(In Original Novel Timeline:- After Crown of Ashes's Novel Ending)
The air in the Imperial Palace of the restored Jinxiu Kingdom was thick with prosperity and peace. Five years had passed since the execution of the villainous Queen Zhao Qingyan, and Li Jingyao, the newly crowned King, was a beloved, benevolent ruler.
His life was everything he had worked for. He had his throne, his people loved him, and he was married to Zhao Siyan, Queen Qingyan's younger sister. He didn't love Siyan. Their relationship was one of comfortable, grateful companionship forged in shared trauma and a need for mutual protection. He wanted to shield her from the harsh world, a responsibility he took seriously.
Yet, there was an empty, echoing space in the heart of his perfect kingdom. A hollow he couldn't fill.
It was guilt. Or was it something else?
