Li Mei woke to the faint golden light of dawn stabbing directly into her face — as if the sun itself had decided she'd slept too long.
Her head throbbed like she'd spent the night drinking rice wine with ghosts. The silken sheets tangled around her legs like accusing ribbons, and somewhere, faintly, she could still hear the echo of the previous day's disaster — the Court, the noodles, the Crown Prince's very sharp jawline — all blending into one long, mortifying blur.
She groaned into the pillow.
"Please tell me that was all a hallucination."
( System Notification: Dream confirmed as 100% real. Congratulations, Host, on not dying yesterday.)
Li Mei cracked one bleary eye open.
"Traitor."
The room was too perfect — white silk curtains drifting in the morning breeze, gold leaf glinting along the carved edges of furniture, and a faint floral scent that made her sneeze. It wasn't hers. None of it was. Every thread screamed borrowed time.
She sat up slowly, her hair a mess of ink-black tangles. The reflection that greeted her in the bronze mirror didn't look like the terrified noodle girl she remembered — more like someone trying to cosplay a lady-in-waiting and failing dramatically.
"Okay," she muttered, slapping her cheeks lightly. "Day two of not dying. Let's go."
The System pulsed again, far too cheerful for someone who didn't sleep:
(Daily Quest: Survive another 24 hours in the Imperial Palace.)
( Reward: Still being aive
"Ha-ha. Very funny."
She pushed herself out of bed and nearly tripped on the embroidered rug. Every muscle ached. Even her eyelashes felt tired.
When she reached for the basin to wash her face, her hand brushed the water—
and the water moved.
Not splashed. Moved.
Like it was listening. Like it was breathing with her.
Li Mei froze.
The water trembled, rippling in slow, impossible waves that matched the rhythm of her heartbeat. She yanked her hand back, staring as the surface stilled again — calm, ordinary, pretending nothing happened.
"…Okay," she whispered. "Maybe still hallucinating."
The System chimed in, smug as ever:
(New Skill Detected: Elemental Affinity – Water )(Locked)
Requirement: Don't Panic. Seriously
"Too late for that!" Li Mei hissed, looking around the empty chamber like someone might jump out and accuse her of witchcraft. Her pulse raced. Magic. Magic. That wasn't supposed to happen. Not to her.
A knock startled her so badly she nearly dumped the entire basin onto the floor.
"Enter?" she croaked.
The door slid open, and in walked Crown Prince Jianyu — immaculate, infuriating, and far too awake for this hour. His robe shimmered with pale blues, embroidered dragons coiling along the hem. His eyes — sharp, unreadable — flicked over the scene: the spilled water, her disheveled hair, and the sheer panic on her face.
"Good morning," he said smoothly, voice like silk drawn over steel. "You seem… alert."
Li Mei swallowed. "Define 'alert.'"
He stepped closer, gaze flicking briefly to the basin. For a heartbeat, his expression changed — the faintest lift of an eyebrow, the quiet realization that he'd seen what she'd done.
Li Mei's mouth went dry. "It—it's not what it looks like."
"Oh?" he asked softly, tone threaded with something between amusement and curiosity. "Then what does it look like?"
Her brain offered several answers, none of them helpful.
"It looks like I'm very good at… washing my face?"
The pause that followed could've powered a small empire.
Then Jianyu smiled — a quiet, dangerous thing that didn't reach his eyes. "Perhaps you should be more careful, Miss Li. In this palace, everything that moves has eyes."
He turned to leave, his robes whispering against the floor, and the scent of jasmine and cold iron lingered in his wake.
When the door closed behind him, Li Mei exhaled shakily, pressing a hand to her chest.
(System Alert: Crown Prince Affection +3 | Suspicion +5)
"Yeah," she muttered, sinking back onto the bed. "Story of my life."
The palace gardens were beautiful in the way predators were beautiful — gleaming, silent, dangerous if you blinked wrong.
Li Mei knelt among the dew-heavy blossoms, trying to look like she belonged there and absolutely failing. The scent of peonies and crushed grass clung to her sleeves as she trimmed a bush that didn't need trimming.
"Breathe," she told herself. "Blend in. Be a background character."
[System Quest: Maintain inconspicuousness for 3 consecutive hours. Reward: Dignity.]
