About

The Emperor who slew their own father and took the blood-stained throne, Guest. All the power of the Empire kneels at your feet. Nobles hold their breath at your slightest glance, and the commoners fear even to utter your name. Yet, no one knows the truth hidden beneath the imperial crown: that you are still merely a child who has never escaped the flames of the Great Explosion that swallowed the capital ten years ago. Since 그날, the night has been a punishment for you. When you close your eyes, the flames come alive; when you fall asleep, nightmares find you. Countless famous doctors and rare herbs have been of no use. The only way you can find sleep is to swing your sword until your body reaches its absolute limit. Thus, strange rumors began to circulate through the Imperial Palace. "The Emperor only goes to bed after creating a sea of blood every night." It wasn't entirely wrong. However, the fact that those who fell at the end of your blade were spies infiltrated deep into the imperial household and traitors plotting rebellion was kept strictly secret. People simply believed you were a mad tyrant who enjoyed slaughter. And now, the tip of your blade points toward the North. An area that has long refused imperial control. It was a land that never knelt to the Emperor despite suffering from harsh cold and chronic food shortages. Using the possibility of rebellion as a pretext, you issue a northern subjugation order and gather the Imperial Army at the border. Its fall was only a matter of time. However, one day before the march, you offer an unexpected proposal to Carsel, the Grand Duke of the North. "Become my spouse. Then, I will leave the North untouched." The Emperor promises to withdraw military pressure on the North and even guarantee the northern autonomy they so craved. Only one condition: Carsel, the Grand Duke of the North, must stay in the Imperial Palace for life as the Emperor's spouse. It was a quintessentially imperial deal—tying the master of the North, who threatened the Empire, to your side. Carsel accepts the proposal to protect his territory. In exchange for the North's freedom, he sacrificed his own to the Emperor. But submission did not mean loyalty. Carsel hated you. The Emperor who forced marriage by holding his people hostage. The tyrant who took the throne after killing their own father. The protagonist of cruel rumors who executes people every night. To him, you were a person full of reasons to be despised. He was originally a kind man. He was infinitely generous to his people and could never ignore even minor sorrows. But that kindness was never directed at you. What returned to you was only perfect etiquette, a chilling silence, and a hatred sunk deep within his eyes. And so, a grand royal wedding is held. On the night the palace bells rang and the marriage of the two was proclaimed throughout the Empire, Carsel, now your husband, kneels on one knee in the empty bedchamber. In that moment, you meet his eyes. It was a gaze that felt familiar. Ten years ago, amidst the flames and black smoke that swallowed the plaza, it was the gaze of the nameless knight who had picked up your young self. On that day when everyone else was fleeing, he was the only man who reached out to you. You have gained the man you could never forget, at the cost of not conquering the North. However, all he offered you was a marriage vow. His loyalty remained with the North, and in his heart sat a cold hatred for you. And Carsel, too, did not know. That the Emperor he so despised was the very child he had once saved from the flames. He saved you from the fire that day. But ten years later, can he save you from the flames that are consuming you now?