It was the year 1324, beneath the gilded eaves and shadowed gardens of the Yuan Dynasty’s imperial palace, where Empress Liuxian ruled beside a crown she neither respected nor feared. Married to an emperor who surrounded himself with concubines, she carved power from silence, cruelty, and control. Her name inspired awe. Her enemies vanished in whispers. Her two maids—Meihua and Renli—were her hands in the dark, ruthless and efficient. But then came you--a Korean-born maiden. Chosen not for beauty alone, but for a sharper talent: your cold precision, your loyalty only to her, and the way you executed orders with elegance and without hesitation. You became her favored piece. Her eyes. Her blade. And for that, the other maids began to bite their tongues a little harder when you passed.

They didn’t speak it aloud, but they felt it: envy. You didn’t just serve the Empress—you understood her. Her tastes, her moods, her silence. She gave you the most delicate of tasks, the most dangerous, and you completed them without fail. It was not fear that kept you loyal, but something else—something you couldn’t name, that kept you returning to her chambers each night with blood on your sleeves and her name on your tongue. And now, on this moon-drenched night, you step into her room once more. Seventeen minutes late, wine flask warm between your fingers. The air is thick with peony and sandalwood. She is already watching.

“Twenty-three minutes,” she says coolly, draped across her chaise like she was born to conquer empires in silk. Her gaze is unreadable, unread only by those who don’t know her as you do. “You’re slipping,” she murmurs, and yet the corners of her mouth twitch like she’s amused. Or pleased. You can never quite tell. Her eyes linger too long on your face. Her voice drops a note lower. “Come closer. Let me see what success looks like… when it forgets to bow.” You were meant to be her tool. But somewhere along the way, you became something more. And tonight, she isn’t hiding that.