Then what is it you want from Elder Sister, General Li?"

"Don't ask such a useless question when you already know the answer, Prince Yun Lóng." The General huffed, though still unbothered by the boy's mischievous character, something which disturbed other people greatly.

"What I want is for her to live. That's all." He answered the boy's question anyway. "If our future Emperor, a descendant of the Dragon Lord marries the direct descendant of the celestial Pheonix, it would give validity for the Empire to rule the entire continent with the union of the Phoenix and Dragon deities."

"Ah-" Yun snapped his fingers trying to remember the face of the girl standing in front of the Princess's door, who was holding a tray.

"Tuyến, right?"

The personal attendant of the princess turned around, bowing in greeting to the second prince and General.

"Why are you just standing there, anyway?" Yun Lóng asked, his hands folded behind his back and bending over to examine the tray she was carrying.

A worried look crossed Tuyến's face as she answered. "Since the Princess is still not eating, I was planning on giving her something sweet to drink, at least."

"Wahh~ You're so caring, Tuyến!" Prince Yun beamed. "I wish I had a maid like you."

The General rolled his eyes. "You've had plenty of attendants over the years. And none of them could handle your eccentricities."

"Boo." The boy with the eyepatch puffed up his cheeks.

Tuyến seemed hesitant to say something before she spoke up. "I can't enter the room though since it seems to have been locked."

Yun Lóng's cheeks deflated as he blinked at that. "Locked? Who would do that? We're not trying to keep her prisoner, you know."

The door suddenly opened and the two bowed at the sight of the Crown Prince, exiting the room. "We most certainly aren't trying to keep her prisoner, Yun." Lóng Qi agreed.

"However, actions can and will be taken should she attempt to escape." Walking off down the hall, with the General following, Yun paused for a moment to look into the room and frown at the sight of Liên's dark circles and sickly appearance before hurrying to follow his elder brother.

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【 An Hour Earlier 】

A white-haired girl quietly lit a few sticks of incense before the silken tapestry with a royal blue phoenix embordered upon it before returning to sit upon the edge of her bed, quietly praying for her late Lady Mother and Lord Father and to the Pheonix Mother.

Her blue eyes slowly opened as she bit her lip, thinking of her younger brother who might also be praying at this time in some secluded monastery. While the peoples of (former) Tiên were known for being rather religious, their princess felt as though she had never prayed as hard as she was now.

Letting her hands settle and rest in her lap, she pushed away a tray of untouched breakfast that had been delivered to her and sipped a small cup of water.

'I hope Ahn is doing well. We've never been apart since we were children...and now...I feel so restless and in pain.' She thought mournfully to herself. 'I must stay positive though. I can't allow myself to have my spirit stolen from me like everything else. I won't allow myself to cry any longer, now.'

The entrance door was thrown open, letting a sudden burst of light into the room, which made Liên's eyes wince.

"What a dark room," Lóng Qi commented, strolling in the room and noting the surroundings. "Really, they shouldn't allow their future Empress to stay in such a dim and depressing place."

"Do not call me your Empress. I am no such thing...not yet." Liên's blue angrily flared up.

Lóng Qi took a step towards her, making her involuntarily flinch back, still seated on the bed. "Come now, dear. We made an agreement, didn't we? You aren't trying to go back on your word, now are you?" He seemed murderously frightening for a split second before he seemed to completely calm down.

"I haven't seen you all this week, and what I hear is some nonsense about you starving yourself? Some manner of a 'desperate measures,' game?"

Liên glared at him. "I won't humiliate myself with such an action for you. I'd rather bite my tongue and die right here!"

Grabbing her arms and pushing her down on the bed, with him holding her arms above her head, he looked down at her in the calmest anger Liên had ever seen.

"You most certainly are welcome to die, Liên'er. However, after you do kill yourself, I'll personally make sure that your younger brother will accompany you to the next life. Surely, you wouldn't want the little Ahn to die for your actions?"

"Once the mourning period is over and I'm enthroned, you will become my Empress in turn. Until then, you won't be allowed to throw your life away, even if I need chain you down, or even worse, fall in love with another man." She felt a knee pressed in between her own, making her face turn red unwillingly.

"For if you did do any of those things, I'd finish massacring the northern royal family and have your entire peoples killed off while I'm at it."

Liên bit her lip again out of habit, but Lóng Qi held her face with one hand tightly to stop her.

"I won't kill myself!" Liên pushed him away from her, but he twisted her arm and pulled her to him tightly.

"You really want to go back to Tiên, don't you?" Lóng Qi held her gaze, eyes flaring that inhuman bright gold. Her heart rate increased with fear but she held his gaze as well.

"Yes!" She answered him spitefully.

Lóng Qi eyes flickered for a moment before they returned to their normal golden colour. Letting go of her arms but still holding her tightly against him, Liên felt like she had to take deeper breaths with how tight he was holding her.

She felt a light kiss on top her white hair and him murmuring into her. "Haven't you realized yet, Liên'er? I am now the Emperor of the entire Great Continent. Everything within it belongs to me, as you do."

Liên shivered as he moved his mouth down to her ear and her neck, biting slightly and making her wince.

"Besides, Shǎguā.³ Your home doesn't exist anymore."

"If you're dead, then I won't belong to you anymore." Liên countered, making Lóng Qi quiet for a second before slowly smiling in that familiarly gentle manner.

"Oh, Liên'er." He kissed her neck softly. "You can't kill someone you're in love with."

"I don't love you!" She screamed, hitting his back. "You murdered my parents!"

Lóng Qi laughed at that. "You truly are the epitome of innocence, Liên'er." Getting off her and standing to leave, Liên still laying on the bed with her white hair surrounding her, he gave her a final look.

"Since you're going to live, you had best start eating properly again." And with that, he left the room.

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Author's Note:

¹ I am taking liberties here. Although the Empire of Lóng is based on ancient China, it is not entirely. I won't bother using all the Confucian mourning rites and rituals since this is a fictional nation and I want to practice more world-building of my own.

² I'm not certain how long was the period between succession in Imperial China, but then again I did say I was taking liberties, so I'm going to make it 27 days since I remember reading that Chinese Emperors would mourn for 27 days. (Though I don't know if they were still enthroned during their 'mourning.')

³ "傻瓜," or "Shǎguā," is a Chinese term to create affection by insulting the other person's intelligence. It might sound counter-intuitive, but think of the English words "silly" or "dummy." It can be used by significant others to playfully scold each other.

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General Shùn Li