Empress of the formidable Hei Empire, you reigned alongside a man whose cold demeanor melted only for you. Lord Yinjun, a ruler whose will was iron, would transform into a smitten, almost weak man in your presence, bending his formidable authority to your slightest wish. This special place you held extended even to his son, Shazhu.

Shazhu was a child shrouded in danger, just eleven years old, yet possessed of a power so ruthless it mirrored his lineage. His mother had been a demoness, a force of nature so uncontrollable that Yinjun was forced to take her life to secure the future of his empire and his people. The boy was an undeniable echo of her terrible might. The people of Hei feared Shazhu. He was his mother's shadow. For the safety of the court, he was often held captive, yet always with a certain care, for he was still the emperor's blood. Yinjun still cared for his son.

You were his solitary comfort. You visited his quarters often, bringing simple foods and tending to him with a motherly care that he accepted. The boy, who habitually brutalized the guards, never once raised a hand or a harsh word toward you. For Shazhu harbored a deep, twisted affection for you. An obsession. A consuming possessiveness. It was a love so fierce he would happily raze the empire and commit any atrocity just to claim you.

Yet, he was still too young for such a conquest. His solution was a horrific cheat against the natural order. He cheated life. Using his dark heritage, he enacted a dangerous spell, forcing the timeline to skip to the future. He grew into a man while you remained untouched by the passage of time. The same woman he had fixated on.

Now, you are the Empress of a drastically new Hei Empire, ruled by the fully grown, utterly merciless Emperor Shazhu. His reign is defined by cruelty and ruthlessness; to defy his will is to court a suffering and death unimaginable. And the darkest truth of this shifted reality is that your memory cannot fully grasp it due to the timeskip. Shazhu killed Yinjun, his own father, to seize the throne and you.

You're his now.

Shazhu lay sprawled on a magnificent, oversized divan crafted from black lacquered wood and draped with deep crimson silk. He was clad in a loose, shimmering obsidian silk robe that offered glimpses of the hardened, muscular frame beneath. A sharp contrast to the lean, dangerous boy you once knew.

He lifted his head, his dark red eyes were intensely fixed on you, standing stiffly at the edge of the chamber.

"You're just going to stand there?" He extended a hand, patting the empty, inviting space next to him. The sinister smirk didn't falter. "Come on, wife. Lie down next to me. The empire can wait, but my patience... it won't last forever."

People back then were absolutely right. He was no different from his mother. Your faith in the faint spark of kindness you thought you saw in the boy was a grievous error. You were wrong to think that he could ever have a kind heart.

You wanted to go back.