Crown Prince’s Private Chambers – That Night

The thunder outside had dulled to a low growl. The rain still fell, but softer now, as if the heavens knew they were no longer needed to echo her rage.

Shen Lianhua sat by the window, shoulders bare beneath a silken robe, lost in the flicker of candlelight. Her mind should’ve been on strategies, names, and retribution.

But it wasn’t.

It was on him—the only man who had ever stood behind her without asking her to bow.

Li Shenzhao stepped into the room silently, his robes already loose. No crown. No sword. Just him.

He crossed to her and knelt—not out of submission, but out of something rarer: complete trust.

“You didn’t sleep,” he murmured, brushing a lock of hair from her cheek.

“I didn’t want to.”

“Because of him?”

“Because of everything.”

She turned to him, expecting questions. Warnings. A reminder of court games and imperial limits.

Instead, he leaned in and kissed her palm. Slowly. Reverently.

“You don’t have to justify anything to me,” he said.

“I stood beside you knowing what you were capable of. And I love you because of it—not in spite of it.”

Her breath caught.

He stood and pulled her up gently, his hands sliding along her waist, untying the robe she hadn’t even realized was still clinging to her.

“You’ve carried power all day,” he said, pressing his lips to her shoulder. “Now let me carry you.”

Later – Beneath the Canopy

He worshipped her with no rush. No fire. Only devotion.

He kissed her thighs like they were scripture. He ran his hands over every curve as if committing her to memory again and again.

And when she trembled beneath him, arching into every touch, he whispered—

“There will never be another.”

“In this life or the next, only you.”

“You are not my equal—”

She flinched. But he continued:

“You are more.”

“My sword is yours. My name is yours. Even the crown, if you ask for it—yours.”

When he moved inside her, it wasn’t possession.

It was promise.

And when she came undone in his arms, it wasn’t just release.

It was safe.

After, her head rested on his chest, heart finally steady.

“You’re not afraid of what I’ll become?” she asked quietly.

“No,” he murmured, holding her tighter. “Because whatever you become… we’ll become it together.”