[ Tae Hua's POV ]
The ground itself seemed to tremble beneath the rhythmic, crushing weight of the imperial cavalry. At the center of the outer court, the heralds blew their long brass horns, a deafening blare that echoed off the stone walls of the academy.
As the primary royal carriage—an opulent fortress of black lacquer and gold silk—came to a halt, the palace guards immediately fell to their knees. The heavy carriage doors swung open, and the true rulers of the territory stepped into the freezing northern air.
I was forced to step forward from the candidate formation, my spine perfectly straight as I assumed my role as the "Dragon Son."
My brothers, the first and second princes, stepped out first, their faces masked in the classic, hollow arrogance of the capital. But they were entirely ignored. The moment my biological mother, Queen Yun Ni Xua, stepped onto the wet pavement, her terrifying, unblinking eyes locked directly onto me. She adjusted her massive, high-tiered gold headdress, walking past my siblings as if they were ghosts, stopping precisely three paces away from my chest.
"Tae Hua," she whispered, her voice a sharp, chilling draft that froze the air between us. "The eyes of the Central Empire are on this institution today. You will outshine every common dog in this court during this inspection. Do you comprehend your directive?"
"Perfectly, Mother," I responded, forcing a flawless, beautifully sycophantic smile to my lips.
Inside, my chest burned with a familiar, bitter exhaustion. I could feel the localized heat of my brothers' glares cutting into my back. She was doing it again—systematically driving a wedge of jealousy and hatred between us to fuel her own ambitions for my future. I cast a single, sharp side-glance over her shoulder, trying to find Ji Wok in the sea of uniforms, but I was instantly swept away by the roaring royal entourage as they migrated toward the center dais.
[ Weicheng's POV ]
I stood buried at the very end of the commoner line, my boots ankle-deep in the freezing mud of the open court. Laohu stood to my left, his jaw clenched, while his sister Mu Lin—the Imperial Physician who had arrived with the vanguard—stood subtly behind us, a leather medical satchel slung tight across her torso. We were a quiet, insignificant pocket at the back of the universe, entirely ignored by the grand court officials who were lining up by rank and designation.
My eyes traveled to the grand dais. Standing side-by-side at the center were the Yun sisters: Queen Ni Xua and her biological sister, the Empress.
A cold dread pooled in my stomach. Their faces were so terrifyingly identical that it was impossible to distinguish who was who, save for the specific configuration of their high crown-headdresses and the sweeping, predatory width of their silk robes. They looked like twin statues carved from ancestral ice—scary, unyielding, and explicitly lethal.
The Empress raised a singular, pale hand, and the roaring courtyard fell into absolute, suffocating silence.
"The severe security breach regarding the Second Princess has abruptly breached the capital gates," the Empress declared, her voice carrying a terrifying, rhythmic grace that cut through the valley. "The Emperor has officially dispatched myself, alongside the first and second princes, to issue a direct Imperial Edict. As the Mother of this Empire, I must extend my hand to care for my people and neutralize this chaos."
She turned her head with agonizing slowness, gesturing to the center of the platform. "Master Pu. Read the mandate."
Grand Master Dan Pu Chi stepped forward, his expression grave as he unfurled a heavy, gold-trimmed parchment scroll. The parchment snapped open in the quiet air.
"The Arghon Empire is inherently just and fair," Master Pu's booming voice resonated off the stone tile. "The sudden intelligence report has shaken the structural foundation of the kingdom. The Second Princess, possessing the royal blood of the North, has existed outside our perimeter for thirteen winters without a single trace left behind. Queen Yun Ni Xua has requested immediate federal intervention."
I held my breath, my fingers instinctively tightening around the warm charcoal packet Ji Wok had slipped me earlier.
Master Pu cleared his throat, his eyes scanning the rows of candidates. "Therefore, the Crown decrees that all normal academic training is suspended. I am commanding Master Dan to immediately delegate this royal crisis to his eight superior candidates. They are officially relieved of their ministerial duties to join the imperial hunt. Furthermore..."
Master Pu paused, his voice dropping into a deeper, fatal cadence.
"...to ensure the asset is identified, an immediate regional screening is enacted. Every female citizen currently of eighteen winters, born precisely in the ancestral year of 807, shall be detained for strict structural questioning. No exceptions will be tolerated under the law."
Born in the year 807. Eighteen winters.
The world went entirely silent. The sound of the wind, the rustle of the banners, the breathing of the candidates—all of it vanished, replaced by the violent, erratic thudding of my own heart against my ribs.
I was exactly eighteen. I had been born in the winter of 807.
The noose hadn't just tightened; it had locked directly around my throat. If the regional dragnets began registering every eighteen-year-old girl, my false identity papers would be torn apart under imperial scrutiny. If they demanded a physical screening... they would find the three stars.
"The Princess is probably on the run," Laohu murmured beside me, his voice low and oblivious to the panic paralyzing my frame.
I managed a rigid, robotic nod, my eyes staring blankly at the wet stones beneath my boots. "Yes..." I choked out, my throat completely dry. "On the run."
[ Ji Wok's POV ]
"So, the Empress and the Queen are officially joining hands to hunt down the Second Princess?"
Qui Run's voice buzzed loudly next to my ear, forcing a sharp hiss past my teeth. I reached out, aggressively shoving the edge of his iron fan down. "Stop buzzing your mouth in front of the dais," I commanded in a harsh whisper.
He pouted, but my focus was already gone. I didn't care about Qui Run's nosy deductions. My eyes were locked onto the back row of the commoner lines.
Even from this distance, I could see the subtle, catastrophic shift in Dan Weicheng's posture the moment Master Pu read the criteria for the year 807. Her smaller frame had gone completely rigid, her head lowering as she stared blankly at the ground. She wasn't just processing the news—she was drowning in it.
I looked over at Tae Hua. My cousin was staring out over the courtyard, his eyebrows curling into a deep, calculated line. His brilliant strategic mind was already mapping out the political fallout, but he was entirely blind to the human variable standing at the back of his own ranks.
The assembly concluded with a sharp wave of the Empress's hand. The officials immediately began to disperse, fracturing into small pockets as they whispered intensely among themselves.
"Thirteen years have passed... there is zero probability she survived the initial assassination attempt," an older minister muttered as he passed my row.
"I heard the carriage was entirely incinerated by bandits near the northern border, but her body was never retrieved," another whispered back.
I ignored their useless chatter, cutting directly through the moving crowd until I intercepted Weicheng near the eastern archway. She was still staring blankly at the exiting officials, her eyes wide, pale, and entirely unfocused.
"Cheng," I said softly, stepping into her line of sight to block her from the view of the remaining guards.
She stammered, her chest heaving as her eyes slowly found my face. "Ji... Ji Wok."
I lowered my head slightly, ensuring my voice was a mere murmur that couldn't be carried by the wind. "Are you functioning within normal parameters? Are you alright?"
She mumbled something completely unintelligible under her breath, forcing a small, hollow nod. "Of course. By the way... I need to vacate the court first. I need to catch up with Mu Lin regarding... medical supplies."
Before I could offer a single tactical response, she turned on her heel and fled toward the inner halls, her steps rushed and uneven.
I watched her retreating form, my jaw tightening. The imperial hunting dogs had just been unleashed, and she was running directly into their path. I needed to find Tae Hua. I needed to see what the royal family was planning behind closed doors before the noose snapped shut completely.
Turning toward the Queen's private throne room, I slipped into the shadows of the gallery, completely unaware that Tae Hua was already navigating the exact same path.