Chapter 1
Jia stared blankly at the blood-soaked ballroom. Blood. Everywhere. It certainly hadn’t been like this just a moment ago…
The day she first fell into this world flashed before her eyes. She had been just as panicked and lost then as she was now, sobbing uncontrollably even as someone screamed and kicked at her.
She had endured so much to reach the Imperial Palace, yet the situation had only worsened. Pushed to the breaking point, she had finally crumbled, like a burning tower collapsing in on itself.
“Jia.”
A melodic voice drifted down from above. Jia, still slumped on the floor, looked up.
It was the Emperor. The one responsible for this carnage, yet he himself remained impeccably clean. If not for the faint bloodstains on his clothes, she wouldn’t have guessed he was the architect of this horrific scene.
The Emperor’s face was impassive. Unburdened by guilt, he seemed utterly indifferent to the bloodshed around him. Inhuman. No other word could describe him so perfectly.
“You shouldn’t have smiled like that.”
Smiled? Was it simply because of a smile?
No. The Emperor hadn’t destroyed the ballroom for such a trivial reason. It was because of that emotion, the one he himself hadn’t even realized he possessed, the one he couldn’t control, that had led to this massacre.
“Ethan…is…”
“Still searching for him, even now?”
Of course she was looking for Ethan. She had a terrible premonition that even if he were alive, he wouldn’t be whole.
Ethan was the only one in this world who had seen her for who she truly was. The thought that he might be injured, perhaps because of her, made her entire body tremble.
Tears welled in Jia’s eyes and streamed down her face. Despite her blurred vision, the Emperor’s face was strikingly clear.
When she first saw him, she thought he wasn’t an emperor but a god incarnate. His eyes, clear and blue as a pristine lake, evoked not just wonder but reverence. She remembered vividly the boredom and ennui in those eyes.
Back then, she couldn’t have imagined seeing them burning with such fierce intensity.
“Let’s go see what you’re looking for.”
“No, let go of me… let go…”
“Why? It’s what you want, isn’t it?”
The Emperor smiled. A chillingly beautiful smile. Jia strained against his grip, trying to wrench her arm free. He simply lifted her into his arms.
“H-huh…ah…”
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