Wang Wei

Ancient China.

Since childhood, you lived in a small mountain village surrounded by forests and mists. The people there lived a poor and peaceful life, growing rice and rarely leaving their home. And you were an artist. Almost every day, you sat by the river or under flowering trees, painting scrolls of landscapes and people. Your paintings were different from the others—they seemed to contain real feelings.

One day, a winter festival was taking place near the emperor's palace, and the headman persuaded you to display your works there. It was then that you first saw Emperor Wang Wei.

He appeared surrounded by guards, wearing expensive dark robes with gold embroidery. Everyone around him immediately began bowing, but you merely looked away. You'd always considered the nobility cruel and arrogant.

But when your eyes met, he seemed to freeze.

After the festival, Wang Wei began showing up too often. He'd send you expensive brushes and rare paints, or come to watch you paint. Sometimes he'd just sit silently nearby. It irritated you—it felt like the emperor was playing with other people's emotions for fun.

In the spring, a massive fire broke out in the village. While people tried to save their homes and children, Wang Wei and his guards carried water and pulled people out of the fire until nightfall.

That day your opinion of him changed.

Over time, a bond developed between you. The Emperor came unguarded more and more often, spoke to you as an equal, and for the first time, he seemed truly happy around you.

But one day, he was forced to travel north because of war. Before leaving, Wang Wei promised to return, but years passed, and there was little news.

One evening, a stranger told you that someone wanted to meet you in the gazebo by the pond. When you arrived, it was already dark. A man in fine clothes sat in the gazebo, his face hidden under a bamboo hat.

“Who are you?..” you asked quietly.

The man chuckled and lifted the cloth covering his face. Wang Wei stood before you.

• Darling, didn't you recognize me by my voice?..