The sound of hooves was a rhythm i knew by heart.
I sat straight upon my stallion, silk robes flowing like water behind me, the embroidered sigil of House Li catching the soft golden light of the late afternoon.
The roads were quiet, the wind was gentle, and yet something restless stirred within me.
I had just left the Northern Gardens of the Queen Dowager, my grandfather, the once-mighty emperor now aged and silent, who still summoned me once every moon to sip tea and speak of things that had long stopped mattering to the court.
Today was no different.
He asked me about jasmine.
About the color of clouds.
About the dreams of my childhood.
He did not ask about the empire.
He did not ask about the crown prince—his heir, my brother.
And most of all, he did not ask about me.
Perhaps because he already knew the answer.
The Eastern Palace loomed ahead, its vermilion roofs shimmering under the setting sun.
I was nearly home when i saw it.
A flicker of motion.
A break in the trees.
I slowed the reins, my eyes narrowing.
The guards flanking me were laughing about something foolish, one of them humming a tune from the capital's brothels, no doubt. I ignored them. I always did.
Because something was wrong.
There, beyond the low rise of the hill, in the clearing beneath the eastern watchtower, steel clashed.
Not ceremonial steel.
Not practice drills.
Real swords.
My heart kicked once.
I leaned forward, heels pressing lightly against my horse's sides. The stallion responded with a soft snort and surged ahead.
"Princess—wait—!"
Their voices trailed behind me.
Dust curled around my vision as I crested the hill, and there at the foot of the tower, I saw it.
Four men in black. Faces covered. Moving like shadows. Blades drawn.
And in the center of it all stood a man i did not recognize.
He was tall. Cloaked in simple armor, dark with the grime of battle. His long black hair was bound hastily at his nape, strands flying loose with every strike.
But it was his presence that caught me, something grounded and immovable, like a mountain refusing to bow against a storm.
He did not retreat.
Even when one of the masked men came from behind.
No. He didn't see him.
I reached for my bow.
The movements were muscle memory. I didn't think, didn't breathe. I only drew.
My fingers nocked the arrow and pulled tight. The string creaked under the pressure.
And then—
Let it fly.
The arrow sang through the air.
A heartbeat later, it buried itself into the man's shoulder, just as he raised his dagger to strike the warrior from behind.
The black-cloaked attacker fell with a thud.
The warrior spun around.
His blade poised, face alert.
Then his eyes met mine.
It was only for a moment.
But in that breath of time, his entire body shifted.
Not in shock.
Recognition.
He knew me.
And yet i had never seen him before.
The other attackers lunged again, and the man turned back to meet them, his expression hardening as his sword caught theirs in a hiss of steel.
I dismounted, gripping my bow tighter.
The guards arrived moments later, panting and frantic. "Your Highness—what happened—?"
"Reinforcements," I said sharply. "Now."
They obeyed.
But i did not wait.
I moved forward, skirts brushing the bloodstained grass, eyes fixed on the man who still hadn't looked back.
The clash of swords still rang through the air. But the tides had turned.
The ambushers were losing ground.
One had already fled, limping, blood trailing behind him like a curse. Another fell to the warrior's blade, his masked face slashed open, revealing no one i recognized. No emblem. No house crest.
Assassins.
Not bandits. Not rebels.
Assassins.
And they had struck within the eastern boundary of the imperial palace.
That meant only one thing, someone inside let them through.
The thought chilled me more than the wind.
I kept moving forward, ignoring the guards calling me back.
One of them tried to stop me, but i pulled away sharply.
"I'm not going to watch from behind a veil," I said.
The warrior turned again, his last opponent on the ground, groaning.
He stepped back, blade still drawn, but relaxed.
Only now did i notice the faint crimson along his arm, a cut from one of the masked men. Shallow, but bleeding fast.
I expected him to glance my way.
He didn't.
Instead, he kneeled beside the fallen attacker and yanked the mask away. "He's not from any of the border provinces," he muttered.
I blinked.
His voice was low, deep commanding without effort. Not a single thread of hesitation.
