Chapter 1 : The Lantern Behind the Mist
Nara had never believed in fate. For a seventeen-year-old girl who spent her days buried in textbooks and smartphone screens, concepts like "destiny" felt too abstract, too grand for a life so utterly ordinary. She was Nara... only child of a modest family, inhabitant of a small house on the city outskirts that always smelled of morning coffee and her mother's off-key but cheerful humming.
That day... the last day she would ever be Nara... began like any other.
Five-fifteen in the morning. Nara woke not to her alarm, but to a strange sound like wind chimes, though her bedroom window was shut tight. She opened her eyes slowly, scanning the familiar room. Bookshelf in the corner. Messy study desk. Posters of her favorite bands on the walls. Everything was normal. Too normal for a morning that would change everything.
She drifted back to sleep.
And dreamed.
In her subconscious, Nara stood on a path she had never known. On either side, rows of cherry blossom trees stretched tall, their branches heavy with pink flowers that bloomed in a silence that bordered on eerie. Petals fell slowly, dancing in the air, swept by a wind that carried the faint scent of flowers and rain that had not yet fallen.
Thin mist hung between the tree trunks, enveloping the world like a curtain of silk. No sun. No moon. Yet soft light radiated from nowhere and everywhere at once, just enough to reveal the silhouette of a man standing still within the fog, far ahead of her.
Tall. Straight. And strange.
He did not speak. He did not move. He simply stood and watched Nara as if he had been waiting for a very long time. And though his face was barely visible, Nara knew he was smiling.
She didn't know where that certainty came from, but that smile felt oddly familiar. As if this figure had once lived in a fragment of her lost memory.
When Nara tried to step forward, the mist began to thicken. Then it swallowed everything. She fell. Her body felt light... floating... sinking...
Nara woke with gasping breaths. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, as if her heart had just returned from a long battle.
Her small bedroom was still dark. Only the night light glowed dimly beside her bed. Outside, she could hear her father brewing coffee as usual, and her mother humming softly in the kitchen. Everything was still like yesterday. Whole. Comfortable.
Yet the dream clung like dew traces on skin. Cold, deep, and somehow... terribly real.
That day, Nara's life proceeded normally. She came home from school, greeted her parents, and laughed softly as her younger sister scribbled in her coloring book with colored pencils.
But as evening approached, the sky changed.
Clouds gathered slowly. The wind blew, carrying a scent that jolted her memory the scent from her dream. Wildflowers and rain.
She opened her bedroom window. The sky seemed to split. And suddenly, time stopped.
Something pulled her. Not a hand, not a voice. But a silent, invisible force. The world spun, then faded... into darkness... into light... then silence.
When Nara opened her eyes, she was no longer in her room.
No bookshelf. No sound of her mother calling from the kitchen.
Nara lay still for a moment, allowing her consciousness to struggle connecting dream and reality. But everything felt too real to be mere sleep. She slowly sat up, letting her fingers touch the smooth embroidered silk bedsheet beneath her.
She climbed down from the bed, stepping carefully on the cold floor. In the corner of the room, a large mirror stood, framed with carvings of birds and flowers she did not recognize. She approached, staring at her own reflection.
It was still her, with the same face. But...
What was with her clothes? What place was this? And where am I? her mind wondered in confusion.
She wore a soft hanfu¹ in pale pink. Her hair was half-up, adorned with jade hairpins.
From the window, the sky looked clear. Morning light began to creep up the trees, tracing the stone roofs of ancient-style buildings, and reflecting off the surface of a small lotus-filled pond.
She pushed the door open slowly. The courtyard of the residence was vast and meticulously maintained. The ground was layered with clean white stones, and plum blossoms bloomed in the garden corners. In the distance, several servants passed by carrying silver trays and teapots, walking calmly as if Nara's presence was part of their routine.
Nara stood still, letting her eyes and heart absorb all this strangeness.
Morning sunlight shifted to afternoon. Thin clouds passed, and the sky became a vast canvas of bright blue. In the garden corner, the sound of bamboo wind chimes rang softly as wind caressed them. A small bird flew past, whistling sharply from branch to branch.
Time moved slowly. Nara didn't know what to do. She only walked slowly through corridors and gardens, avoiding anyone's gaze. Every corner of the building seemed to hold stories she had yet to learn. Every scent and sound carried memories that were not hers.
As afternoon approached, the sky began to turn golden.
