Lightning tore through the sky as if splitting heaven itself.
"King!" the envoy called again, voice trembling, but King Liang Xuan did not respond. His eyes were fixed on the storm gathering above the palace.
Thunder growled like an ancient beast.
A streak of flaming red tore across the clouds — a comet burning like blood.
The king's heart tightened.
"A great storm is coming… will it bring fortune or disaster?" he murmured.
"My lord, all is well," the envoy said softly, though even he felt the air grow heavy.
But when King Liang Xuan reached the Queen's palace and saw the courtiers rushing in fear, his breath caught. A servant emerged carrying a basin of blood-red water.
"Your Majesty," one physician bowed. "The queen is only six months pregnant… this early labor is dangerous. Both mother and child may…"
He did not finish the sentence.
A shudder passed through the kingdom as lightning illuminated every corner of the palace.
And suddenly — the king remembered the dream.
Six months ago…
A divine angel had appeared in his sleep, surrounded by silver fire.
"Your kingdom will soon have an heir. If the heir is a son, prosperity will rise.
But if the child is a girl…
She will bring the fall of your entire kingdom."
The memory made the king's hands tremble.
---
Hours passed. The queen screamed. The physicians struggled.
The king paced like a trapped animal.
Then — a sharp cry pierced the air.
A baby's cry.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty… you have a daughter."
All bowed.
Only the king froze, as if the ground beneath him cracked.
He entered the chamber slowly.
Queen Mo Suyin, pale but alive, held a tiny child wrapped in white.
"Look," she whispered with a gentle smile, "our princess is so obedient… she hardly cries."
King Liang Xuan forced a smile, but fear twisted in his chest.
The girl's wrist glowed faintly under the fabric — a strange, delicate marking shaped like a wing.
A mark he had never seen… yet somehow feared.
Sixteen Years Later
Below the beautiful Kingdom of Lianhua, far beneath the shining palace, an underground sanctuary existed — a place no citizen knew about.
And inside it lived the girl born under the storm:
Princess Lian Yue
For sixteen years, she had never seen the outside world.
The queen, terrified of the prophecy and determined to protect her daughter from execution, secretly hid her the night she was born. Only the queen, the nanny, and one trusted guard knew Lian Yue lived.
Her world was made of:
Stone walls covered with ancient books
A small lantern that never went out
A garden of glowing purple flowers that bloomed without sunlight
A single small window on the ceiling that showed a sliver of sky
The purple flowers — Zixiao blossoms — were rare spiritual flowers said to grow where immortal energy once touched the earth. The queen planted them so her daughter wouldn't feel alone.
Lian Yue grew up with their soft fragrance surrounding her.
She learned everything from books:
history, music, medicine, poetry, martial techniques…
but she had never seen the world she read about.
Sometimes, she would brush her fingers across the petals and whisper:
"One day… I will see the sky properly.
One day… I will know who I am."
She never knew her father feared her.
She never knew the kingdom believed the princess had died at birth.
She never knew she carried a mark of destiny on her wrist — glowing brighter each year.
But fate had already begun to stir…
Far away, in the Devil Kingdom of Hei'yan, a boy of her age awakened with a burning black flame in his eyes.
Their destinies were already moving toward each other.