"I'll take what I can get," she muttered.
The rustle of silk cut through the morning haze — sharp, soft, deliberate. Li Mei froze. The air around her shifted, thickened, as though the garden itself held its breath.
When she turned, Empress Celestia was already there.
No footsteps. No warning. Just the quiet devastation of her presence. Her gown shimmered like liquid moonlight; her gaze could've sliced glass.
"Your Majesty," Li Mei blurted, collapsing into a bow that felt like falling off a cliff.
Celestia didn't answer at first. She simply studied her — long enough that Li Mei began to wonder if the woman was reading her thoughts line by line.
At last, the Empress said, "You've caused quite a stir, little one."
Li Mei's throat went dry. "In a good way?"
Celestia's lips curved. "That depends on how you define good."
The garden was too quiet. Every petal seemed to tilt toward the Empress, every shadow sharpened around her. Li Mei felt small — a spark flickering in a storm's palm.
"I… didn't mean to do anything," she whispered.
"I know." Celestia's gaze softened — not kindly, but like someone examining a fragile tool. "That's what makes you interesting."
[System Alert: Passive Buff – Royal Attention (Active)]
[Effect: You have her notice. This may be fatal.]
Celestia's hand brushed a nearby bloom; it shimmered, then froze solid — a perfect glass flower, glittering under the morning light. "Power is rarely kind to those who stumble into it," she said quietly. "But it will test you nonetheless."
Before Li Mei could answer, Celestia was gone. The frost melted. The air thawed. Only the echo of her perfume remained — and the deep, uneasy knowledge that she'd been marked.
By afternoon, Li Mei found herself dragged to the training courtyard.
Apparently, someone had decided the "maid with mysterious abilities" should "explore her potential." Which was code for: let's see if she explodes.
Jianyu stood waiting, arms folded, every inch of him composed and infuriating. "You look terrified," he noted.
"I'm not terrified," she lied. "I'm… strategically cautious."
He almost smiled. "That's what terrified people say."
Around them, soldiers trained — swords flashing in sunlight, the air thick with shouts and motion. The energy made her nerves hum.
"So," Jianyu said, stepping closer. "Show me."
"Show you what?"
"Whatever that was this morning."
"Oh, you mean the part where I nearly drowned a basin?"
He tilted his head, the faintest trace of amusement glinting in his eyes. "Yes. That."
Li Mei sighed, crouching beside a small rock. Her pulse hammered.
"Okay, rock. Don't embarrass me."
[System Tip: Magic 101 – Focus, feel, and maybe don't panic.]
She extended her hand. The world held its breath. For one agonizing second — nothing. Then, slowly, the rock trembled. It shivered once… twice… and rose.
"Holy—"
It hovered. Actually hovered. Li Mei's eyes went wide, her heart tripping over itself.
And then, predictably, the rock shot straight up, ricocheted off a pillar, and narrowly missed Jianyu's shoulder.
He didn't even flinch. Just raised an eyebrow. "Impressive aim."
"It was an accident!" she squeaked.
"Of course."
[System Update: Skill Unlocked – Earth Manipulation (Level 1).]
[Achievement: Accidentally Terrifying Royalty +50 XP.]
Her hands were shaking, but she couldn't stop grinning. "I did it," she breathed. "I actually did it."
Jianyu watched her for a moment longer, something unreadable flickering in his eyes. "Be careful," he said at last. "Power attracts attention — and not the good kind."
She met his gaze, heart still hammering. "What if I don't want it?"
"Then you should've stayed ordinary."
And with that, he turned away, leaving her staring after him — exhilarated, terrified, and alive in a way she hadn't felt since she woke in this world.
[System Note: Congratulations. You've just stepped off the edge of the map.]
The palace did not sleep.
From her balcony, Li Mei watched as lanterns flickered across the courtyards like restless fireflies, their light melting into the deep blue of the night. The air was heavy, damp with the promise of rain — that strange, electric quiet that comes before a storm.
She leaned against the carved railing, still wearing her wrinkled training robe. Her hair was a nest, her shoulders sore, and she smelled faintly of bamboo dust. It should've been peaceful. It wasn't.
It felt like the world was holding its breath.
