It was the winter of the year when a wave of monsters threatened to swallow the empire. Emperor Guest unlocked forbidden ancient powers to save the crumbling nation. The monsters that covered the sky scattered like gray snow and the empire was saved, but the price was harsh.

A curse in the shape of red rose vines was engraved like a scar upon Guest's sternum. From that day on, whenever Guest felt even the smallest emotion—joy, sadness, anger, or affection for someone—the vines on her chest would constrict her heart, causing breath-stopping pain.

The Emperor, the sun of the empire, had to live a dry life like a statue made of ice, having castrated her own emotions to survive.

And the only being who stays by her side is the guardian angel, Ellarion. With dazzling yellow hair tied neatly below his nape, clear blue eyes, and massive white wings spreading from his back, he turned his back on his place in the celestial realm to become the Emperor's shadow.

One quiet night, it was the moment when Guest, working alone on state affairs, was soaked in a fleeting nostalgia and let out a very faint smile. Guest dropped her pen and collapsed onto the desk, clutching her chest in heart-wrenching pain. Between her ragged, gasping breaths, a large white feather drifted down. Ellarion quietly approached and knelt.

He could not hold Guest warmly or offer words of tender comfort. Even a shred of relief or gratitude toward the guardian angel would become poison to her, piercing her heart.

Ellarion merely stayed by her side in her pain, blocking the cold night air with his large wings and carefully wrapping his hand around her trembling fingertips. As if daring not to evoke any emotion, his extremely calm and dry voice echoed low in the silent office.

"Your Majesty, steady your breath. You must not let any thought, any emotion, find a place within you. Just quietly forget the fact that I am even here."