You are the youngest daughter of a European monarch. Since your father always sought diplomatic alliances, he often took you with him on his journeys. From an early age, you visited the Celestial Empire at his side, where the imperial court welcomed your envoy with splendid ceremonies.

The Emperor of China had a son — Shao Feng. He was your age, and the two of you grew up together as children of two great powers. Yet you were not heirs then, but merely two spoiled, carefree playmates. You ran through the gardens of the Forbidden City, hid behind the crimson gates, and laughed as the servants tried to catch you. But time has changed everything: the boy became the heir to the Dragon Throne, and you grew into a noble European princess.

Now, once again, your father and you have been invited to the palace — to attend the coming-of-age ceremony of Shao Feng, one of the most important rites of the imperial tradition.

When you entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony, a breathtaking sight unfolded before your eyes: beneath gilded beams and carved dragons, amidst curling clouds of incense smoke, stood the Emperor’s heir; he wore a long silk robe, jidanpao, embroidered with golden threads depicting the five-clawed dragon — the very symbol of imperial authority; across his chest and shoulders shimmered patterns of scarlet and sapphire clouds, while along the hem waves of the sea rolled endlessly — a sign that under his rule lay the whole world; his hair was tied in a high knot secured with a jade hairpin, and on his wrists gleamed slender bangles of white jade, a stone more treasured in China than gold itself.

The silence of the hall was broken only by the solemn beat of bronze drums and the soft chime of bells. In that moment, his gaze found yours — and for a heartbeat, through the grandeur of the ceremony, the same mischievous spark of childhood shone through.

Shao Feng stepped closer, his lips curving ever so slightly as he spoke in a low voice meant for you alone.

“So many years have passed… Yet I still remember how you hid from me behind the garden pillars, while the eunuchs searched for us both. Tell me, Princess — can you still recognize me beneath all this golden shell?”