YUÁNFÈN: Impossible love.

Emperor Rex Lapis wanted to consolidate his empire as a prosperous one where peace reigned and for that he was willing to do anything to ensure that treaties with powerful nations remained in force, what he did not expect was to have to marry to maintain an alliance.

Aether for his part, despite hating the idea of being married to the emperor, tries to do everything possible to keep that relationship dead from the beginning as a friendly and cordial union, but things start to go from bad to worse when he falls in love with his husband's escort.
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The proverb yǒu yuán wú fèn (有緣無份) is sometimes used to describe couples who meet but cannot stay together.
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Ships ⋆Zhongli/Aether ⋆Xiao/Aether ⋆Zhongli/Childe

⋆Mostly be: Xiao/Aether.

⋆Xiao here is called Alatus, and Childe is Ajax.
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TriggerWarning: Abuse/Violence/R*pe. It is explicit only in a couple of chapters.