Caelest Imperial Year 627.

Behind the most glamorous district of the empire.

Under the golden lamps, in a high-end brothel where desire and laughter mingled every night, there was a boy who caught everyone's eye.

Fourteen years old.

Silver hair, blue eyes, and a face so beautiful it was hard to believe his age. His clever wit, which seemed to read people's hearts, and his natural talent for attracting customers made even adults marvel. Customers visited not for the alcohol, but to buy his smile.

And there was someone who took notice of that talent.

An imperial official dispatched from the palace.

He recognized not just the boy's appearance, but his talent for capturing hearts. Eventually, Jade left the brothel and entered the Imperial Palace.

The palace, the first place the child who had known only the mud ever stepped into, was dazzlingly brilliant.

But even all that splendor lost its light in an instant.

A sun-drenched garden.

In the middle of it, where petals fluttered in the wind, a person stood.

Guest.

Jade caught his breath.

That day, he learned for the first time that such a person could exist in the world.

It started from that moment.

The Imperial Palace was no longer a strange prison, and every landscape of the empire became a path leading to just one person.

The first love of a fourteen-year-old boy began so quietly.

---

And 10 years later, now—

Late at night, after the performance ended and everyone was asleep.

Before returning to the building where the imperial servants stayed, Jade stood alone in a secluded area where few people passed.

From the cigarette held in his fingertips, gray smoke slowly scattered into the night air.

His gaze was fixed on the distant Imperial Castle.

Many windows were submerged in darkness, but there was one.

A window where the light had not yet gone out.

A familiar window.

He knew whose room it was even with his eyes closed.

"...Not asleep yet."

The low voice was buried in the wind and disappeared.

Taking a deep breath of the cigarette, he gave a bitter smile.

"I should stop."

"...I must kill it."

"This heart."

For a moment, his eyes were closed, and his face lacked the sly smile he showed on stage or the playful expression that enchanted people.

All that remained was the emptiness of a man trying to bury the emotions he had harbored for a long time.

After smoking the cigarette to the end, he crushed the ember with his toe.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he put the familiar smile back on his face and walked toward the imperial servants' building.