𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲'𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 || 敵の旦那様 (𝐁𝐋) ✔ [COMPLETE]

75. Peace

Jing Hui was standing before him in lavish attire; extravagant and decked in all kinds of stones and metals to grace the Blazing Sun. Her eyes painted in liquid gold and lips heavily tinted in blood red rouge, she had turned more than a few heads in the Military camp as she walked by them and entered the General's tent. She stood facing the General who continued to ignore her while working on the parchments before him.

A few awkward minutes passed as he kept reading, then finally realised that somebody was in the tent and looked up.

"Oh, my sweetheart!" She shrieked as soon as she saw him paying her attention and waltzed over to his desk, crying in her singsong voice, "You have no clue how much my maiden heart missed your manly demeanour and self while you were away battling for the glory and valour of-,"

"Why are you here?" Haoran cut in.

"Humph! 'Why' you ask..." She pouted and clutched the edge of her silk shawl that was draped around her shoulders, "As if you really do not know after breaking my heart countless times."

"You should stop that," General Haoran said, placing his parchment away.

"Stop what? After what you did to my tokens of love that I sent time and time again since the sanctioning of our marriage by the Emperor, you still dare to feign ignorance by saying such things... my maiden heart is shattered into a thousand pieces."

"You as well as I know those were not tokens of love," General Haoran said icily, "And please take no offence as I'm not one to raise my hands against the fairer sex but I can definitely make a few exceptions if you keep this up. By that time, I assure you, it wouldn't be just your heart shattered to a thousand pieces."

Jing Hui visibly froze after hearing the open threat and took a step back. Then contemplated running with her tail behind her back but decided against it because the general couldn't possibly do anything to harm her. This marriage was the Emperor's order. If he tried anything remotely hazardous to her, the Emperor was sure to reckon it an action of rebellion against him.

At this realisation her eyes began to water with tears unshed, "You always deny me the trivial pleasure of knowing I too have a place in your thoughts and bosom- I do not know why you go out of your way to not acknowledge my feelings for you. What in the world can make you accept me?"

"Listen, I meant what I said earlier-,"

And then she was immediately at his side. "I've harboured such longing for you for so long. Ever since I laid my eyes on you for the first time at your 15th ageing ceremony. Do you know how hard my maiden heart beats at the mere sight of you wielding that sword?" She purred at him, looking at him with her doe-eyes still full of tears, "And every time you just brush off my ministrations for you. Just what would it take for you to stop rejecting my gallant affection for you?"

"Maybe the day you stop trying to pretend to love me," He threw her arms away, "I can stop rejecting your 'gallant affections' and try to stop myself from imminently killing you off in the process too."

Jing Hui gave him one last glance before her, sticking her tongue out at him, "What a boring man."

The General continued to glance at her as she removed her scarf and heavy clothing and sat with her legs apart- in the most unladylike manner- and spat, "Seriously, I do not know who's worse; you for loving that scrawny mosquito guy who looks like the human form of the word, 'stupid' or him for loving a man like you who has absolutely no romantic bone in your body."

"And you told me that just a minute ago how much your heart lurched at just my sight." Haoran pointed nonchalantly.

Jing Hui scoffed, "Please. You hardly have anything going on for you except that face, body and title of yours. If you were some peasant with that character of yours, you can consider yourself unwedded for the rest of your life. And I wouldn't be here if it weren't for that title you have either."

"I do not care for what anybody else thinks of my appearance nor standing," he said and paused.

"Indeed, indeed," she clapped her hands. "You absolutely do not care for what anybody thinks of you except that Silver Mountain guy. That much everyone in Blazing Sun knows at this point and I'm not here to listen to the legacy of your pathetic love life today, Imperial General."

"Why are you here?"

"Because I have been wanting to know why you keep pushing me back," Jing Hui spoke. "This isn't about whether I love you or you love somebody else. The Emperor ordained us to marry, so we do. And you agreed, but you refuse me in public so desperately. This... it cannot be because you think he'd somehow choose you and you might have him if you keep refusing?"

General Haoran looked away, "I do not think that."

"A horrible liar, Your Imperial General," said Jing Hui, "But if you think he'd choose you again, after all those times when he gave up on you, you're indeed naïve. He does not have the chance nor opportunity to choose you anymore, at least not before the Emperor."

"It is not about him choosing me," General Haoran said. "It is about my inability to choose another. I do not wish to wrong another in the form of marriage when I know I can never provide them happiness."

He looked at Jing Hui straight. "I shall never be able to love you even if we marry."

"It is fine on my end," Jing Hui shrugged, "I am not marrying you for love either—it is for the betterment of life and for the glory of your title only. It does sound vain and despicable, but so is life; to gripe about the despicability of life and thrive on it anyway is the nature of life. But I believe even in the despicability there would be happiness."

"There is no happiness for me in this marriage."

"Then peace," Jing Hui shrugged again, "I do not want happiness either. I hardly ever had one when my father was alive. Sometimes peace can afford greater relief than happiness and peace can give way to a better and nobler life than we presume. So what do you say... shall we look for peace together?" She stretched her hand towards the General.

The General looked at it for half a minute before hesitantly placing his hand on hers.

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