"The palace is so huge!" Enlai, my youngest sibling, said as he plucked grass from the ground. His dark hair was messy and he was dressed in his usual clothes. Lanfen was sitting on the bench next to me, watching as Enlai ran his fingers through the grass.

She nodded in agreement. "I never would've imagined that we would be guests in the palace."

"And you're even married to the emperor!" Enlai said, his eyes wide. "I can't believe you married the Dragon, Daiyu! How is he? I've heard so many stories of him that it's hard to believe that we're family now!" He jumped to his feet and made weird hand motions, a giant grin on his face. "I heard that he kills people mercilessly and that he took down hundreds of men in the battle of Dragon Lake!"

Lanfen shrugged and smoothed down her dress. "It would be stupid to think that they're lies. I think they might be true."

"Do you really think so?"

"After seeing that he has so many strong fighters, it's no surprise," she continued. "There's that black haired boy, the redhead, the boy with green eyes, those two pretty foreign girls, that . . . that demon boy, and that's not even including all the high ranked soldiers. I wouldn't be surprised that the emperor is that strong. Strong people are usually led by even stronger people."

We all sat in silence for a moment before Enlai spoke, his voice soft as he stared down at his worn out clothes and his calloused hands. "I don't know why he would choose commoners like us. You're really pretty, Daiyu, but I'm scared that he chose you because you're pretty. What will happen when he gets more wives and concubines? I don't want you to be forgotten in the palace, alone and . . . hurt."

I opened my mouth to tell him that there was no way that would happen, but I stopped myself, hesitation and doubt getting the best of me. To be honest, I knew that what he was saying was true. Once Meilin was tired of me, he would look for more women to satisfy his needs. Even if he wasn't tired of me, he could still have multiple women around him. I didn't want to vie for his attention and I didn't want to deal with other women taking my position.

I wanted to be Meilin's one and only.

It was a childish thought, though, and there was always going to be the possibility that I would lose importance in the midst of more beautiful, younger women.

"I . . . I honestly don't know what to do if—when—that happens," I said in a strained voice. I clasped my hands together and stared at the ground, my lips pressed together in a firm line. "I know that eventually he will find other women, but . . . but I don't want him to. Is it selfish for me to think this way? It's his right as a man and as the emperor to have as many women as he wants, but . . . but I can't accept that. I don't want to." My voice shook and I inhaled sharply, my throat closing up as I stared at my lap.

"Daiyu, I also want to be the only one for my husband, whoever he may be," Lanfen said after a moment. Her dark eyes were wide as she spoke and she holding in her tears, her lower lip trembling. "I don't think it's wrong to feel that way; it might be impractical, but it's not selfish."

Right when I was about to say something once more, Enlai jumped to his feet and stared off at the distance. Following his gaze, my heart raced when I saw Meilin walking towards us. He was dressed as he usually was and he had a somewhat neutral expression on his face. Remus and Vita were beside him, both of them wearing nonchalant expressions as well.

Remus's gaze flicked from me to Lanfen, and I noticed that Lanfen bristled, her eyes wide and her fingers curling around the bench as she stared at the demon boy. The fear radiated off of her so strongly that I was scared that she would hurt Remus's feelings, but one look at him told me he didn't seem to care, since he was staring at her.

"Daiyu," Meilin said as he neared me. He stopped and glanced over at Enlai, who was watching him with bug eyes. He smiled. "You're . . . Wen?"

He shook his head. "That's one of the twins. I'm Enlai, the youngest one."

"Enlai," Meilin said, nodding. He turned to Lanfen, who was sitting next to me, petrified. Her gaze was locked on Remus and they both were intently staring at each other, though Lanfen looked as if she was too scared to look away. "And Ai, right?"

"Master," Remus said, finally ripping his gaze away from Lanfen to look at Meilin. He tugged at the ends of his gray hair, his red-black gaze serious. "That's Lanfen."

Lanfen's eyes widened and she swallowed.

"Oh, really?" Meilin frowned and glanced over at her. She hesitated but then bobbed her head before staring back down at her lap.

"It's a pleasure to see you three here," Vita continued in a detached voice as she scanned the premise. She didn't seem at all concerned with the strained interaction between Remus and Lanfen, and instead looked more interested in our surroundings.

