A Choice Cast in Moonlight
I stood by the study window, watching as daylight bled into dusk. Moonlight spilled across the ground, illuminating everything before me—yet nothing felt clear. With the Crown Prince and Chen Qing’er closing in from both sides, there was no path left to retreat.
"Your Highness..." I spoke suddenly, turning toward the man seated behind the desk. His expression remained placid, a stagnant pool—but I knew the undercurrents that lurked beneath.
"Do you truly believe I can stand by your side? That I could strategize for you?" My voice carried a challenge. A question I'd never dared ask myself, but tonight demanded answers.
The Crown Prince lifted his gaze. Dark, fathomless—as if peeling back the layers of my thoughts. "I know the war inside you," he said, his tone still cool, yet threaded with something like understanding. "You think choosing me makes you a pawn. But the truth is, you're already a piece on this board. No matter where you turn, fate plays its hand."
He rose, stepping toward me with a quiet, unshakable certainty. "However... if you stand with me, you become the pivot upon which this conflict turns. I don't seek to use you. I need an ally I can trust."
For a heartbeat, uncertainty flickered through me. What did "ally" mean in his world? Was this genuine regard, or merely another kind of manipulation?
"And if you choose Chen Qing’er?" The Crown Prince's voice hardened, sharp as a blade scraping bone. "You'll be her puppet. That, I can promise you."
As the words sank in, Zhang Feng burst in again, his face taut with urgency. "Your Highness, Chen Qing’er's forces are mobilizing. There's movement within the Eastern Palace as well. If we don’t act now—"
"Understood." The Crown Prince's gaze frosted over. "We won't wait for her strike." Then, to me, his eyes cutting deep: "There's only one way forward now. A gamble. Are you ready?"
The moment had come. A choice—between the Crown Prince's side or Chen Qing’er's shadow alliance. And this decision wouldn't just shape my fate, but the kingdom's very future.
Yet just then, the study doors flew open. A eunuch staggered in, his robes smeared with blood, his face ghostly pale.
"Your Highness—Chen Qing’er's agents have breached the palace!"
The Crown Prince whirled, resolve hardening like tempered steel. "Then I meet them head-on." His eyes locked onto mine, heavy with finality. "If you stand with me, tonight becomes the defining moment of your life. Choose."
My heart hammered against my ribs. This choice would sever me—no longer a runaway bride disguised as a man, but a player in this deadly game. There would be no return to the quiet past.
As the Crown Prince turned to leave, he paused at the threshold. One last look, brimming with something perilously close to hope. "Decide. This is your final chance."
Then—just as he stepped away—my fingers clenched in the fabric of my robes. Clarity struck like lightning.
Whatever the cost, tonight... I would face this storm.
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