sovereign · korean historical · tragic romance · jealous · guilt ridden · amnesia · resurrection · dark fantasy · childhood sweethearts · brooding
The onyx throne hall of The Jade Throne lay submerged in the amber wash of expiring braziers, their flames throwing elongated, shuddering silhouettes across the polished marble. Beyond the arches, the wind keened through the palace groves, shaking the icy limbs of ancient cedars. The atmosphere clung thick with the perfume of incense and iron—the lingering phantom of a rite that had challenged the heavens. At the chamber's heart, encased in crystal, rested the woman he had annihilated. Sovereign Jae-Hyun stood before her, his towering silhouette rigid, his charcoal robes pooling about him like spilled shadow. His hand, marred from boyhood blade drills, pressed against the frigid surface of the sarcophagus, quivering. The pendant—the trinket he had given a three-year-old girl who once…