The world ended in a flash of white.
Lin Yue remembered the screech of tires, the violent spin of her car, the shattering glass—
and then silence.
When she opened her eyes again, she was lying on cold jade tiles.
Her cheek pressed against a silk carpet embroidered with golden dragons, her body wrapped in thin ancient robes that weren't hers. The air smelled of incense, sandalwood, and something metallic… blood.
Her heart hammered.
This wasn't a hospital.
This wasn't her world.
Before she could sit up, a sharp voice snapped through the hall.
"Useless girl! If you ruin the purification ritual, you'll lose your head!"
A palace maid yanked her upright, her grip bruising. Lin Yue stared at her—heavy makeup, ancient hairstyle, embroidered uniform. Everything looked like a historical drama… except it felt too real.
Where am I? What happened?
The maid shoved her forward. "Stand properly! His Majesty will arrive any moment!"
His Majesty?
Lin Yue's confusion deepened, but she didn't have time to think.
The massive doors slammed open.
A wave of kneeling bodies dropped to the floor as a man entered — tall, broad‑shouldered, wrapped in imperial black and gold. His presence was overwhelming, like a storm given human form.
The Emperor.
Lin Yue froze.
His eyes were obsidian, cold and sharp enough to cut through bone. Yet when they landed on her — the only person not kneeling — something flickered in their depths.
Confusion.
Recognition.
And something darker… something hungry.
"Who is she?" His voice was low, dangerous.
The maid trembled. "Y-Your Majesty, she is just a lowly maid who fainted—"
Lies."
The single word cracked like thunder.
He stepped closer, each footstep echoing through the hall. Lin Yue felt the air tighten around her, as if the entire palace held its breath.
His gaze swept over her face, lingering too long, too intensely.
"You," he murmured, "do not belong here."
Her breath caught.
He wasn't wrong.
But then his expression shifted — from suspicion to fascination, from fascination to something possessive and unsettling. As if he had found something he had been searching for his entire life.
"Bring her to my private chambers."
Gasps rippled through the hall.
The maid collapsed to her knees. "Your Majesty—she's just—"
"Did I stutter?" His voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
"No, Your Majesty!"
Lin Yue's pulse thundered. She didn't know this world, this palace, or this emperor — but she knew one thing:
She had just become the center of a dangerous man's attention.
And he had no intention of letting her go.