Yue Yiwan sat on the edge of the suspended pool, with a party raging behind him.
In the distance, beyond the traffic and skyscrapers, stood Suming Palace. The palace lanterns lighting up one after another along its vermilion walls looked like wildfires burning at the edge of a wasteland.
His phone lit up, then went dark again. Clearly, his older brother and father were both rather worried.
“Have you left yet? Don’t lose the invitation.”
“—And make sure you read the instruction manual! Don’t embarrass us later!”
With a lazy yawn, he flipped through the little booklet under the dim yellow lights.
…The Royal Family Handbook?
It was already 2030. Didn’t constitutional monarchies—and the royal families themselves—find this embarrassing?
Yue Yiwan glanced at his watch, clearly intending to put off the socializing for a little longer.
The booklet was decorated with great sprays of brilliantly blooming snapdragons, the symbol of both the royal family and the neighboring country.
He casually turned to a page. The explanatory text inside was stiff and official—
The Kingdom of Lin is located in Southeast Asia, north of Micronesia… It consists of forty-three islands, covers a total area of 10,027 square kilometers, and has a tropical rainforest climate.
He could always read it when he couldn’t sleep. It would probably work just as well as the word “abandon.”
He tossed the booklet aside, held a hair tie between his teeth, and gathered the hair at the back of his head into a tiny bun. Then he got up to ask an old friend for another cocktail.
“Young Master Yue—my goodness, why haven’t you come down yet?” Old Wang suddenly emerged from the crowd, tugging at him anxiously. “There’s been an accident on Pingchang Road. It’s jammed solid! We need to leave now!”
Yue Yiwan watched as the bartender nearly finished mixing his Tequila Sunrise, only to be hauled downstairs by Uncle Wang amid a steady stream of anxious muttering and thrown into the car waiting below like a stray puppy.
But it was already too late.
A chain-reaction collision had completely blocked the main road. Horns and curses filled the air in a deafening uproar, making it nearly impossible to reach Suming Palace.
“Damn it, the Director is definitely going to be furious.” Old Wang leaned over the steering wheel, craning his neck to look ahead. He was so anxious that he had no idea what to do.
Normally, given the young master’s tendency to dawdle, they would have had just enough time for him to arrive early and sit down for a cup of tea.
But at the current rate—moving one meter every ten minutes—not being late would be a miracle.
Both their phones began ringing one after another.
Yue Yiwan sighed, pulled the invitation card from his pocket, and got out of the car to scan for a shared bicycle.
Old Wang was still trembling as he promised Director Yue that he would get him there as quickly as possible when, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw the young man wobble away on a bicycle. It looked as though he even had a cigarette between his lips.
“Wait—what are you—”
The Kingdom of Lin itself had little presence on the international stage. Its territory was less than half that of China’s smallest province, and whether the matter was major or minor, it was usually relegated to the corner as a decorative mascot.
The Lin royal family, meanwhile, was the mascot within this mascot of a country—a relic preserved from history.
Over the years, the royal family had rarely engaged in foreign affairs. Most of the time, they organized charity events and public-welfare activities, continuing to protect the last shreds of ordinary people’s longing for and fantasies about royalty.
With one hand on the handlebars, Yue Yiwan tossed his cigarette butt into a trash can as it flashed past, then continued cycling toward the brightly illuminated Suming Palace.
The various members of the Yue family were, in fact, fairly prominent figures in Lin.
The island nation’s tourism industry was highly developed. It had abundant natural gas and seafood, and over the past few decades, its modern industries had continued to evolve.
The Yue family was not only one of the three giants of the local hotel industry, but also maintained close ties with government officials and the royal family. That was why he was going to the palace tonight.
“The Flower Moon Gala…” Yue Yiwan rolled the name around in his mind as he pedaled half a turn, then stopped at a red light.
It sounded like a party for admiring flowers and gazing at the moon, but in reality, it was a matchmaking event.
No—an event to choose a partner for the Crown Prince.
Same-sex marriage had been legal for more than a decade. Calling someone a consort would clearly be a little discriminatory toward men.
The light jumped like a sparrow, turning green. He slipped a hand inside his shirt and confirmed that the invitation was still there, then turned into a discreet side entrance to the palace.
When the royal guards stationed at the gate saw a young man in casual clothes ride in on a shared bicycle, they immediately stepped forward in unison to stop him.
“I’ve got a pass. Don’t panic.” The young man pulled out his slightly crumpled invitation and waved it around. He got off the bicycle and parked it a short distance away right in front of them.
A palace attendant hurried over after hearing the commotion and bowed as he greeted him.
This palace really was enormous.
The front court was open to tourists for three days every weekend. When he was little, he had even bought a ticket and visited it with his father.
