Jing He sat in silence. The alliance ... could have been brought closer. With the two of them marrying, it would have been the perfect opportunity. During his trial, people from the dragon realm, the officials from the Court of Justice, and those with mixed blood had also worked closely together, studying the testimonies of their races' shared past. If this kind of exchange were to continue, it would be for the betterment of both sides.
Was this not a good thing? Wouldn't both sides benefit from this? Wouldn't it let those who had mixed blood like Qiu Ling to finally gain a feeling of belonging? A home they could call their own?
He hadn't understood well in the past when Qiu Ling originally asked him because it was an issue that was so far away from him and he had never been taught to question how things currently were. But knowing that this applied to Qiu Ling and hearing in detail how it had affected him made him realize just how unfair the current situation was.
It was a show of his lacking character that it had taken this long and such a personal story for him to realize but now that he did, he wanted to see the same future as Qiu Ling: One where everyone could grow up safely and loved, irrespective of their blood.
In fact, wasn't he like this too? Because of who his parents were, because of what had happened one day in the almost forgotten past, he had grown up suffering and he knew that the future generations would be the same. He wished better for them but he had no way to do so for his own family. For the half-bloods, it wasn't too late though. Or at least it wouldn't be if the alliance survived and continued to follow its current trend.
Why was it that his life had such a big influence on this? He didn't want to be the reason so many people had to give up on their dreams. He didn't want to cause strife between two races. But no matter what he did, he seemed unable to stop it from happening.
Jing He looked at the letters in front of him on the table. These represented the genuine effort Qiu Ling had made to salvage what could be salvaged despite the horrible situation. He had never stopped thinking of him even after he was gone with the time of his return unknown. He had thought of how he might feel and had written these letters to ensure that he wouldn't believe that he had been forgotten. He had even moved into his father's palace in a last attempt to convince him of his merits, bringing together the whole family.
Just why ... could his father not see all that Qiu Ling was doing for him? Why could he not look at this effort and realize just how much this man loved him? Why did he wish to continue to disparage him as fickle and vain?
Jing He clenched his hands into fists, thinking of his father. All his life, he had listened to him and done exactly as he asked. He hadn't doubted that it was right. Even when it came to Qiu Ling, he hadn't minded to make those promises in the beginning. He might have thought that his father was being too harsh and that he shouldn't speak about the literal king of the dragon race that way but he also hadn't thought it possible that he would fall in love with that man.
It hadn't seemed like much of a loss to give his father his word, especially since it would make him stop going on about how horrible this person was. It had seemed like the right choice at the moment but now, with several years having passed, he could see that he hadn't thought far enough ahead.
If he hadn't promised him back then, if he had tried to change his father's mind, would it have mattered? Would his father have realized that Qiu Ling was not as bad as he believed him to be?
Jing He pondered this question for a while but finally shook his head. No, it was unlikely that he could have changed the outcome. He hadn't known Qiu Ling and save for paying attention to decorum and saving face for the one heading their allies, he likely wouldn't have had anything to refute his father's words. On the other hand, it would have been so easy to infuriate him by making him believe that he had somehow already been charmed in the last few hours. Then, his father's reaction when he met Qiu Ling again the next day might have been even more violent. What would that have helped?
Jing He sighed and got to his feet, aimlessly pacing through his palace. If it came to how much each of these men had tried, then he should naturally choose Qiu Ling. He was willing to put down whatever negative opinions he held and be civil with his father even though he likely didn't have a good impression of him either.
Yes, Qiu Ling seldom voiced his thoughts on his father but how could he have a high opinion of him? Since the beginning, his father had done nothing but disparage him behind his back and even acted impolite to his face. What was there to consider worthy?
It didn't help that their positions were somewhat awkward with all circumstances considered. On the one hand, Qiu Ling was trying to woo him and saw his father as his future father-in-law. But on the other hand, Qiu Ling had been king of the dragon race for much longer than his father had been the Heavenly Emperor. In fact, Qiu Ling was considerably older than his father. In this way, the two of them held two very different positions in terms of seniority, only depending on which perspective you took. It surely didn't make things easier and certainly contributed to the reasons for his father's dislike while doing nothing to change Qiu Ling's thoughts. It really wasn't easy.
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Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 12, Part 2)
عاطفيةThey had been about to get married in what should have been the union of the century. But Jing He, the crown prince of the Nine Heavens, is forced to descend to the mortal world for a trial. His lover, dragon king Qiu Ling, quietly follows to protec...
