Moonlight Under Shadows
The moonlight glazed the white stone of the Moonlight Pavilion, making it shimmer like it belonged in a dream. The soft night wind swirled around the palace gardens, humming with a silence too deep for comfort.
Prince Chen walked ahead, silent as ever, his long coat sweeping the ground with regal precision. Xiuming, his trusted companion, followed, casting an occasional glance around, alert to every flicker in the dark.
"It's quiet here," Xiuming murmured. "Too quiet."
Chen paused, his gaze falling on the old instrument in the centre of the pavilion. His expression stiffened.
He didn't know who had played it that night. Only that the melody had calmed the storm within him—an impossible feat, one only his sister Roa had ever done with her words, never music.
It had been... haunting.
"She was here that night," Chen said coldly. "Whoever she is, she tampered with my mind."
Xiuming raised an eyebrow. "Maybe she helped you."
"I don't need help," Chen said flatly.
His palm hovered near the hilt of his blade as if ready for battle—even here.
He stared at the piano again, a flicker of something unreadable in his dark eyes. "It's not magic. It was emotion. That's more dangerous."
Suddenly, footsteps sounded from the corridor.
Chen turned, sharp and silent. But it wasn't an enemy.
It was Rou Rou, Yunxi's maid, startled to see the prince at the pavilion.
"I—I apologize, Your Highness," she stammered, bowing nervously. "I came to leave a blanket for my lady. She often sits here late."
Chen's eyes narrowed. "Your lady?"
Rou Rou looked up briefly, then immediately lowered her gaze. "Lady Yunxi."
Xiuming glanced at Chen, surprised. But Chen didn't say a word. His face was unreadable, but something in his chest shifted slightly.
Yunxi.
He stared at the piano again.
Was it her?
Was she the one who sang that night… and stirred something in the heart he believed long buried?
Ripples Beneath Still Waters
The sun had begun to dip below the mountains, casting an amber glow over the riverbank where willows whispered with the wind. The surface of the river shimmered like a flowing mirror, golden and calm.
Yunxi sat on a flat stone near the edge, her shoes beside her, feet dipped in the cool water. Jiner plopped down beside her with a dramatic sigh, her braid slightly undone from the wind.
"I still don't get it," Jiner said, tossing a pebble into the water. "What was Lady Cheonsa even saying yesterday?"
Yunxi didn't answer right away. Her gaze was fixed on the river, yet her thoughts were far beyond its banks. "She spoke in riddles, but they weren't just poetic," Yunxi murmured.
"There was warning in her voice… like she knows something. Something she won't say directly."
Jiner huffed. "She always talks like she's in a play. 'Not everything you see is truth, not every shadow is evil'—what's that even supposed to mean?"
Yunxi turned to her slowly. "And then she said, 'The dragon wakes when the veil is lifted.'"
Jiner blinked. "Do you think she meant Prince Chen?"
Yunxi flinched at the name. She hadn't seen him since the incident at the market—and the cold fire in his eyes haunted her thoughts more than she liked to admit.
"I don't know," Yunxi whispered. "But… it's like she knows who I really am. Or why I'm here."
Jiner glanced at her, sensing the weight behind those words. "Do you know why you're here?"
Silence. Yunxi's fingers curled into her skirt.
"Maybe this world isn't just a dream," she said softly. "Maybe I didn't just fall into this time. Maybe I was pulled."
The breeze carried her words across the water, where even the ripples seemed to pause.
Jiner reached over and squeezed her hand. "Well, no matter what you're here for… I'll stay by your side. Even if we're stuck with assassins, dragon princes, and mystery princesses."
Yunxi let out a small laugh. "Thanks, Jiner."
But her eyes returned to the water, her reflection shimmering with uncertainty.
Deep inside, something was shifting. Something beyond stories, beyond heartbreak. Something she hadn't written yet.
And far away, on a quiet rooftop, Cheonsa watched the riverbank from the shadows. A slight smile touched her lips as the wind lifted her veil.
Secret Passage Near the Royal Garden — Nightfall
The moonlight barely touched the stone path hidden behind the royal garden walls. The air was still, too still. A faint rustle of robes and a flicker of movement in the shadows broke the silence.
Cheonsa stood alone, her jade hairpin glinting faintly under the moon, her eyes scanning the darkness with calm familiarity.
"You're late," she whispered.
From the darkness, a figure emerged — cloaked in black, face hidden beneath a hood. Only his voice betrayed him — low, raspy, and dangerous.
Shadow: "The girl is not ordinary. She's changed something."
Cheonsa (softly): "I know. She wasn't meant to fall into this world."
Shadow: "Then why haven't you stopped her?"
Cheonsa turned slowly, her voice calm yet cold.
"Because I want to see how far her heart can go before it breaks."
The shadow stepped closer.
Shadow: "And Prince Chen?"
Cheonsa: "He is already cracking... the seal weakens with every note she plays. If he remembers who he truly is—everything will burn."
She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a delicate piece of cloth — the embroidered edge barely visible.
"This was hers... from the future. She dropped it when she crossed."
Shadow (growling): "You're walking a thin line, Cheonsa."
Cheonsa: "I always have."
Just as silently as he appeared, the shadow vanished into the night. Cheonsa remained still for a moment, eyes thoughtful.
"Yunxi... let's see how brightly you shine... before the darkness finds you."
As the full moon rose high in the sky, drenching the kingdom in silver light, Prince Chen stood at the edge of the Moonlight Pavilion. The wind was restless, carrying with it the faintest trace of that haunting melody he once heard — the one that had calmed his fury.
But tonight, it wasn't playing.
Instead, there was silence… and unease.
Chen's mind was a storm. Ever since Princess Roa had begun insisting he treat Yunxi with civility, his thoughts had grown tangled. Why did Yunxi keep appearing at strange moments? Why did her gaze seem to hold questions she never asked?
He clenched his fists, standing alone as his power subtly stirred again — not with rage, but with something more… uncertain.
Just then, a subtle shimmer flickered on the water below.
In the gardens beneath the pavilion, Yunxi was walking alone in the moonlight, her silk robes glowing faintly, her fingers grazing the leaves as if trying to feel something familiar.
Chen's eyes narrowed from above.
And in the shadows — far beyond both of them — Cheonsa watched, her fingers laced behind her back. A soft smile curved her lips as she whispered to the figure beside her:
"The moon reveals what daylight hides. Let's see if the prince remembers his past… or if the girl must awaken it for him."
Chen's hand shot to his chest, fingers clutching tightly over the spot where his heart should be. A sharp, piercing pain stabbed through him, raw and unfamiliar.
The black aura he usually kept sealed within him roared suddenly — surging like a wild storm breaking free. It spiraled upward, twisting and writhing, reaching toward the full moon hanging heavy in the night sky.
His eyes flashed — shifting from cold obsidian to a mesmerizing swirl of bluish-red flames, flickering like ancient embers awakening from slumber.
For a moment, the world around him seemed to tremble, as if holding its breath.
Inside, something ancient stirred, breaking through the shadows that had long bound him.
Chen's lips parted slightly, voice low and hoarse:
"What is this...?"