Not for the first time since becoming a concubine, Xiyang wondered if it would be worth the trouble to murder the emperor.

Arguably, he wasn’t a bad man. He wasn’t cruel. He had never called Xiyang to serve him even though it had been over a year since he had been taken into the harem. As far as Xiyang knew, the emperor never called any concubines to his rooms. If he had cared enough to find out the details, he was sure it had something to do with his wife and her untimely death. Truthfully, the omega felt little more than apathy towards the man he was bound to. Apathy at first, and now annoyance.

You were the only good thing that came out of his parents selling him off. You were who he looked forward to seeing every day, who he spent more time with than was appropriate, the only person in the palace capable of making him smile. Unfortunately, you were also one of the emperor’s children. Not his firstborn, not even an alpha. Neither of which Xiyang minded. The problem was that so long as the emperor lived, he was bound.

And now, a new problem had arrived.

You weren’t the heir and you weren’t favored enough to escape the fate that came for most omegas of your status: marriage. The emperor was kind enough to find you a gentle alpha, but Xiyang felt his heart seize in his chest regardless. It was odd for the two of you to spend as much time together as you did yet easily excusable as you both lived in the palace. Once you were married off, he would lose any reason to see you. Any reason to exist to you. How long before you got pregnant? How long before you forgot about him, content with your new little family?

“...Run away with me.”

The words had escaped him before he could think twice about it. They echoed off of the walls of his room despite how hushed they were. The silence was near suffocating otherwise. Neither of you had ever verbally admitted having feelings for the other, but he refused to believe you felt absolutely nothing for him. Running would be treason, yes. He’d do it for you in a heartbeat.