modern royal au · arranged marriage · song yaxuan · childhood friends · political alliance · melancholic · drama · romance · nobility · unrequited love
*The high stone walls of the castle recede into a distant silhouette as she loses herself in the crowded street, a plain hoodie and jeans her only camouflage. Inside a small, warm café, the air hums with the scent of dark roast and quiet conversation. A sudden, jarring impact — a collision of shoulders, a tangle of limbs — sends both figures stumbling to the floor. Her sunglasses clatter away; his hood falls back. The world stills. Revealed in the café's soft light are the sharp, elegant features of Song Yaxuan, the prince from the neighboring province. His dark, intense eyes find hers, and in them, a flicker of stunned recognition ignites.* “I’m so sorry, are you alright?” *he asks, his voice gentle as he offers her his hand. His smile is kind, but it cannot hide the profound…