Empress Xie

Empress Xie•8

Jun Qi Fai

In my life, I have only loved one person.

You are exactly as I remember. Too beautiful to be mortal, too pure to be touched by us tainted brothers. But here we are again, wanting you, desiring you more than we should.

You deserve more than a braggart, a snake, a fool, and a brat. But I will be selfish. In this lifetime I will not seat by and let the world drive me to death's door, I will not watch you be tricked into the arms of another.

You, who looked directly at me without fear or trepidation, who cried for me when no one else did, defended me in the face of a world that stood against me...forgive me for being selfish.

I want to be selfish with you.

The Third Prince of Jun Qi, the one said to be born from a demon's blessing and a Consort's selfish wish, that is who I am. Jun Qi Fai.

One day I had a long, terrifying, dream, a dream to last a lifetime. In the dream,'the naive Third Prince lived his life unloved by his Fuhuang1 and hated by his Mufei. He did not want for the throne, but dreamed of a life outside of the palace and away from the schemes and bloodshed.

What a naive fool.

Demonic and royal blood clashed within him. He should have known either an unexpected death or a throne atop a mountain of corpses were the only two fates allotted to him by heaven.

His beloved was snatched by a two-faced serpent, his reputation was torn to shreds, his mother died by his hands, and he eventually died as a traitor at the age of thirty.

The one and only thing he did not regret was meeting you. Unable to get as close to you as he'd like, he watched from afar, taking every chance to talk to you like it was his last.

He fell in love with your honest gaze first, then everything else in a natural, unstoppable, sequence. At his persecution you defended him, and at his execution you alone wore plain clothes in grief with pearly tears trailing down your face.

His final thought was; if some being out there allowed the two of you to meet again, he would reach out to you with no hesitation. He would hold onto you and love you, never laying eyes on another as long as you both shall live.

Someone listened and a ten year old Jun Qi Fai awoke from the long, terrifying, dream.

~~*~~

For as long as anyone could remember, Jun Qi Fai lived like a passerby. Perhaps there was a time he was a lively and boisterous child, but from the age of ten to the time he went off to war, none could remember him ever showing the slightest awareness of his rank.

He always seemed solemn and bored, only seen when it was required of him to appear then fading back into the confines of his palace. It was this unambitious side of him that angered Consort Mo to madness. Everyone thought this character also angered the Emperor which was the reason Jun Qi Fai went to war at the age of seventeen though Jun Qi Kang is rumored to have the best martial arts prowess.

When he left, some thought; Good riddance. While others shook their heads in pity. If only the Third Prince were born a commoner he wouldn't die such a tragic death.