Behind it, layer upon layer of palace walls stretched out, disappearing from sight.
Yue Yiwan followed the palace attendant, who looked as though he had stepped out of a historical drama, walking deeper along the palace walls. He studied the cloud patterns woven into the attendant’s cotton robe, then glanced at the solitary moon suspended in the sky.
So cold and lonely. Couldn’t they find it a companion?
The palace complex was a maze, yet after turning through nine bends and eight corners, they somehow arrived at their destination. The plaque above the entrance read Chengfan Palace.
In the orchestra pit, a classical violinist was playing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor. His older brother and father were still discussing business with government officials, giving him only a distant glance.
He knew exactly what that look meant—
Behave yourself! Don’t cause trouble!
It was 8:25. He was nearly half an hour late.
After cycling and hurrying all the way there—and, out of sheer propriety, refusing to pant in front of everyone—Yue Yiwan’s throat was so dry it felt as though smoke were pouring from it.
He carefully controlled how far he turned his head, scanning the drinks on the servers’ trays and the glasses on the long tables for some water.
Champagne. Champagne. Tequila. Champagne.
No. That would only make him thirstier.
Perhaps because he was so focused on finding water, he failed to notice that the area around him had suddenly fallen silent. The people who had been as noisy as a murder of crows abruptly quieted in unison.
A tall, slender figure stopped beside him, holding a glass of plum wine with tiny olives floating in it.
“Would you like a drink?”
The low, gentle voice sounded beside his ear.
Yue Yiwan didn’t hear the distant gasp from some young woman. His professional instincts took over as he swept his gaze over the man’s figure.
A waist just over two feet around, perfectly broad shoulders, a standard seven-head-tall proportion.
Hand-tailored suit. Pure-wool, high-end imitation fabric. Graff sapphire cuff links.
—A man who paid attention to details.
He slowly raised his head and met a pair of eyes dark as ink diluted with pine smoke.
Yue Zhigu had just finished exchanging pleasantries with a major business partner. When he turned around, he saw his hapless little brother standing beside the Crown Prince, reaching for the glass of plum wine.
Hey—that drink couldn’t just be consumed casually!!!
Before he could call out to stop him, Yue Yiwan nodded and said thank you in full view of everyone. Not only did he accept the glass, he also downed the entire drink in one go.
Yue Pin was clearly stunned as he witnessed this historic moment. He opened and closed his mouth several times without managing to say a word, feeling as though his blood pressure was about to shoot through the roof.
He’d only just returned to the country after finishing his studies, and this idiot was already ruining someone’s lifelong marriage prospects!
Yue Yiwan finished the sweet wine and smacked his lips.
Strong and sweet. Delicious.
Standing beside him, Hua Muzhi lowered his eyes with a smile and took the empty glass from his hand. Then he cast a distant glance at the female official who had nodded from across the room.
“Then I’ll take that as a yes,” he said softly. “See you later.”
A yes to what…?
Before someone could come to his senses, his own older brother and father came rushing over one after the other, trying to smooth things over. “We’re terribly sorry, terribly sorry—it’s all a misunderstanding. This boy grew up studying abroad and doesn’t understand the customs. Please don’t take offense, Your Royal Highness.”
Yue Yiwan was dazed for several seconds. He had only accepted a drink from the man—what could possibly go wrong? Beside him, Yue Pin’s face turned cold as he barked, “Apologize to His Royal Highness at once!”
“My idiot little brother!” Yue Zhigu ignored the looks from everyone around them and forced his voice down as he explained, “You drank his wine, which is the same as agreeing to marry him! Do you understand now?!”
Wait—
What—
Yue Yiwan looked up and finally realized what was going on. “Did the Crown Prince change into a suit now?!”
He stood up nervously, unable to return the drink he had just accepted. When he turned his head, he found nearly everyone staring at him, while several people who looked suspiciously like guards and palace attendants stood watch at the door.
If he went back on the engagement now, something terrible might happen.
Yue Pin thought he had already laid out the perfect way down: the whole family could apologize in unison, say they were sorry, and avoid delaying the Crown Prince’s blind date any further. So why hadn’t this foolish child caught on yet?
Yue Zhigu was clearly waiting for him to say something. He had been waiting so long that he practically wanted to write a five-thousand-word self-criticism for him and hand it in himself.
“I…” Yue Yiwan saw his father and brother’s faces darken to the extreme, then looked toward the handsome, distinguished young man. After taking a deep breath, he said, “Well… why don’t we give this a try?”
Yue Zhigu nearly collapsed on the spot.
Hua Muzhi’s smile deepened as he gestured with his eyes toward another room nearby.
“I’ll be waiting for you over there.”
In the book of my memories,
on the very first page of the chapter
that records the first time you and I met,
it says:
“This is my new beginning.”
