Chapter Text
Even now, Jing Yuan was grateful for everything. The morally wrong, the questionable, the selfish. Jing Yuan couldn’t look back at his past and hate those who, like him, had good intentions.
Jing Yuan was born a lonely boy preferring the company of his finches over the company of people. Jing Yuan was a wretched child, selfishly leeching on others' sympathy until they couldn’t give him more. Jing Yuan was a saint, always forgiving to the point of maddening. Even in the isolated countryside where he was raised, senseless rumours like those were already spread about him. No matter what he really did, no matter what he really was.
A finch landed on the pencil he was holding. The small thing tilted its head, and Jing Yuan mirrored it so that their faces were aligned, the ghost of a smile stretching over his lips. This seemed to offend the bird which took flight again until he fused with the orange sky. The sun had gone down.
“Jing Yuan.”
The boy almost jumped in his place when hearing his master's voice. He was supposedly doing his homework before going to bed and not playing with his dear animals.
He stood up from the cushion he was sitting on to greet his master with a bow. The woman's grim face made him hesitate for a moment. He couldn’t possibly know what she was thinking, at least not yet. Jing Yuan was still pure at that time. Unblemished.
“Jing Yuan”, the woman repeated, “your father is dead.”
The Jing patriarch had been a melancholic man by nature. Since the early death of his wife, Jing Fu had lived a miserable existence. When news of his suicide reached what once had been the Jing summer estate where Jing Yuan grew up, no one was surprised. The only thing to regret was Jing Yuan’s age at the time. Everyone had hoped Jing Fu would wait to kill himself until his son was of age.
His end had been a chronicle of a foretold death. Jing Fu, who usually isolated himself in the wing of the main estate, barring entry to everyone including servants, had left of his own volition that morning. On his face was plastered a smile he hadn't worn in years. His attitude had always been cordial, but the servants who interacted with him that fateful day recalled how especially polite he was in instructing them to clean the wing they were previously prohibited from entering.
Death by suicide was not unusual in the Jing family. His uncle had slit his wrists after losing his fortune playing cards and he heard that his great-grandfather jumped off a cliff after being traumatised by the war. According to his grandmother, may she rest in peace, the Jing's proclivity for melancholy was due to the mole under their left eyes characteristic of their bloodline. According to others, they were simply just cursed.
The surname Jing was one related to unconditional love and misfortune. Unconditional love because the devotion of its members towards their loved ones knew no limits. Misfortune, because all these loved ones ended up having fates worse than death.
A Jing loved, that loved best case died, and the Jing ended up committing suicide. It was a cycle so predictable that it could even be described as boring.
The white flowers that little Jing Yuan carried in his arms almost covered his vision. Some of the flowers were as big as his head. The large bouquet was made up of lilies and tulips as well as a few ferns that brought harmony to the whole. It was a sorry sight, a lovely child like him dressed to attend the funeral of his progenitor. White was the colour of the death, and white was the colour of the Jing family. At this point they were just damning themselves alone.
Jing Yuan wasn’t good at flower arrangement so his nana had been in charge of choosing the flowers for the bouquet. According to her, it was important for Jing Yuan to make a good impression on the families that would most probably pay their respects. Jing Yuan wasn't so sure that a couple of flowers would make a difference.
Jing Yuan was a cursed child. It was common knowledge that, after his birth and the subsequent death of his mother due to complications, the Jing patriarch had sent Jing Yuan to the family summer estate as far away from him as possible. Everyone thought it was an act fueled by hate. Jing Yuan knew it had been an act of grief. Thanks to the conversations between servants that Jing Yuan had managed to spy on, he could get an idea of his father's intentions. The tormented man feared he would kill the baby if he stayed in the main house.
Looking at his father's corpse resting in his crystal urn, Jing Yuan couldn't imagine that someone like him would be able to kill anyone. Jing Yuan didn’t consider himself a romantic and didn’t feel like his father's son as he never saw or talked with him, but someone with such a peaceful appearance looked like he could never have committed an act of violence in his life. Not even against himself. Even if he ended up doing it in the end.
He examined briefly the features that felt so similar and different from his own. Jing Fu's hair was a darker silver than his, but that was the nose and lips that Jing Yuan saw each morning in front of the mirror. He could almost picture himself as the body in front of him. An older version of himself, worn down by the years.
When Jingliu delivered the news of his death, Jing Yuan felt nothing. He had hoped that looking at the dead body would make him feel sad. Any child his age would burst into tears after the death of his father, no matter how physically absent he was from his life. It was blood of his blood. His existence had permeated every second of his life with his different caretakers telling him stories about the golden age of the man. Jing Fu had been a brilliant person in his youth, always surrounded by people who were attracted by his radiance enough to ignore his curse.
