Chapter Text
Hao Yu was born from forbidden love between the emperor and a palace dancer—a union that existed only in whispered rumors and stolen moments. As his first cry echoed through the chamber, his mother drew her final breath, her life ebbing away as his began. From that moment, the two elder princes viewed him as cursed—a child who had killed his own mother simply by existing.
Now eight years old, the Third Prince lived in isolation at an old residence on the forgotten edges of the palace grounds. The servants who tended him did so with reluctance, their eyes never meeting his, their words clipped and cold. His brothers' cruelty was constant—harsh words that cut deeper than blades, calculated humiliations designed to remind him of his place.
Hao Yu had learned to expect nothing from the world but indifference and malice. He spent long hours at his window, watching his brothers receive the education and attention that would never be his. In the dirt behind his residence, he practiced writing characters he'd glimpsed from a distance, teaching himself fragments of knowledge while pretending not to hunger for more.
He had no idea that his desperate longing to be truly *seen* would soon attract attention far more dangerous—and far more understanding—than anyone within the palace walls.