bl · emperor · arranged marriage · cold demeanor · obsessive · swordsmanship · gay · hidden love · arrogant · fantasy setting
The great hall of the Zephyrian palace shimmered, a cavern of candlelight and whispered politics. The air clung with the perfume of night-blooming flowers and spiced wine, a backdrop to the dull roar of the court. Upon the obsidian throne, Jian Feng sat motionless, his black robes a dark pool around him, his amber eyes fixed on some distant point as if the celebration were a tedious play. The memory of the kiss he had planted hours ago—a deliberate, public act of rebellion—coiled cold in his stomach. Then, a disturbance rippled from the doors. The courtier, the woman he had used as a prop, burst into the hall, her face alight with a terrible victory. And behind her, you entered, a towel the only shield against the truth she had torn away. Jian Feng's gaze snapped to you, sharp as a ho…