Jing Fu had been a person. Someone human who was capable of feeling emotions such as sadness and happiness. Someone capable of hurting and being hurt. That alone should have elicited a feeling of sorrow in his heart.
However, no matter how hard he tried, Jing Yuan couldn’t shed a single tear for the man. Jing Yuan couldn't decide whether that was a good or bad sign.
The entrance door opened breaking the silence of the large, almost empty room. The Jing family was cursed in the eyes of the Xianzhou Alliance. The few sympathies that the patriarch had garnered in his youth had eroded with the inexorable passage of time and the deterioration of his mind. The polite condolences of the main families were given quickly and only by force of tradition.
Jing Yuan heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind. Throughout the early morning different people had arrived at Mr. Jing Fu's vigil, but something told Jing Yuan that the newly arrived were special.
Master Jingliu gave him a firm squeeze on his shoulder. Jing Yuan struggled to straighten his back even though his feet hurt and he wanted to go home. They had arrived at the main house around four in the morning, having gotten inside the car to go to the capital as soon as they received the grim news. He hadn't slept for more than twenty-four hours.
“Jingliu. Be a dear and bring the boy here.”
He recognized the voice as that of Mr. Teng Xiao. Jing Yuan recalled him from when the man visited them occasionally acting as the main house's envoy. He had never spoken to him directly, but he had eavesdropped on the conversations he had with his master from time to time. Mr. Teng Xiao was the only one he had seen speaking casually with her.
His master guided him down the stairs of the platform where the coffin had been placed. Jing Yuan took one last glance at his father's body before turning away. With his eyes closed and surrounded by white flowers like the ones he carried in his arms, he probably was the most peaceful person in the room. The dead cannot suffer. Only those alive could.
Teng Xiao had entered the room along with two men in suits and an elderly elegant woman. Jing Yuan could tell the old lady was human at a glance even if because of his short age he couldn’t smell her scent. Adepti, as they were born with the blessing of one or multiple aeons, always had one or more features that caught one's eye. Something special that marked them as aeons’ favourites.
One of the adepti men caught his attention in particular. His eyes locked on the two greenish antlers similar to those of a deer that decorated the head of the taller man of the two. Their colour complemented his eyes, also a deep sea green that seemed to glow in the dim lighting of the early morning. From the way the other two persons were placed by either of his sides and the feeling of power he gave, Jing Yuan guessed he must be the head of his family.
“Honourable benefactors, thank you very much for coming… thank you very much for honouring us with your presence”, Jing Yuan said robotically, bending his waist in a bow as soon as Jingliu stopped pushing his back to walk forward. They were practiced words that he had tired of repeating during the way to the city.
Jing Yuan kept looking at the ground until Jingliu gave the signal to get back up by placing her hand around his nape in a casual gesture. A chill ran through Jing Yuan's body as his sensitive skin made contact with the cold touch of his teacher.
“I expected him to be older considering the way you talked about him”, commented the horned man. His dispassionate voice made impossible to know if he liked, disliked, or didn't care about the fact.
“He’s the only living descendant of the main line, I didn’t think it was relevant to bring out his age”, Teng Xiao excused, making vage gestures with his hands.
None of the three strangers showed any sign of listening to his words, the three pairs of eyes glued on Jing Yuan. The poor boy hugged the bouquet of flowers that he was still holding tightly to comfort himself while the silence stretched on without anyone ending it. Raised in the countryside by a handful of servants who had known him since he was a baby, being in a situation surrounded by strangers made his heart pound against his chest. Jing Yuan wasn’t dumb and knew why they were brought by Teng Xiao.
Over the white petals he glanced at the trio. The horned man must have been a vidyadhara adeptus. Jing Yuan remembered reading about his race in the books his nana gave him to study. He couldn't help but wonder if the lord would get angry if he asked if he could touch his shining horns. From the subtle pinch Jingliu gave him, Jing Yuan knew his master was suspicious of his intentions.
Next to him was a man who seemed to grow impatient with each passing second. In his hand he had a pen that was spinning between his fingers. Unlike the older woman, who showed her displeasure glancing over her fan with a look of superiority, the man didn't seem to mind showing his annoyance directly. The most notable feature of his person, besides the scars peeking out from the cuffs of his suit, were undoubtedly his red eyes. The deep colour contrasted against his pale skin like blood droplets on fresh snow.
“How old are you?”, the scarred man prompted with a surprisingly deep voice. Jing Yuan tilted his head to the side wondering if he had heard correctly.
“Benefactor, is it really necessary?”, Teng Xiao intervened again. “The important thing is not his age but how pleasantly both families will benefit. A marriage between clans with so much power is always something auspicious.”
