there is no law that emperors must be fair || jing yuan

No Law, But His

As soon as your head hit the pillow, it seemed like it was already time to get up and get ready for your day out with Jing Yuan, and honestly… you were nervous. Your whole body would erupt into shivering fits as you would steadily get ready and put on a dress suitable for the cold night air. And as soon as your hair was fixed and Blade announced himself, it was already time to go.

Though, even as he let himself in, something felt off with the guard. You could tell. But… you weren’t exactly sure what it was. And it wasn’t like you could ask him either. You weren’t close to the man at all, nor did you care to find out anything else about him either. Well, mainly because he and that damn Vidyahara are forcing you to steal from the emperor.

“You should be careful tonight, princess.”

He was carefully walking you down the stairs in slow deliberate steps. You frowned at his words and looked up at him.

“What… what do you mean?”

“The emperor…,” he paused and shook his head, “the emperor is dangerous. One wrong move and he will see through your façade with ease.”

“You and Dan Heng keep telling me that, but just let me do my thing, ok? I can handle it.”

There it was again. That off feeling, but now it didn’t feel like it was coming from Blade but from somewhere else, so you stopped and looked around for a moment.

“What are you doing?”

You tried to see if someone was following, but found no one, “it’s nothing…just my imagination, I guess.”

You turned back around and grabbed onto Blade’s arm to hold yourself steady. Once at the bottom however, Jing Yuan was already found waiting for you. His warm smile unsettled you slightly.

“My love.”

His voice was so warm, it made your heart skip, but you steeled yourself. He was playing with you, you knew this. He never acted like this before. That much was for sure. Letting go of Blade’s arm, you gently took a hold of Jing Yuan’s hand.

“Blade, you can retire for the day. Your presence won’t be needed.”

The sudden order caught him off guard, but he begrudgingly agreed to it nonetheless. The princess was on her own. Bowing to you and to Jing Yuan he dismissed himself. And you could only watch your guard leave you here to fend for yourself.

“Don’t worry Princess, I won’t bite you,” Jing Yuan’s soft chuckle shouldn’t have been as soothing as it was. But you couldn’t deny how it managed to slow your rapidly beating heart.

“Of- of course, Emper- Jing Yuan.”

He patted your hand gently as he led you to the massive front door of his castle. The last time you had seen this big door was when you were forcefully taken here as his future wife… It still seemed so unreal that he was letting you walk with him outside of-

You paused at the thought.

Blade wasn’t joining you, you both will probably be going into town, which means… I can escape!

You managed to hide your smile as you gently leaned in closer to the Emperor.

It will be sad to not be able to go back to your home, but your father had given you away to begin with so what was the point in going back? Why not make a new life elsewhere far far away from the Emperor’s intimidating gaze? He owned this whole country, but he only ever leaves the capital for war campaigns. And you always wanted to see snow, so you could always travel far to his nation’s border close to the north in the countryside and start a life there.

Living your own life didn’t sound so bad. No Blade, no dan heng, no jing yuan. Just you. And a new life!

The walk into town was a short one, one that quickly brought you out of your daydreaming stupor. And as expected there were a plentiful of people bustling around. And Jing Yuan looked to be focused on the crowd careful to avoid any stray pickpockets or would-be assassins. And the farther you both traversed into the town’s square made your heart immediately become erratic. Your eyes watching for any clear sign of escape until…

There!

Yanking your hand from his grip you dashed in between the throngs of people. Luckily you chose a more plain looking dress that could match the high society girls of the capital and not that of a princess, so you could blend right in.

Dashing in-between people, you thought you were getting away, wel, until you felt a tight grip on your forearm and a sudden pull, and all too quickly you found yourself thrown into an alley way. The people around, as busy as they are, didn’t even notice.

“Running away?”

The man looked unfamiliar to you, but everything about him screamed “assassin” at you.

“Moze. Good, you caught her.”

Your eyes widened when you turned your head to see Jing Yuan enter the alley. His hands clasped behind his back, his head tilted slightly up so he was looking down at you, and his eyes…his eyes were glowing a bright, striking yellow. You stumbled back with each step forward he took, and soon found yourself tumbling to the dirty ground.

“E- emperor.”

He made a tut sound, “I asked you to call me Jing Yuan, remember?”

He crouched down in front of you as Moze went to go block the alley way’s entry.

“That was really bad of you, you know. Staging your little amnesia incident. For a moment, I would of believed your act, but want to know what gave you away?”

He didn’t wait for you to nod as he reached out and caressed your cheek ever so gently.

“It was Blade. He looked so protective of you. Then again, it wasn’t like he would protect you in the end. One simple order from my lips and he’s obeying like a loyal dog. Now…,” his hand stopped caressing you and instead reached for the back of your neck, and ever so harshly he pulled you forward so your faces were mere inches apart. The position made your neck ache. Your hands could only bunch up in your dress as you didn’t want him to see them shaking so uncontrollably.

“Why? Why create such an elaborate plan princess?”

You bit your lip. There was nothing you could do but answer him. He could kill you at nay moment. Running was never an option it seems.

He was prepared.

“I wanted to get out of this engagement with you. You- you took me from my home. And even when you brought me here all you do is scheme, and plan, and take, and mess around with those maids. I’ve become a laughingstock. Though, to be honest, I could care less about the maids and servants laughing at me because at the end of the day I was just  a hostage princess with nowhere to go. I thought if I could lose my memories somehow, then you wouldn’t be interested in some useless, dumb, broken girl.”

“And Blade and Dan Heng’s involvement?”

“They wanted me to steal a key from you. That was all. They said that once I did that, I would then steal a key from my father, and then and only then will I be free.”

Jing Yuan merely chuckled, “and moze… what do you think?”

“I think she is just a naïve little girl.”

“And?”

“It still doesn’t change the fact that she tried to deceive you.”

Jing Yuan let go of your hair and stood back up. His lightning blade materializing into his hand.

“Your honesty will be cherished, princess, but your crime against me will not go unpunished. But for you, it will be freeing. Death will release you from the engagement with me.”

You couldn’t stop your tears then, your eyes looking up to him, “death is the only way? And what crime? I just wanted to go home!”

Jing Yuan chuckled again, but his laugh did not soothe you like before, “foolish princess. There is no law that emperors must be fair.”

And when he raised and swung his blade down onto you, you wished… you wished that there was someone…anyone who could give you a second chance.