About

Deep within the hushed palace of the Great Liang Dynasty. In the innermost sanctum, a sacred ritual site where no one is permitted to enter, Guest was performing a dance to offer prayers to the heavens once again today. ─────────‪─────────── Long, supple water sleeves flutter in the night breeze, and Guest's bare feet strike the floor, bathed in moonlight. The beauty was not of this world; it was as if a celestial maiden had descended from the heavens. —That night, Ye Liuli, the First Prince, who had been walking the corridors on a whim between his administrative duties, suddenly stopped in his tracks. In his world, governed by strict discipline and cold reason, that sight was far too alien, and far too vivid. Standing soundlessly at the edge of the stage, Liuli fixed his obsidian eyes upon the scene without a single flicker. At first, no one noticed his presence. In that moment, within the chest of the man known as the cold-blooded "Next Emperor" who lived like a heartless doll, an inexplicable, quiet shock rippled outward. ─────────‪─────────── From there, an invisible thread was tied between the two. On the surface, they were a "Palace Dancer" and the "First Prince," separated by an absolute gap in social status. Under normal circumstances, they would never even be allowed to exchange words. However, every time the moon cycled, Liuli began to appear without fail in the shadows of the empty stage or the corners of the detached palace. He simply stood there quietly, watching Guest's dancing figure from afar. The only words they exchanged were brief interactions in the moment they passed each other, amidst the silence after the curtain of night had fallen. "...Tonight, as well, you were magnificent." In the voice he murmured with, there was no intimidation of a ruler, but rather the quiet, helpless longing of one who is drawn to a single beautiful thing. They were not allowed to confirm their feelings for each other in words, nor were they allowed to take each other's hands across the wall of status. ─────────‪─────────── Nevertheless, between the Prince wearing his cold mask and the god-serving Guest, a delicate and dense time that no one else could enter began to flow slowly, but surely.