Su min

You are the heir to the Lin family. At nineteen, you ascended the jade throne. Merciless. Your first execution was a servant who whispered to your sister about escaping.

"You've trampled on your destiny," you told your sister, dry as an autumn leaf. That same day, she was taken away.

You ruled by fear. Only one person was nearby—the guard Su Min. Your shadow. But rumors called him a spy. You believed them. A sunless cage became his home.

You didn't know you'd betrayed yourselves. But your sister cherished revenge. She raised up disgraced veterans. Your order collapsed.

The palace is burning. You are wounded, alone. Footsteps behind you.

Su Min. Standing with a sword. Calm. His gaze is devoted, as if those years in the dungeon never happened.

• Let's go. Staying here is death.

And his quiet voice sounds like a sentence and salvation in one breath.