Meilin also didn't seem too concerned and instead studied me. His dark eyes were on me and my chest tightened at the sight of him. His skin was as pale as ever, contrasting so beautifully with his ebony colored eyes. "Daiyu, would you like to take a walk with me?"

I blinked back and calmed my racing heart before coming to my feet, my eyes glued to the grassy ground. "I would love to."

"Master," Vita said. "Don't burden yourself too much, you're still healing."

"Don't worry about me, Vita."

"If you say so."

"Daiyu, shall we?"

We both started walking around the vast garden and although I wanted to enjoy my walk with me, my emotions were in a disarray. I couldn't stop fidgeting and thinking about concubines and wives, and if—or when—Meilin's attention would slip away from me. Meilin had told me that he loved me, but how long would that last? How much longer until he found other people to love?

Jealousy was an ugly darkness in my heart, and the more I thought about other women, the more my heart broke.

"Let's sit down for a second," he said when a bench came into line of sight. He touched his abdomen and frowned, his eyes darkening. "I hate being injured; I can't do anything that I want to. Even daily tasks are harder than they should be."

When we both sat down, I still couldn't meet his gaze. I knew that if he looked into my eyes, he would see the ugliness brewing in my heart.

After a moment of silence, he spoke. "What's wrong?"

I swallowed, my chest aching as I stared at the grassiness around us. "N-Nothing—"

"I'm not stupid," he said as he leaned back against the bench. "Is something not to your liking?"

"No, everything's fine."

"Don't lie to me." His voice was cold and strong, striking a chord in me and making me flinch back. When I stared at him, I saw that his eyes were trained on me and for the millionth time, I felt like a little rabbit trapped beneath his claw. His dark eyes were pools of black, while mine were wide and soft.

Even though I should've felt fear, gnawing and wild, I . . . didn't. instead, my heart pounded and my chest felt tight. When I looked at him, I could feel myself become undone and words were lost to me.

"I want you to only want me," I whispered without thinking, the back of my eyes burning as I ingrained his beautiful imagine in my mind. I didn't fear him at this moment, and I felt so much around him that I couldn't think. I felt like I couldn't breathe. Jealousy and pain tainted my lips and I wanted nothing more than to touch him, embrace him, kiss him.

The shock registered on his face as my words hit him. He blinked back and continued watching me, his expression unreadable. His eyes were burning with emotion as he stared at me, but I couldn't understand what was lurking in his ebony colored gaze.

"Wha—"

"I don't want you to have concubines and wives," I mumbled, the words spilling out of me, as if the dam inside of me had been split open and all my emotions were pouring out. Tears welled up in my eyes as I stared at him, my hand reaching forward to touch his. His skin was calloused from war and fighting, while mine was calloused from work. I tightened my grip on his hand. "I want you to love me and only me. I can't share you with other women and I don't want to think of you having other women by your side. I want you to only sleep with me, and I want you to call me your little rabbit. I want to be yours and only yours, and I want you to be mine and only mine. I don't have a big enough heart to let you love other women—"

My words broke off and I sniffled, tears streaming down my face. I averted my gaze and tore my hand away from his, burying my face in my hands and sobbing to myself. My shoulders shook and racked back and forth as I sobbed, unable to control the rampant emotions overtaking my very being.

"Dai—"

"You said it yourself," I said when I raised my head to meet his gaze. Tears blurred my vision and my voice shook, my words swallowed up with incoherent sobs. "Y-You said that you love too easily. You'll find other women and . . . and I can't bear the thought of that happening—"

"It's true that emperors typically have harems, but the one I love is you. If I wanted a harem, I would've already gotten one a while ago."

"Nikator told me that when you were in Sanguis, you were with multiple women almost every night," I said as I rubbed at my eyes. "I know you like women."

He was silent for a moment. "Nikator said that?"

"Yes."

His eyes were wide before he rubbed the nape of his neck. "I didn't know he knew about that."

