Day One: The Parting
The Jin Mansion had never been so quiet. The laughter of servants had vanished. The bustling kitchens were silent unlike before.
Courtyards that once echoed with conversation now belonged only to armored footsteps and the distant clang of steel.
Every servant, child, craftsman, and non essential member of the household had already been evacuated under Luo He's orders.
Only five thousand Jin family guards remained behind, transforming the ancient residence into a fortress prepared for siege from a household.
The mansion had not lost its soul. It had merely sheathed it in steel. Strategically, Luo He should have departed before dawn. Every moment he remained here it delayed countless preparations else where.
People awaited instructions. Fleets required coordination. Supplies needed to be redirected. Yet none of those responsibilities could persuade him to leave early.
Not while she was still beside him. Soft morning sunlight filtered through the silk curtains, painting the room in warm gold.
Neither of them had bothered to rise.
They had spent the entire night together, stealing what might be their final hours of peace before the storm arrived. Now they simply remained where they were, unwilling to let reality intrude.
Jin Mulan rested comfortably atop him, her cheek pressed against his shoulder while listening to the slow, steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
Luo He's fingers wandered lazily across her back, tracing slow circles before gliding gently down the length of her spine. Every touch was careful, affectionate, almost absent-minded.
Neither spoke. Some silences were too precious to interrupt. Outside, soldiers drilled atop the walls. Inside, time itself seemed reluctant to move.
After several quiet minutes, Luo He finally smiled. "Honey..." His voice was soft enough to almost disappear beneath the morning breeze. "I need to ask you something." Jin Mulan didn't move.
Only a quiet hum answered him. His fingers paused briefly before continuing their gentle journey along her back. "If everything goes according to plan... I'll have to leave for quite some time."
She remained silent. "There will be negotiations, alliances, people who can be persuaded better through marriage." Another long silence followed.
"So I may end up in another woman's bed most likely." Everything froze. The warmth that had filled the room moments ago disappeared instantly.
Jin Mulan slowly lifted herself until she was looking directly into his eyes. No anger. No tears. Just complete silence.
She searched his face as though trying to determine whether he was joking.
Unfortunately, he wasn't. For several long moments neither spoke. The only sound inside the room was the distant singing of birds beyond the courtyard.
Eventually she lowered herself back onto his chest again, though this time her body remained noticeably tense. Her fingers quietly tightened around his shoulder. "So..." she whispered softly.
"I'm still not enough for you?" She asked with a voice filled with disappointment. The question carried no accusation. Only sadness.
Luo He closed his eyes for a moment. Of every battlefield he had ever stepped onto, this one frightened him the most.
He gently stroked her hair. "It was never because you're lacking." He said.
"Then why?" She asked coldly.
"Because that's the life I want." He answered without hesitation. "I don't marry women because politics ever forces me to. I use politics to marry the women I've already decided I want."
He smiled, completely unembarrassed.
"I like remarkable women. I like women with ambition. I like women who are beautiful."
"I like women who can stand beside me as equals. And I don't want only one story for the rest of my life."
Jin Mulan folded her arms, then looked at him for a long moment.
"So you simply enjoy collecting wives. I enjoy building different relationships. They're never the same. Every woman has a different personality, different dreams, different strengths."
"I enjoy discovering those differences. I enjoy living different lives with different people." He shrugged casually.
"I've never wanted my life to be homogeneous." He said proudly.
She sighed. "You are the most shameless man I've ever met in my life."
"I've been called worse." He shrugged.
"And you expect me to simply accept that?" She asked.
"I expect you to understand me." He said softly.
"I've never hidden who I am. If one day I stopped speaking honestly, that would be the day you should worry." He said.
For a long moment she simply looked at him. Then she let out a helpless laugh.
"You're impossible." She sighed.
"I know." Luo He chuckled.
"And somehow..." She leaned closer and rested her forehead against his. "...I still chose you." She said with a smile.
"So... if this war never happened," Luo He smiled to himself. "I'd probably still end up marrying more women."
She sighed. "I knew that." There wasn't even anger in her voice anymore. Only the weary acceptance of someone who had already learned exactly what kind of man her husband was.
Luo He was quiet for several seconds before talking once again. "It isn't because one woman isn't enough."
His fingers absentmindedly brushed through her hair. "And it isn't because I grow tired of the women I love." He smiled faintly. "Quite the opposite."
He looked toward the sunlight spilling through the window. "Every woman carries a different heart."
"They laugh differently. They become embarrassed differently. They trust differently. They love differently. And when they finally choose to open their hearts..."
He chuckled softly. "...the feeling is never the same twice." His eyes returned to hers. "I enjoy that difference. I enjoy discovering another person's world."
"The affection they give me doesn't feel identical simply because they're all women. Every relationship has its own rhythm. I never know what I'll find."
"And perhaps..." He shrugged with his usual shameless honesty. "...I enjoy that uncertainty. It makes me feel alive."
Jin Mulan stared at him. "So that's your thrill?" She asked.
"Some what like it." He answered genuinely.
"You hopeless man..." She sighed, unable to hide the affection in her voice.
"I've never denied it." He said.
She gave him light smack on the shoulder. "I should have married someone normal." She said with indifference.
"You almost did." Luo He answered.
"I almost changed my mind." She said.
"I'm aware." He said proudly.
A reluctant smile tugged at her lips. "You know everything. Don't you?" She tugged at his shoulder.
Then she murmured rather softly. "I still don't like sharing you."
"I know." He said.
"But I also know..." She leaned forward until their foreheads touched. "...you never stop loving the person already beside you." She gently kissed on his forehead.
Luo He's smile softened. "How could I ?My heart doesn't replace people. It simply makes room." She closed her eyes and sighed.
"That's exactly why it's so difficult to stay angry with you."
He laughed quietly. "I've heard that before." He said proudly.
"You'll hear it again." She tugged at him once again.
"And I'll deserve it every time." He said joyfully.
She lightly hit his shoulder once again.
He caught her hand before she could escape and kissed the back of it.
"I really enjoy being with you like this honey, just the two of us."
She couldn't stop herself from smiling.
Only for a second. Then it disappeared again. "Just promise me one thing."
"Anything in my power." Luo He said.
"No matter how many marriages you arrange..." She leaned forward until their foreheads touched. "...you will always belong to me."
There was no jealousy in her voice now.
Only certainty. "My husband. My home. My idiot." She said.
"My greatest pleasure isn't chasing the world, husband." She smiled very softly, leaning into him until her forehead rested against his shoulder.
"It's being with you. And only you. I don't want anyone else."
Her arms slipped around his neck as she nestled closer, as though trying to erase even the smallest distance between them and become one with him.
"I just want my shameless, scumbag husband all to myself." There wasn't any real anger in her voice, only helpless affection and quiet possessiveness.
She rubbed her cheek gently against his shoulder, laughing under her breath at her own words before placing a trail of feather-light kisses across his chest.
"That's my happiness," she whispered. "Knowing that when everything is over, you'll still come home to me."
She closed her eyes and rested against him, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
"I know I can't change who you are. But let me be the one place your heart always returns to. That's enough for me."
Luo He smiled warmly.
"I could cross the entire world. I could marry a hundred women. I could rule the world tomorrow or die trying, but when I'm tired," he gently brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll still come home to you." He said softly.
Her eyes shimmered. She leaned down and kissed him. Slowly. Not passionately.
Simply long enough to remember him.
When they finally separated she rested her forehead against his once again. "I'll remember that."
They remained together for another hour.
Talking. Laughing. Falling into deep yet comfortable silence once again.