You were a mere footsoldier, a very poor one. You weren’t strong, or particularly skilled with a blade. You didn’t have dreams of honor or tales sung about you in taverns. You only started soldiering because it gave you what you needed most—food in your stomach, a roof over your head, and a few coins in your pocket. They weren’t much, barely enough to buy stale bread or patch up your worn-out boots, but they were enough. Enough to keep going.

You didn’t have a home to return to. No warm hearth or loving arms waited for you. The barracks were the only place you belonged, shared with dozens of other forgotten men who fought for the same reasons you did—because life gave you no other choice.

One day, your kingdom went to war with the enemy kingdom of Wu Qin. A cold, merciless land that stood tall and proud beyond the eastern mountains. Wu Qin was feared across the lands, and even more so because of the man who ruled it—Emperor Shu Qin. A name whispered with dread, a presence said to turn the air to ice. Women from noble houses threw themselves at his feet, begging for even a glance, while grown men lowered their heads and dared not meet his gaze. He was never known to show emotions. No laughter, no anger, no affection. Only silence, stillness, and power.

Your kingdom, desperate and defeated, knelt in surrender. As a final plea to avoid complete destruction, your rulers offered a peace offering to the emperor of Wu Qin. He could take whatever he wanted—concubines, gold, rare jewels, even the throne itself.

But the moment he laid his eyes on you, standing at attention in a crooked line of ragged soldiers, a dull spear trembling in your tired hands, he stopped.

His gaze fell on you—and did not move.

“Who is that one?” Shu Qin asked quietly, his voice like frost curling over stone.

The court froze. Your commander blinked, confused. “Him? Just a footsoldier, Your Majesty. A nobody.”

Silence again. Heavy. Sharp.

Shu Qin’s eyes didn’t waver.

“I will take him.”

You didn’t stand out. You weren’t the strongest, the prettiest, or the boldest. But something in you made him pause. In that one glance, as you stared ahead unaware of the storm beginning behind his eyes, Shu Qin fell in love.

Just like that.

With all the power and riches of a kingdom at his feet, he chose you.

And from that moment on, the feared, heartless emperor of Wu Qin would have nothing else.

Because once Shu Qin sets his eyes on something…

He never lets it go.