"I—"

"Look, Daiyu, I understand that you'll have a hard time believing me when I say this but I don't plan on having any other women. After the incident with Erato—the woman I loved in Sanguis who was sleeping with other men while she was with me—I don't really have the heart to be with many people at the same time. That time with her changed me and when I found out she was with other men, I was jealous, angry, humiliated and hurt. The worst part was that she didn't think that what she did was wrong. In fact, she wasn't even hiding it, but I still found out much too late. It was a typical thing for her and for some people in Sanguis, so . . . I honestly don't want the same thing to happen."

All of my thoughts were on hold as his words registered in my head. Did that mean that he wasn't planning on having concubines? I voiced my thoughts out loud, my voice barely above a whisper. "You won't have . . . concubines?"

"I won't have anyone other than you."

"T-Then, will I be able to share a room with you?" The request was out of my mouth before I could even think of what I was saying. My cheeks heated up but I didn't back down. My room was situated in a different part of the palace than the emperor's chambers, and if Meilin ever wanted to visit me, he would have to come to my room. The rooms were set that way since the emperor could go to his concubines' rooms whenever he needed them. It was unheard of for the emperor and the empress to share a room, but it was even more absurd that the emperor wouldn't take any concubines.

He opened his mouth to say something but then shut it, his dark eyes lighting up with amusement. The corner of his mouth lifted and twisted into a smirk. "My little rabbit is becoming quite bold. You would've never requested anything like that from me before." He grazed his finger over my flushed cheeks. "If that's what you want, you can share my room."

I swiped away the remnants of my tears and sniffled. "Thank you."

He sighed and tilted his head back until he was staring at the sky. "I still can't believe Nik told you that."

"He's very talkative."

"I didn't want them to know too much about that." He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed louder this time. "Sometimes I don't know if I even raised them right. In case you haven't noticed already, I'm not exactly the best role model."

"Don't be hard on yourself; I think you raised them just fine."

He frowned and shrugged. "Minos is sleeping around too much; it's gotten to the point that some of the servants have started fighting over him." He shook his head in disbelief. "There's nothing wrong with any of them, of course, but I guess I still think of them as small kids. It's hard to think that Thera sleeps seduces men for information, that Nikator understands that I've slept around, and that Minos wants a different woman every night. I still want to protect their innocence, I guess. They're older, I get that, but it's hard."

"You're like their father," I said with a soft smile. "Of course it's going to be hard that your kids are growing up."

"K-Kids?" He shook his head. "No—"

"Bohai and Fang are like your younger brothers, since you also raised them, but the Peccata are like your kids." I grinned wider and rested a hand atop his, entwining my fingers with his. "I think you did a fine job raising them up and even if you won't admit it, those kids are your family."

He was quiet for a moment. "I've always had a bad connotation with family. I've always hated my father and my brother, so the concept of family has always been twisted for me. You're someone who values family as something very important, unlike me. I can't think of describing anyone as my family. I hate that word, in all honesty." He stared down at our clasped hands before looking back up at the sky. "But, you know, you might be right. Even if I won't use that term to describe us, I think that it's true. Fang, Bohai, Atreus, Minos, Nikator, Remus, Vita, and Thera, they're all very important to me."

"They all love you dearly."

"I also love Daewon and Yat-sen. They're my nephews, my blood relatives. I hate that they're the children of my brother, but they're somehow precious to me as well." He shifted in the seat until he was lying horizontally on the bench, his head on my lap. My cheeks were suddenly colored and I was reminded back to those months ago when he had lain on my lap. Back then I was scared of him, but now I held deeper feelings for him. "I would've never associated the term 'family' with any one of them, but ever since I met you, kind and sweet, I've started looking at things a bit differently."

I ran my fingers through his hair, words failing me as I examined his features. His face was beautiful and perfect, but the aura around him was dangerous, dark, and menacing. Still, with all those emotions about him, my heart raced for him. The good and the evil around him was something I had somehow accepted.

"Daiyu, anytime you have anything to talk to me, don't hide it from me," he said seriously, his tone that of an emperor. It was the same tone he used when he gave orders, his voice resolute and his words somewhat cold. "I don't want you to cry by yourself over something that I can change."

"Ok."

"I hate seeing you cry."

"Ok."

"I love you."

"I-I know."

The corner of his lips lifted and he closed his eyes. "Good."