A soft presence stirred behind her — no sound of footsteps, just the whisper of silk. Li Mei froze, turning slowly.
Celestia stood at the edge of the balcony, her pale gown blending with the moonlight until she seemed half made of it. Her eyes gleamed silver, unreadable, dangerous in their serenity.
"You feel it now," Celestia murmured. "The pulse of this place. How it watches, how it remembers."
Li Mei swallowed. The words slithered under her skin, too soft, too calm. She didn't trust calm anymore.
The Empress moved closer, the faint glow from the lanterns painting her face in shifting gold and white. "A palace," she said, "is not built from stone and silk. It is built from vows. Lies. Blood. And all of it stays. Power never leaves this place — it only sleeps."
A shiver crawled down Li Mei's spine. The candles flickered, bending toward Celestia as if drawn by her presence.
Her heart whispered, This is not a woman. This is a storm pretending to be one.
She forced a shaky laugh. "So… you're saying the palace is haunted?"
Celestia's lips curved faintly. "Haunted implies the dead have left. Here, they never do."
Li Mei tried to smile. It came out more like a grimace. Cool, she thought. I live in a supernatural pressure cooker.
The Empress looked back toward the city, her voice softening. "Do not mistake survival for safety, little phoenix. You have drawn eyes."
Something cold and heavy sank into Li Mei's chest. Eyes. Watching. Waiting.
She wanted to ask whose, but her tongue refused to move. The question hung in her throat like a weight.
When she finally blinked, Celestia was gone — melted back into the darkness like she'd never been there.
Only the lanterns swayed gently, the night thick with whispers that might've just been the wind.
By the time Li Mei stumbled back to her chambers, she was half delirious with exhaustion. Her bed looked like heaven. Her sanity, however, looked questionable.
[System Log Updated]
Achievement: Stone Wiggler – Congratulations! You moved a rock with your mind. Truly groundbreaking.
Emotional State: 87% panic, 10% sarcasm, 3% hunger.
Recommended Action: "Do not die."
"Thanks for the pep talk," she muttered, throwing her pillow through the glowing text. It passed straight through, of course. Because life hated her.
The candle flames along her wall guttered, then flared, then dimmed again. Shadows stretched across the floor — long, reaching shapes that didn't match the furniture.
A whisper curled through the silence. Not quite words. Not quite nothing.
"...Great," she whispered to herself. "Haunted and cursed. Love that for me."
Somewhere deep in the palace, thunder rumbled — low and patient, like a warning.
She nearly screamed when someone knocked softly against her door.
The door slid open, revealing Crown Prince Jianyu.
Of course. Midnight visit. No big deal. Totally normal.
He leaned against the frame with that infuriating grace of his, half-shadowed by the flickering light. His black robes looked like the night had decided to wear a man's shape.
"You're awake," he said, voice smooth, lazy, far too dangerous at this hour.
"You're here," Li Mei shot back, clutching her blanket like armor. "Don't princes have curfews or something?"
"Only the boring ones."
His grin was slow and sharp — like it knew too much.
[Warning: Emotional Entanglement Detected.]
Probability of narrative complication: 72%.
Suggested Action: Flee immediately.
Her heart skipped. Then, inconveniently, her stomach growled. Loudly.
Jianyu's smirk deepened. "Hungry?"
"Shut up," she hissed, cheeks burning.
He laughed softly — not cruelly, but quietly, as if the night itself was listening in. The sound curled warm and dangerous in her chest.
For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke. The air between them hummed — something alive, unspoken, sharp enough to draw blood.
Outside, thunder rolled again, closer this time.
Li Mei swallowed, pulse fluttering. This is fine, she told herself. It's just a normal night. In a possibly haunted palace. With a dangerously attractive man who might or might not kill me later. Totally fine.
And yet… her heart wouldn't calm.
Because somewhere deep down, beneath the exhaustion and fear and sarcasm — something was changing.
Something that looked a lot like wanting.
[System Notification: New Story Branch Detected.]
Title: Boss-Level Intrigue Approaching.
Li Mei groaned softly, burying her face in her blanket. "Oh no," she muttered. "Not another quest."
But her heart — traitorous, reckless — was already racing.
And outside, the thunder finally broke.