三 | changan

Changan frowned, deep in thought as he braided his best friend's hair.  He did nothing much to it, except add a few chrysanthemums and blossom petals in her hair along with a silk ribbon to keep it in place.

"Why are you so sad nowadays?" Kei frowned as well, turning towards her friend. "Did something happen with Junhui? your parents?"

"No, not really," Changan mumbled. Kei pouted and put her hands on his cheeks, startling him.

Kei examined his eyes for a bit. "Is it about . . . an arranged marriage?"

"How did you know . . .?" Changan furrowed his eyebrows and Kei only smiled.

"You had the same look in your eyes when you said you would be wed to Jinguo," Kei said, face scrunching up in disgust at the mention of the prince's name.

Changan sighed. "It's nothing, really. Mother said that the guy I'll be married to is nice . . . well, everyone's been saying that."

"It's Xu Minghao of Liaoning, isn't it?!" Kei said, standing up in a flash. "Oh my gosh! Everyone is practically in love with the guy! You're lucky, Changan!" Kei messed up his hair.

Changan smiled at his best friend's behavior and slapped her leg playfully. "I guess I am. I've never seen him in person, though."

"I heard some of the guards saying that they saw the Liaoning carriage coming towards the kingdom over the kingdom walls," Kei said after a few moments. "They said that it'll arrive in less than an hour, so c'mon! I'll let you get dressed up!"

"What—" "Shush!" Changan was silenced and he laughed as Kei dug through the chests and closets that were full to the brim with the prince's clothes; from silken robes to leather pants, the prince had it all.

After a few minutes of Kei trying to find the "perfect clothes", Changan slowly started undressing his soft sleeping wear to show his perfect, porcelain skin. While there were some markings here and there due to scars, his skin was quite flawless and was the envy of a lot of women and men alike.

"I found it!" Kei exclaimed, holding up, of course, a silk kimono-like set of robes that were intricately designed with golden patterns on the red fabric. A matching belt made of a thin and almost silk-like fabric was with it, but it was more gold than red.

She ushered Changan to put it on and he had no choice but to follow her.

Once Changan had the entire thing on, Kei examined him carefully before pulling down the sleeves slightly to show his shoulders, causing him to blush.

"Wh-what was that for?" Changan asked, trying to pull up the sleeves but Kei stopped him.

"This look fits you!" Kei said. "It gives off an image that you're sweet and pure but also capable of . . . you know!"

Changan pouted but sighed, giving in to his best friend who seemed pleased with herself. "At least let me fix my hair. You messed it up, Kei!" Changan whined childishly.

"I'll fix it!" Kei said, grabbing a brush and letting Changan sit on a chair next to his vanity. She started brushing through his soft and fluffy locks, not even the slightest bit surprised when there were no knots in his hair.

Once she was done, she was quite impressed. His bangs framed his face beautifully, with some strands going in his face but made him look more innocent than he already was.

Kei opened a drawer from the vanity and took out a pin with a shining diamond and a jade adorning it, and fixed it into the longer strands of hair at the front.

"Now, don't you look ethereal?" Kei smiled and held Changan's exposed shoulders.

Changan was quite shocked to see what Kei had done because he, for the first time, thought he actually looked pretty.

Kei opened another drawer and held up a slightly damp, red paper and softly patted it onto Changan's softer lips. With that, his lips looked tinted and the color contrasted with his face.

"Hm, I wonder what your husband will say," Kei said, pulling away from Changan and placed the paper on the vanity.

"I-I don't know . . . and h-he's not my husband!" Changan almost yelled and he was flustered.

"Maybe he'll say things like 'Wow, my darling wife is so beautiful' or 'You do things to me that you can't even imagine'~" Kei fantasized and Changan covered his face at the sheer thought of just listening to Minghao's voice, much less, talking to him in person.

Shamefully, Changan started falling for the idea that the prince would be wed to him, but there is still a part of him that doesn't like the idea of having an arranged marriage.

A few moments of silence occured until . . .

"The Xu family from the Liaoning kingdom are arriving!" a servant yelled through the palace halls and other servants were busy and yelling about, huriedly finishing their tasks. "Get ready, everyone!"

Kei smiled at Changan and opened the door of his room. "Well, prince Xu Changan, you may now go see your husband."

Servants bowed as Changan walked through the halls, Kei running ahead because she had to do something.

Junhui came out of his room, dressed as fancily as Changan, and blushed when he saw how he looked. Changan stopped walking and was flustered.

"Wow, didi, you look amazing," Junhui said, cradling his brother's face in his hands. "So, you really want to impress your future husband, hm?"

"Sh-shut up, gege," Changan's currently red-tinted lips frowned and Junhui only sent back a chuckle.

"Mother would cry if she saw you, you know," Junhui stated. "She would be so proud. Her little baobao, all grown-up, mature, and almost ready to be wed to the Pride of Liaoning. I'll admit, I'm probably more proud than her."

Changan hugged his brother lovingly, the latter doing the same. Junhui kissed his brother's head, careful not to mess up his hair, then kissed his forehead.

"Gege, I'll admit," Changan sighed and looked up at his brother. "I'm . . . a bit scared. What if he's just like Jinguo? I'm not ready to face that situation again . . ."

Junhui adorned an uncharacteristic frown on his handsome face. "Didi, don't worry. I promised mother that I would never marry until you did so that I could focus on protecting you, until the day you are happily wed."

Changan's eyes welled up and Junhui panicked, kissing away his tears, then all around his face.

"Don't cry . . ." Junhui mumbled. He gently wiped Changan's face with his sleeves.

"Gege, I love you," Changan said, hiccuping and hugging his brother.

"I love you too, didi," Junhui mumbled into Changan's hair. "Now, we should go to the palace entrance. Mother and father are waiting there."

Changan nodded and made sure to make himself look presentable, then walked alongside his brother, who held his hand tightly.

When they reached the palace entrance, a carriage was just pulling up to the gates.

Junhui and Changan ran to their parents' side and awaited for their first guests to arrive.

The door of the carriage opened, and the first one to come out was Xu Minghao himself.

Minghao was staring at him.

Changan gulped.