Chapter 1: You're the only one I see
Yi Xing's POV
I was truly a mad man...A mad man who couldn't act on his emotions and desires, but was a slave to them instead. There were times I considered leaving Mei-Lien's palace, however, my ties to her were too strong and it was suffocating... If I had one wish, it was for her to also see me as I see her. If only my wish came true, then maybe it wouldn't be so hard to always watch her with a silent heart...

“Yi Xing! Yi Xing!” an excited voice squealed.

I mentally flinched and turned around to see Mei-Lien wearing her best silk qipao. She smiled sweetly at me and curtsied. 

“Mei-Lien...please calm down, the guards may think you're being attacked.”

Mei-Lien shook her head and smiled again.

“I wouldn't let you get into trouble gege...Besides Wu Fan trusts me.”

I looked at the silent guard who stood away from us. He was very tall, emotionless, and unfortunately very perfect looking. When I exchanged glances with him, it looked like he sent me a challenging look. That made me feel as if he, himself, was actually daring me to not talk to Mei-Lien successfully.  I almost wanted to yell at him to go away, but I just looked back at Mei-Lien.

It was difficult to look away from her because I was completely mesmerized by her eyes which gleamed brightly in the sunlight. I shook my head and tried to escape from her trance but only to find myself staring at her luscious red lips. Frightened by this warm sensation that was beginning to take control of my body; I decided to lower my eyes even more. Suddenly I finally had a good view of her qipao which hugged every curve in her body very beautifully. She had a lovely figure. A figure of a perfect woman. 

“Yi Xing?” she asked, discontinuing my thoughts. “Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”

She caught me off-guard causing me to murmur idiotically: “I like… I mean… I think…” 

She giggled and replied innocently, “I mean, do you think that what I’m wearing is appropriate for tonight’s festival?”
Just then I remembered that I was supposed to deliver some important news to her. However I was still under this hypnotic state which made it difficult for me to verbalize my thoughts. It wasn't as if I was a ert who only enjoyed looking at such a beautiful woman, but her actual being made me feel so alive and anguished. If I were to tell her that I had to leave for a while, would it upset her? Or worse...Would it make that guard fall for her? 

"Gege? Gege? Are you alright? You seem a little frazzled...Did you meet a court lady?"

My face started to turn warm so I coughed and shook my head. She laughed a little and sighed.

"You still haven't said anything about my outfit...Do I look weird? Because one of the court ladies said I looked a bit tantalizing."

I coughed yet again because she was very tantalizing in her qipao that was light purple with embroidered lotus blossoms on her sleeves and lower half. It didn't help that she kept pouting at me, which emphasized how kissable her red lips were.

"T-that's because I'm not good with words...But you look fine...I mean you look very nice!"

Then she hummed a song I had once written for her. 

"Thank you Yi Xing. Do you remember writing this song for me?" 

A wave of nostalgia came over me. I remembered writing a song for her five years ago when I was fifteen, it was for her thirteenth birthday.

"Yes, I remember it. You begged me to sing it for you despite my protests."

She smacked my arm playfully before latching onto it. I bit my lip to control my thoughts and warm sensation that I had felt earlier. 

"Well, you still sang it to me because you love me right? So, let's go to tonight's festival together!"

With just those simple actions, such as playfully touching me and holding onto my arm, I was basically at the palm of her hand.

Ergo, I cannot ever fall for another woman because she's the only one I can truly see.