I'm in Love with a Fairytale (even though it hurts) || Ling x Wanwan

- Prologue -

The cool, autumn winds blow in the direction of the south as the endless white, fluffy clouds circle above the tall castle towers. 

It was an era of peace and serenity here in the Bashu Kingdom, and excitement filled the hearts of the people after the recent announcement of the second princess's engagement. The lucky pair was leaning over a balcony in contented silence, watching the sun set into the horizon line far below the ocean depths.

"Yin, what do you think about fairytales?" 

Hearing the sudden question, the said boy turns his head towards Wanwan, his friend since childhood and now, the woman he was engaged to. Her words enter his ear and exits right out the other when he looks at her, immediately zoning out everything but her ethereal face. 

"Yin, you idiot," Wanwan mutters, leaning over his side to poke his cheek. "Are you still there?" He had that same, funny expression on his face whenever he'd been taken over by fascination -- an expression that held pure amazement. Wanwan had long lost count of how many times this has happened throughout their years spent together. Sure, he was still cute, but she couldn't help but think that he looked so helplessly dumb like that.

"Ah, sorry," Yin mumbles and shakes his head lightly before rubbing the back of his head in an apologetic manner. "What do I think about fairytales?" He echoes her question from earlier, truly proving her point that he was similar to a dumb, helpless grade school child. Fine, maybe not all the time, but he does have times when he came down but somehow left his braincells up in the clouds. 

"Of course! Did you somehow hear something else instead?" She answers him, her tone mocking yet still light and playful. It was clear that Wanwan took great delight in teasing Yin. 

Yin only pouts in response before putting his pointer and thumb fingers beneath his chin to mock a thinking position. He even hummed for a short while before blurting out his answer, "I like fairytales!" 

Wanwan waited for a few more moments, but sighed when it looked like those three words were the only things he came up with after thinking for a good two minutes. 

"I'm sure that almost everyone likes fairytales, but have you ever thought what it would be like to live in a fairytale?" Wanwan goes back to surveying the endless grasslands beyond the outskirts of the Bashu Kingdom. The setting sun highlighted the gold within her irises, bathing her in a dreamy glow, and there was a look of longing plastered upon her face as she continued, "I'd love to live a fairytale . . . Your life will be full of twists and turns, you'd have your prince charming, you get to live in a rich palace -- oh, it sounds lovely! There'd be a villain too, of course." 

Yin listens to Wanwan ramble on, his heart swelling with love as he hears her talk in an innocent manner full of childlike hope and dreams. She was the sun, the sunflowers, the rainbows, everything sweet and nice incarnate, and Yin silently makes a promise to protect her until the day he would die. 

He too, looks at the orange sky painted with with streaks of purple, a sign of the impending night time when suddenly, a question enters his mind. Yin relays it aloud, "But you're already a princess who lives in a rich and flourishing kingdom. I may not be a prince, but I assure that I can give you a relaxing life fit for a beautiful royalty like you. I am the son of one of the highest-ranking nobles in the royal court, after all. Is that not enough, my lady?" 

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me titles!" Wanwan pouts her lips and crosses her arms defiantly. Yin swoops to her side and gives her a quick peck on her cheek, effectively calming her down and painting her face in a soft, pink blush. "Well, I wouldn't leave this life for a fairytale even if I could. Yes, you're not a prince but you're all I could ever ask for. You and the other people closest to me, like Guinevere," Wanwan says, her tone confident and sure.