Sunlight slipped in warmer and softer, casting long silhouettes on the garden floor. Then, from the direction of the stone gate, a man stood with a firm posture. A thick black war robe layered with gold threads at the sleeves and collar wrapped his body, a leather belt embroidered with a silver dragon emblem bound his waist. On his right side hung a long sword with a jade hilt.
"Lian Rou!" the young man shouted, making Nara jump in surprise.
Lian Rou? Who was that?
The man rushed toward her with wide strides. "What are you doing, huh? Why are you outside? Didn't I tell you to stay home before the festival begins?" he snapped angrily, shattering Nara's image of the peaceful-faced man from her dream.
Nara froze. What language was he speaking? She had never heard it, but... somehow she understood every word.
"Huh? Can't go out? Who do you think you are?" Nara retorted angrily, her voice rising.
The man stared at Nara with a piercing gaze, a mixture of anger and disbelief.
"Me? Who do I think I am? Hah!" The man pointed at his own chest, then exhaled roughly, as if restraining himself from exploding. "Lian Rou, you'd better return to your room now."
"No, I don't want to!" Nara refused.
Without warning, the man grabbed Nara's hand, dragging her back inside. He pushed Nara in and immediately locked the door from outside.
"Don't think you can escape from home again. You naughty sister!" the man shouted from behind the door, followed by an annoying little laugh before his footsteps faded away.
"Hey, don't leave me!! Please open the door!!" Nara begged, shaking the sturdy wooden door.
Nara finally gave up and sat on the edge of the bed, annoyed at being imprisoned. Suddenly, a soft knock sounded. Soon after, the door opened slightly. A female servant who had come with the man earlier entered carrying a wooden tray.
"Miss... I've brought food. You haven't eaten since morning, have you?"
On the tray lay a bowl of warm rice porridge garnished with white mushroom slices, a small plate of plum pickles, and a steaming cup of jasmine tea. The gentle aroma immediately struck Nara's stomach, which had just realized how hungry she was.
"Is... this for me?" Nara asked hesitantly.
The servant nodded, then bowed politely. "I'll leave it here, if you don't mind."
When the door closed again, Nara approached and touched the bowl. The warmth somehow gave her comfort. She ate slowly, though awkwardly, trying to taste it. Sweet, salty, and... strange. But calming.
Some time later...
Footsteps sounded again from behind the door. Then the man's voice was heard faintly, talking to someone. Nara, who had been lazing on the bed, immediately got up and ran to the door.
The key turned slowly. The door opened.
There stood the man who had scolded her earlier. Now his appearance was simpler yet still elegant. He wore a light hanfu² in blue-gray with thin cloud motifs embroidered with silver threads on the sleeves. His inner layer was a clean white robe that emphasized his hard jawline and graceful neck. A dark leather belt bound his waist, where a small pendant of dark green jade hung the symbol of noble blood. His hair was half-tied up with a silver phoenix-shaped hairpin. His face was now calmer, though still holding back residual annoyance.
Nara observed his appearance from top to bottom, and her courage slightly shrank.
Was he a king? But his face was still young. Or perhaps... a noble descendant?
"Sorry for being rough," he said shortly, breaking the silence. "But I can't let you wander without supervision. The situation is unsafe."
Beside him, a young woman perhaps Nara's age in simple clothes bowed respectfully. She offered a package of fine cloth in a color matching the man's clothes to Nara.
"Forgive me, Miss," the girl said softly, as if she had committed a great mistake.
"This... as my apology earlier," the man added quietly, turning away as if not wanting his authority to crumble from apologizing.
Nara looked at both of them in confusion. Her body automatically accepted the clothes, while her mind still tried to understand this puzzle. Where was she? Who was "Lian Rou"? And why did everyone act as if she had lived here for a long time?
The night sky had become a sea of stars. The village streets were filled with red and gold lanterns hanging like giant fireflies. Under the warm light, people wore their best clothes. Children laughed carrying small lanterns, musicians played wooden string instruments with soft notes, and the aroma of plum sweets and rice cakes filled the air.
Nara walked slowly, flanked by the man and her servant who kept watching their surroundings vigilantly. The man still hadn't mentioned his name, and Nara was too lazy to ask. She still felt restrained. Yet she couldn't help but marvel at the festival's beauty.
However, deep inside, there was discomfort. As if she was only a guest in a world not hers. As if all this was not her fate.
The opportunity came when the man spoke seriously with a nobly dressed official. Nara whispered for the servant beside her to buy food that was quite far from them.
Slowly Nara retreated her steps... One... Two... Three...
Then she quickly turned and slipped through the crowd.
