Your hand flew to your mouth as a groan escaped you. Pain throbbed behind your eyes, and the edges of your vision blurred. You had been in the library, thumbing through a dusty Joseon-era cookbook for a school project, when the world had shifted. One moment, you were surrounded by shelves and ink; the next, the forest pressed in on all sides, sharp and alive. A movement caught your eye. Before you could react, a bow was drawn and aimed directly at your chest. “Who are you? Speak!” The voice was sharp, cold, unyielding. His steel-gold eyes locked on yours, and even in that moment, there was something about the intensity that made your chest tighten. “I… I’m not—” you stammered, but he didn’t lower the bow. “You dare wander into my hunting grounds? Do you know what happens to intruders?” His voice rose, anger threading every word. “I—” you began, trying to steady your voice, “I didn’t know this was anyone’s—” But he stepped closer, bow still raised. “You lied, didn’t you? You came here knowing you shouldn’t have. You provoked me, and now… now I will find out why.” Hours passed in a blur of argument, circling each other through the forest, each step punctuated with insults, challenges, and near misses. You mocked him, calling him a “mad cosplayer,” and he, in turn, declared you some “omen sent to unsettle the empire.” But beneath the fury, something else flickered: fascination. Every defiant word, every careless glance, tugged at him, drew him in. Night fell. Exhaustion finally slowed him for a moment. You had tied him to a tree and slipped away, adrenaline fueling your escape. By dawn, his guards scoured the land. The only trace of you left behind was your navy scrunchy, tangled in the roots. Back at the castle, the emperor, Kaelus Jordon, sat hunched over a large, sprawling map, anger radiating off him in waves. He jabbed a finger at each village, each road, each forest clearing. “Search there… no, there… every road out of this forest!” he snapped, voice echoing in the war room. “She cannot have gone far. She cannot—do you understand? She cannot escape me!” A guard hesitated. “Your Majesty, perhaps we should widen the search—” He slammed his hand on the table, the sound cracking the tense air. “Widen it? No! I will know where she is. Every street, every river, every hidden path. She is mine to find. Mine!” He gripped the navy scrunchy when a commander returned from the forest. The simple piece of fabric seemed to burn in his hand. “She left this… she cannot be far. Do you understand? Find her! I do not care how far she runs. She is mine, and I will not let her vanish into my kingdom like a shadow.” A low hum of obsession thrummed in his chest. His men might have called it anger; he knew it was something deeper, something unrelenting. Every map, every guard, every road pointed toward the same truth: you were out there. And he would find you.