[He took a sip of tea, looking thoughtful. Honestly, the situation was a little complex, so he had to think of where to start.]
I am the fourth prince of Great Liang but I had grown up in a border town unaware of that until I was fourteen. [He starts there because nothing else afterwards would make sense without that context.] In the eye of tradition and the emperor, my duty is only to not be a disappointment but also to not be talented enough to be someone who would push things towards something more dangerous.
[In other words, his duty was to be a young master with no ambitions...which he was fine with, personally. Which was why he wasn't bitter about it.]
But, for the person I want to protect, what I can do as an individual isn't enough. I've begun to realize...so long as the country isn't stable he will never be safe. [The treasury was empty, there were enemies at the border...and the emperor himself would probably prove to be a problem as well.] My promise was only to support the country, to bring it stability but, for me personally, if I could do it before he gets hurt...that would be the ideal.
[Otherwise, well. He had Gu Yun's permission to follow him, no matter where that leads them. That's an odd comfort. He smiled a little: it wasn't a particularly happy expression. But it's mild, as his entire demeanour has remained throughout this.]
I apologize. There's a lot of intricacies that are difficult to explain easily without going into a lot of other things, but that's the short version of things.
no subject
I am the fourth prince of Great Liang but I had grown up in a border town unaware of that until I was fourteen. [He starts there because nothing else afterwards would make sense without that context.] In the eye of tradition and the emperor, my duty is only to not be a disappointment but also to not be talented enough to be someone who would push things towards something more dangerous.
[In other words, his duty was to be a young master with no ambitions...which he was fine with, personally. Which was why he wasn't bitter about it.]
But, for the person I want to protect, what I can do as an individual isn't enough. I've begun to realize...so long as the country isn't stable he will never be safe. [The treasury was empty, there were enemies at the border...and the emperor himself would probably prove to be a problem as well.] My promise was only to support the country, to bring it stability but, for me personally, if I could do it before he gets hurt...that would be the ideal.
[Otherwise, well. He had Gu Yun's permission to follow him, no matter where that leads them. That's an odd comfort. He smiled a little: it wasn't a particularly happy expression. But it's mild, as his entire demeanour has remained throughout this.]
I apologize. There's a lot of intricacies that are difficult to explain easily without going into a lot of other things, but that's the short version of things.