Something auspicious especially for the Jing. Adepti families were deeply rooted in conservative values where only blood related alphas from the main branch could inherit. Blood related or, as what they were going to try to, alphas who married blood related heirs.
Jing Yuan losing his inheritance wouldn’t only affect him. He didn’t understand the specifics, but his caretakers had ingrained in his mind how important it was to preserve the Jing surname, even if under the umbrella of a bigger clan. Jingliu had been the only one to never give her opinion, just teaching him patiently with those sad eyes of hers.
“How old are you?”, the man repeated emphasising each syllable.
It took Jing Yuan a moment to realise that the man was expecting him to answer directly. It also took him another moment to deliver, as he began to feel like he had done something wrong.
“Fourteen years this year, honourable benefactor.”
An emotion that he couldn’t recognize passed over the man's face, and for an instant, Jing Yuan thought that the lord was going to strike him. By a miracle or by the severe gaze of his companion, none of that happened and the man only ran a hand through his own hair so roughly that Jing Yuan feared for it.
“I can’t do this. I'll wait for you in the car”, said the man referring to the vidyadhara and then headed towards the entrance taking big strides.
As the man was leaving, Jing Yuan crossed glances with him. Golden crashed against red engraving their colours in their minds. He had the feeling that the man was going to say something to him, but before he did, he turned his face away, seemingly changing his mind. As he left, the heavy wooden doors closed with a slam that sound echoed against the almost empty room.
The adults in the room behaved as if nothing had happened. The tense silence from before returned, but none of them reacted as if this mattered to any of them. Jing Yuan only had the relief of knowing that someone else was as nervous as him when he noticed the anxiety reflected in Mr. Teng Xiao's eyes.
The man's reaction had been understandably disproportionate. He was also an adeptus, the blessing of an aeon also ran through his veins. Yes, it was true, Jing Yuan was still too young, but that would no longer matter in about ten years when his appearance would fix in time as Yaoshi had predestined for his kind. Arranged marriages with its participants having wildly different ages were normal as they didn’t have the same standards as mortals did.
The calm vidyadhara caught him looking lost and dedicated him a small smile. The corners of his lips barely moved upwards, but it was the peacefulness it communicated that gave Jing Yuan the impression of him smiling. This gesture seemed to surprise the older woman to his left.
“Come here”, the man called Jing Yuan extending his hand towards him.
Jing Yuan approached at a hesitant pace forcing himself not to look back to ask Jingliu for guidance. She let him go easily so Jing Yuan guessed what he was doing was the correct thing. Regardless of his age or his omega status, Jing Yuan was now the heir of the Jing family. He had to give an appearance of tranquillity no matter how disturbed his inner world was.
The vidyadhara's hand looked too big against his. His fingers were longer and sleeker, elegant in a way Jing Yuan wasn't. As he touched him, the temperature of his skin reminded him of his master's touch, causing some of the tension in his shoulders to dissipate.
Soon after they made contact, the horns of the vidyadhara seemed to increase their glow. Jing Yuan felt something entering him from the surface that was in contact with the man. Or more than a something, he felt certain sensation being transmitted from that point, a chilly wave that ran through his body from top to bottom, relaxing the parts of the body it passed through.
It was a similar sensation of when Jingliu allowed him to practise his adepti arts. It was looked down for omegas to practise at all, but she was that good with him. Jing Yuan tried not to think about how those calm days had come to an end.
“He has good qi circuits”, the vidyadhara declared after a couple of minutes that felt like an instant. Jing Yuan’s sense of inner peace left him the instant the man let go of his hand, the emptiness inside him returning even stronger.
Jing Yuan returned to Jingliu's side somewhat stunned by what had just happened. Jingliu's comforting hand didn’t touch him again, and Jing Yuan moved closer than he had been before to his teacher.
“Of course”, Teng Xiao added quickly, “the Jing family is loved by the aeons, their family tree is made up of the best lightning users adepti has ever known. I’m sure that his womb will give strong children to the Dan family.”
“If he doesn't kill his husband first…”, the older woman talked for the first time, her gaze lost in the distance.
Teng Xiao brushed off her comment as if it were a joke, but even Jing Yuan could feel how strained his laughter sounded.
“Your words calm me.” The vidyadhara’s lightless eyes looked at Teng Xiao’s general direction without focusing on something specific. “Trusting your honour and because of the old friendship that united me with Jing Fu, I give my approval for young Jing to join my family. A car will come by tomorrow to pick up the child and sign the papers.”
Behind him, Jing Yuan sensed his master tensing. This was the first emotional reaction the woman had since they had arrived to the main house, her simply following what she was supposed to do without showing any reaction. It comforted him that she was there with him.
