400 years back during ancient time
The palace gardens were quiet that night, save for the sound of wind rustling through the ancient plum trees. Their blossoms bled red under the moonlight, as if foreshadowing the sorrow to come.
Yue Lusi stood alone beneath the largest tree, her violet robes shimmering like liquid dusk, her face turned to the heavens. She did not flinch as footsteps approached behind her—she already knew who it was.
"You shouldn't be here, Prince Xuanjin," she said, voice as calm as still water, though her heart thundered in her chest.
Li Xuanjin stopped a few paces away. The golden crest of his cloak flickered under moonlight, but his face was unreadable. "And yet, here I am."
She turned to him, meeting his gaze. "What does the mighty prince want with a woman he does not love?"
His silence was long, heavy. "The court voted for your exile. They say your bloodline magic is dangerous. That your power—"
"—Could bring ruin," she finished bitterly. "So now they want to discard me like a broken tool."
Li Xuanjin took a step forward. "I fought against them. I threatened to dissolve the Council, to destroy the blood seals if they laid a hand on you. The king... he was furious."
Yue Lusi's eyes widened. "You did that? But why?"
He looked away, a shadow crossing his features. "Because even if I never asked for this engagement... I have always watched you from afar. And the truth is—" He stepped closer, brushing a stray hair from her cheek. "—I've always protected you from behind the veil of duty. I just didn't know how to love you without breaking you."
She reached up, touching his hand. "I didn't want this arrangement either, but I never hated you. I hated that fate made us strangers... when our souls might have been something more."
A gust of wind tore through the garden, scattering the plum blossoms like falling blood. A sudden voice pierced the quiet.
"You shouldn't be here."
Wu Tianye emerged from the shadows, his cloak billowing like night itself. His eyes burned with confusion—and something deeper. Pain.
"She is to be exiled by dawn. If the king finds you together..."
"Let him find me," Li Xuanjin said, turning sharply. "Let the heavens know I defied him. Let the world hear I broke fate's chains for her."
Wu Tianye's expression flickered. "You're endangering everything. Your throne, your life—"
"I never wanted the throne," Xuanjin snapped. "I wanted peace. I wanted... her."
Yue Lusi stepped between them. "Stop. Both of you. I won't be the reason friends turn to enemies."
Xuanjin took her hands. "Come with me. We'll flee tonight. The starlight can be our witness."
But Yue Lusi shook her head. "No. If I run, they will hunt you. They will punish you. The only way to protect me is to let me go."
"No," he whispered, agony cracking his voice. "You don't understand—if I lose you now, I will chase you through lifetimes. Through death itself."
She stepped closer, pressing her forehead to his. "Then chase me. Across centuries. Across veils of scarlet and shadow. I'll wait."
Their lips met—once, painfully, like a goodbye written in blood and stars.
By dawn, Yue Lusi was gone—exiled to the borderlands, where no one dared follow.
The prince knelt in the garden beneath the plum tree she once stood, crimson blossoms falling around him like tears of the gods. And from that day, the legend whispered through court halls and village fires:
The Immortal Prince who defied fate... and the woman who burned for him in silence.
The moon hung low, drenched in sorrow, casting ghostly light over the Jade Pavilion where fate would soon tear hearts apart.
Li Xuanjin gripped Yue Lusi's hand as they ran through the palace corridors. His cloak trailed like a black flame, her robes tangled in wind and fear. Behind them, the echo of armored boots roared like an approaching storm.
"You were serious…" she panted, unable to believe the madness unfolding.
"I told you," he whispered, never slowing, "if they wanted to take you from me, they'd have to pry you from my corpse."
The two burst into the Moon Gate, but their path was blocked—dozens of royal guards stood waiting with blades drawn, their faces hidden behind ceremonial masks of iron.
"Step aside!" Xuanjin roared, raising his sword.
"The King has decreed her exile!" a captain shouted. "You disgrace your name, Prince!"
"Then let my name die with her!" he growled.
The first blade came down—and metal clashed.
He fought like a man possessed, cutting through guards like autumn wind through leaves. But there were too many. They came at him in waves, knocking him back, separating him from Yue Lusi.
"Xuanjin!" she cried as spears closed in.
He slashed them aside, blood streaking his arms. "Stay behind me!" he shouted, grabbing her hand again, shielding her with his body.
Then—one guard broke through his defense, blade gleaming, arcing toward his heart.
"XUANJIN!"
She dove forward—too fast, too sudden.
The blade sank into her back, just below her shoulder.