Tianyin looked at Yanlong, crouching before her, holding her foot with a gentleness she had never believed possible from him.
His fingers were warm against her cold skin.
Firm, but not rough.
Precise, but not cold.
She felt her heart do something strange inside her chest.
Something she refused to name.
“W-What…
what are you doing?” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
“I’m trying to remove this.”
His voice was focused.
Professional.
As though he were discussing a technical problem that needed solving, rather than the foot of a woman resting in his hands.
With his free hand, he traced a symbol through the air.
A green light appeared around the bracelet.
It shone brilliantly for several seconds, weaving intricate patterns that overlapped, intertwined, and tried to penetrate the metal.
Then it faded away.
The bracelet remained untouched.
Yanlong frowned.
He tried another symbol.
This time, the light was blue.
Cold as ice.
It enveloped the bracelet, making it vibrate slightly.
The tiny bell chimed.
Nothing.
A third symbol.
Golden.
Warm.
Powerful.
The light erupted around Tianyin’s ankle with such intensity that she flinched.
She felt the heat.
The pressure.
The energy trying to shatter the invisible bonds anchoring the bracelet in place.
But when the light faded…
The bracelet was still there.
Yanlong released her foot.
Slowly rose to his feet.
A rare trace of frustration crossed his face—
A crack in the impassive mask he wore at all times.
“The magic is ancient.”
“I can’t do anything.”
Tianyin looked at him.
No one had ever been this close to her before.
No one had ever touched her feet.
No one had ever held them with such care…
Such attention.
In the Celestial Realm, that was something intimate.
Something deeply personal.
Reserved for husbands.
For lovers.
And Yanlong had done it as though it were nothing.
As though it were perfectly natural.
As though she already belonged to him.
She felt her face grow unbearably hot.
No.
Stop thinking about that.
It’s nothing.
He was only trying to remove the bracelet.
That’s all.
Nothing more.
But her heart refused to listen.
It beat too fast.
Too hard.
As though it had decided to betray her.
She rejected the feeling.
The warmth spreading through her chest.
The confusion clouding her thoughts.
She didn’t want to feel this way about him.
Not for a man she had never chosen.
Not for a marriage forced upon her.
She abruptly stood up.
Straightened her robe to hide her bare feet.
She shoved those intrusive thoughts away with the violence of someone refusing to acknowledge their own feelings.
Then she headed for the door.
She had to leave.
Now.
Before the situation became even more unbearable.
Her hand touched the handle.
A metallic sound echoed through the room.
Yanlong’s sword—
Still sheathed—
Had been laid across the doorway.
Horizontally.
Completely blocking her path.
Tianyin froze.
He was looking at her with an expression she had never seen before.
Something dark.
Something possessive.
Something that sent a chill down her spine.
“You’re not leaving tonight.”
Each word fell like a sentence of judgment.
Tianyin straightened her back.
She refused to let him see that he intimidated her.
She refused to retreat.
She was a princess of the Celestial Realm.
She feared no one.
Least of all him.
“You have no right to keep me here!” she shot back, meeting his gaze without flinching.
He leaned toward her.
Their faces were now only inches apart.
She could feel his breath against her skin.
She could see the golden flecks shimmering in his dark eyes.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?” he murmured.
A smile curved his lips.
Mocking.
Provocative.
Almost cruel.
“So…
is that why you married me, Princess?”
Tianyin felt anger explode inside her chest.
“No one in this world would ever want to marry a man like you!” she spat.
The smile widened.
“A man like me.”
“You’re cold!”
“Merciless!”
“You don’t feel anything!”
“You don’t even know what love is!”
The smile vanished.
Instantly.
Silence crashed over the room like a suffocating weight.
Yanlong looked at her.
And in his eyes…
She saw something dangerous.
He seized her wrist and pulled her toward him in one swift motion.
She collided against his chest.
So close that she could feel the warmth of his body through the thin fabric of her robe.