He turned the man's wrist, examined a faint tattoo beneath the blood.
Then, finally, he looked up at me.
Up close, he was older than i'd thought. Perhaps twenty-five or twenty-six. His face was not soft. It had seen war, and refused to forget it.
But his eyes, they were sharp. A piercing storm-gray i'd never seen in our region.
"Are you harmed, Princess?" he asked.
The way he said it calm, but unmistakably certain, sent a flicker down my spine.
I tilted my chin slightly. "No."
A brief nod. "Good. Your aim is impressive."
"You're welcome."
He actually smiled. A very small one.
The guards finally surrounded us, forming a ring around the scene. A few began checking the bodies. Another pulled me aside, insisting I return to the palace.
I ignored them again. "What were they after?"
"I could ask the same," he said. "Why is the Princess riding alone with only four guards near the eastern boundary?"
"That's not an answer."
"It wasn't a question."
I blinked. Was this man seriously—
Before i could respond, a voice shouted from the edge of the courtyard. "Your Grace!"
A soldier in palace uniform rushed forward and bowed.
"General Liu," he said, breathless. "The Crown Prince is looking for you. There was another incident near the training field—"
I froze.
General Liu?
So this was him.
The Crown Prince's closest friend.
The youngest general appointed to the southern command.
General Sebastian Liu.
I suddenly felt... foolish. And exposed.
He looked at me again. Not with softness—but with a strange... stillness. As if he were reading something i hadn't said aloud.
"I'll report to His Highness shortly," he told the soldier. "After the Princess is safely escorted to the Eastern Wing."
I opened my mouth. "That's not—"
"I insist," he said, not unkindly.
I could've argued. I should've.
But something in his tone silenced me. Not arrogance. Not command.
A promise.
That this wasn't over.
That he'd seen too much.
And i'd said too little.
I walked behind him.
Not because j was told to. Not because the guards ushered me forward.
But because something about him, his presence pulled me forward like a tide.
General Sebastian Liu.
I had heard of him, of course.
Everyone had.
The Crown Prince spoke of him in court with pride, and sometimes even a quiet envy that no one ever dared name aloud.
They said he came from a small but noble military lineage in the southern provinces. That he became a general at twenty-three. That his sword had never tasted defeat.
But no one told me he looked like that.
His features were carved from stone and sharpened by fire—cheekbones proud, jaw severe, eyes cold as river steel. The kind of face you didn't look at directly unless you were prepared to drown.
And yet i was staring.
I didn't even realize it until he turned, eyes flicking to me briefly as if to say, you should keep your guard up even when you think you're safe.
I dropped my gaze.
But something fluttered inside my chest.
It was ridiculous, really.
I'd met far more charming men. Sons of dukes who recited poems they didn't understand.
Ministers' nephews who bowed so low they forgot how to stand upright. Even other prince had once gifted me a hairpin carved from jade, though it felt more like duty than affection.
This... wasn't like that.
This wasn't even affection.
This was… breathlessness.
This was the moment before thunder.
We reached the bridge that curved over the koi pond near the eastern wing.
My guards finally caught up, forming a loose circle around me again, as if suddenly remembering their role.
"Thank you for your escort," I said softly, meaning it.
General Liu bowed slightly. "Thank you for the arrow."
I hesitated. "Did you know?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Know what?"
"That someone would strike today."
A pause. Then, "I suspected a breach. But i didn't expect the Princess to be the one to intervene."
"I didn't do it for you," I said, too fast.
His lips twitched. "Of course."
Why did that feel like he didn't believe me?
I turned away, hiding the warmth rising to my cheeks.
What was wrong with me?
I was Celestine Wen. Princess of the East. Scholar of five languages. Trained in court diplomacy since i could walk.
I didn't... blush.
Especially not for men who barely spoke more than ten words.
But as i stepped away, I felt his eyes on me again.
And i couldn't stop the thought that bloomed, soft and dangerous in my mind:
He looked at me as if he already knew who i was…
But i looked at him as if i'd been waiting all my life to.