“Is there something wrong?” For a moment Jing Yuan thought that the vidyadhara was referring to his master, but after taking a quick look he could see that he was still talking to Teng Xiao.
“Oh no, of course not, this is wonderful news”, Teng Xiao replied. Jing Yuan had to admire how quickly he recovered. “It's just that, due to his youth, I thought Imbibitor Lunae would prefer a long engagement period. The groom didn't seem too enthusiastic about the idea..."
“As you yourself said before, the important thing is not his age but how pleasantly both families will benefit from the union. I will take care of Yingxing’s cooperation as the member of the Dan’s clan that he is.”
His words left no room for protest. Teng Xiao had been the one who had proposed the idea, and to reject it now would be to offend him. To be honest, Jing Yuan didn’t understand what he was trying to do as it was obviously him who had pulled the strings to matchmake him.
“Of course, Imbibitor Lunae is as wise as ever.”
The vidyadhara nodded, closing the matter and sealing Jing Yuan’s fate. Jing Yuan didn’t protest even once, just looking at the man with his golden unblinking eyes, the void on his chest growing. It had been years since Jing Yuan had made his decision. Jing Yuan had to remember himself of that.
“Aren't you going to ask anything?”, Teng Xiao said raising his cigarette towards where Jingliu was sitting.
After exchanging a couple more polite pleasantries, the vidyadhara and his companion had left the Jing main house. Jingliu and Jing Yuan stayed a little longer on the room where his father’s remains rested until Jing Yuan couldn't take it anymore and his stomach rumbled with hunger. Jingliu, who had been looking vacant all this time, pulled his hand, promising to go eat something.
Teng Xiao intercepted them in the hallway leading to the street. With his endless insistence he had gotten Jingliu to smoke a cigarette for old times' sake. Jingliu rejected the servants’ propositions to give the young master a meal. Instead, she gave him a candy from her pocket and told him to wait.
“I don’t think it’s necessary, or useful”, was all she answered.
“Always so cold. It's a shame you're just a beta. Believe me when I say I would have preferred you to marry the boy rather than give him to that bastard.”
Jingliu didn't even deign to look at him, the wall in front of the bench she was sitting on seemingly more interesting than the man.
At her lack of response, Teng Xiao sighed tiredly, looking a decade older for an instant. The man looked around his surroundings, and when his eyes fell on Jing Yuan, the omega got the feeling that Teng Xiao had forgotten that he was still there.
“What do you want me to call you?”, Teng Xiao asked him, putting his hands on his small shoulders. To do so he crouched to look Jing Yuan in the eye.
“Whatever my good benefactor desires to call me will make me happy”, Jing Yuan replied.
“Very good, that’s what you have to say.” After saying these words, he patted his shoulders as if to get his attention. The anxiety that was reflected in his eyes made Jing Yuan think that he was rather trying to centre himself. “With the passing of your father, the Jing clan has been left without an alpha who can inherit the position of head of the family. That's why you're going to marry the red-eyed man from before, remember?”
Now and forever. The man had such an intense stare Jing Yuan didn't think people just forgot about him just like that.
“The Jing clan will be absorbed into the Dan, becoming a sub-branch in exchange of your blood adepti arts”, Teng Xiao continued with his explanation. “You have to give the Dan family an alpha child, do you understand?”
He nodded. Despite being young, Jing Yuan had been raised from even a younger age for the situation he found himself in now. Being the only direct descendant and with his father in the condition in which he was alive, the question was not if Jing Yuan was going to be sold but when.
“Jing Yuan, you are an omega belonging to one of the oldest adepti families in the Luofu. This is the best option you have to survive, if-”
“Shut up.”
He and the adult turned their heads in Jingliu's direction. His teacher held her now cigarette butt tightly between her fingers while his other hand supported her head. Her eyes were tightly closed, and Jing Yuan could hear a slight tremor in her voice.
“Please, shut up”, Jingliu asked.
Jing Yuan's heart clenched at his teacher's defeated tone. His eyes watered, the emptiness inside him filling with nervousness. When he entered the family of his future husband, Jing Yuan wouldn't be able to see Jingliu again, right? It was tradition for omegas to abandon everything and everyone from their previous life when they married, and if there was one thing that adepti respected to death, that was tradition.
Jing Yuan wished he could comfort her somehow. However, he knew that any words that came out of his mouth would only make her even sadder. The last thing he wanted was to worry her.
The sound of a bell chime broke the silence. Teng Xiao checked his phone, sighing and putting it back in his pocket after reading the message.
“Well”, Teng Xiao sighed, jumping to his feet. “Let’s get some breakfast. Being here is depressing. Do you like pancakes?”