His hand released her wrist.
Slowly slid upward.
Then cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.
“You’re insolent.”
Tianyin tried to pull away.
But his grip was like steel.
She couldn’t move.
She couldn’t step back.
She was trapped.
“Even your own father kept you hidden from the world.”
“Does that remind you of anything?”
The words struck Tianyin like slaps across the face.
She didn’t answer.
She couldn’t.
She felt tears welling up in her eyes.
No.
Not now.
Not in front of him.
Don’t let him see that it hurts.
She refused to let them fall.
She looked him straight in the eyes…
And smiled.
A bitter smile.
A wounded smile.
But a proud one.
“Then I suppose we’re even,” she said, her voice trembling.
Yanlong released her abruptly.
She stumbled backward.
Nearly lost her balance.
Caught herself against the wall.
They looked at each other.
Two strangers.
Two enemies.
Two people bound together by fate against their will…
Who were discovering they were incapable of coexisting.
The silence stretched between them like a taut rope ready to snap.
He turned away.
“You’re not my type.”
He began unfastening his belt.
His movements were slow.
Deliberately slow.
As though he knew exactly what effect they would have.
“I will never love you.”
The words echoed inside Tianyin’s mind like a blow.
Never.
She remained motionless.
The words lodged in her throat, somewhere between anger…
And something she didn’t yet understand.
“Don’t worry,” she replied, trying to keep her voice steady.
“I’ll never love you either.”
Then she walked out.
The door slammed shut behind her.
Out in the corridor, Tianyin collapsed against the wall.
Her legs were trembling.
Her hands were trembling.
Her whole body shook as though she had just survived a battle.
She pressed a hand against her chest.
Her heart was beating too fast.
Too hard.
As though it were about to burst.
What just happened?
Why do I feel like this?
Why does it hurt so much?
She heard footsteps approaching.
Immediately, she straightened.
She wiped her face.
Composed her expression.
A maid appeared at the end of the corridor.
Young.
Smiling.
Completely unaware of the storm that had just swept through the room.
“Your Highness?”
“Your chamber is ready.”
“If you’ll please follow me…”
Tianyin nodded.
She followed the maid in silence.
Her bare feet glided soundlessly across the lacquered wooden floor.
The chamber was large.
Enormous, even.
Its high ceiling disappeared into the shadows.
Masterpieces adorned the walls—
Snow-covered mountain landscapes.
Bamboo forests shrouded in mist.
Graceful cranes soaring through the sky.
Jade lanterns cast a pale, tranquil light throughout the room.
And at the very center…
There were two beds.
Two completely separate beds.
Several meters apart.
Each on opposite sides of the chamber.
Tianyin stopped in the doorway.
“Why are there two beds?” she asked.
The maid smiled with disarming innocence.
“The bed on the left is yours, Your Highness.”
“The one on the right belongs to His Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Tianyin froze.
“Yanlong is sleeping here?”
“Of course!” the maid answered cheerfully.
“You’re already married, after all!”
She said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
As though it were perfectly normal.
As though Tianyin had no reason to be worried.
“I’ll leave you to settle in,” the maid added with a bow.
“If you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to call.”
She left.
The door closed softly behind her.
Tianyin remained standing in the middle of the room.
Alone.
In a chamber she was expected to share…
With a man who had just sworn he would never love her.
A man she had just sworn she would never love in return.
She looked at the two beds.
Then hurried to the neatly folded clean clothes resting on hers.
She had to change.
Extinguish every candle.
Draw the dividing curtains.
Make sure he wouldn’t see her when he came in.
Make sure they wouldn’t have to face each other tonight.
Not after what had just happened.
She quickly slipped into the white silk nightgown.
Extinguished the candles one by one.
Pulled the heavy white curtains that separated the two halves of the chamber.
As though a physical barrier could erase what had happened between them.
Then she lay down on her bed.
Closed her eyes.
And tried to sleep.
But sleep never came.