The doors of the Palace of Eternal Flames did not open for just anyone.
They were gigantic, carved from celestial fire wood, bathed in ancient gold and guarded by obsidian dragon statues.
As soon as Suwei crossed the threshold, he felt the air change.
It wasn't denser... it was older. Laden with history, magic, and something his bones recognized without understanding.
The carriage stopped beside the main staircase.
Suwei descended with the elegance learned since childhood... but with a trembling soul.
The Palace was watching him. Weighing him.
The servants bowed. The nobles whispered.
And among the crowd of shimmering robes, silk capes, and jade fans, three families stood out:
The Renxia, the Baihuan, and the Qinlie.
Each with their banner, their shield, and their venom hidden beneath their garments.
None greeted him.
The head chamberlain, an elder with a braided beard, approached with a mechanical tone:
"Lian Suwei of House Jinhai... the Council awaits you."
They led him through endless corridors, towering ceilings, hanging pavilions, and fountains that sang with voices of crystal.
But amidst such beauty, Suwei felt something.
A gaze.
An ancient, powerful presence...
He didn't know if it was the Emperor.
He didn't know if it was the palace itself.
He only knew he wasn't alone.
When he crossed the Bridge of Golden Cranes, something stirred within him.
The box he carried within his robes burned slightly.
And an invisible whisper brushed against his nape:
"The fire recognizes you... though you don't yet know it."
Suwei turned. No one.
The Throne Pavilion was empty when he arrived.
Just a circle of seats occupied by the figures of the Imperial Council of Ancestors.
Their robes were dark, their eyes, cold.
None smiled.
"You have been brought here by the Council's decree," said a woman with a high-pitched voice.
Your lineage, though stained by ancient mistakes, still holds value.
Another elder intervened:
"You will be observed. Evaluated. Not by us... but by the throne's fire."
Suwei stood firm.
He did not respond with words. He only raised his head and held their gaze.
The silence was broken by a presence that no one saw arrive.
A stone dragon on the wall shuddered.
One of the hall's torches changed color: from red to deep blue.
"It has begun," whispered one of the advisors.
Suwei felt a chill.
He knew he had not yet seen the Emperor... but something was already stirring inside the palace.
A presence...
A seal that pulsated from above.
A fire that called to him from a throne hidden behind twenty thousand steps of history.
And he, the unproclaimed consort, had just stepped into his first circle of flames.