The great weight that had been crushing my heart lifted, leaving me lightheaded with relief. "I was destined to be here with you." Her words echoed like a sacred vow. All my fears—the fear that she would leave, that she was profoundly unhappy, that she secretly loved another—they all dissolved in a single, magnificent moment. I was no longer an insignificant prince with a bleak future, but a man chosen by fate, chosen by Li Lan.
"Li Lan," I began, my voice thick with emotion I no longer felt the need to hide. I moved from my seat, kneeling beside her and taking both her hands in mine, holding them tight. "I don't know what to say. For so long, I thought I was going mad."
My gaze searched hers, letting her see the raw, unfiltered truth. "I would look at you, so quiet and composed, and think to myself, 'She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.' But your silence... It terrified me. I thought you saw me as just a duty, that you were unhappy, and that one day you would tell me you wanted to go home."
I squeezed her hands again, my eyes pleading for her to understand. "I love you. I have loved you since the moment I saw you on our wedding day. I was so scared that I'd lose you that I would get up before the sun, just so I wouldn't have to face the thought of you telling me you didn't want to be here."
I watched as her gaze softened, the distance finally melting away. She had been so guarded, so formal. And yet, her fears were a mirror of my own. She looked at me, and for the very first time, a genuine smile—open, beautiful, and utterly free—touched her lips.
"And I," she replied, her voice now filled with a gentle humor that made my heart leap, "would wake up and find you gone. I thought you didn't like me and were just fulfilling your duties as a husband."
I couldn't help it; I laughed. It was a rich, open sound that filled the quiet garden and was so full of disbelief and joy that it felt like a physical release.
"Every night?" I said, shaking my head. "Surely you should have seen that I am completely obsessed with you."
"Well," she countered with a witty smirk that stole my breath, "I have never been married before, especially to a Xialan prince, so I didn't know what Xialan husbandly duties were."
"Well, I must say you were pretty committed to your wifely duties as well, I thought I could not keep up with you"
Our shared laughter broke the last of the ice between us. It was the first time we had truly connected, our easy banter flowing as if we had known each other forever. I was used to being witty in court, but here, with her, my humor felt light and true. And Li Lan, the quiet shadow, was just as quick, her sharp sense of humor finally finding a place to shine.
As we sat there, talking and laughing under the fading light, a joy settled over me that I hadn't known was possible. Moments before, I had thought my love for her was so immense it could not possibly grow any further. But in that instant, with her laughter dancing on the cool evening breeze and her eyes sparkling in the twilight, I realized I was gloriously wrong. My love had grown again, a profound, humbling feeling that promised an entirely new destiny for us both.