SNF | Prologue

The world had descended into chaos. What was meant to be the grandest, most splendid royal wedding was now drowned in screams and blood.

The princess, her face veiled, clung to Yeon-oh, her body trembling like a leaf in a storm.

“Uncle… Uncle… What’s happening? Uncle, I’m scared.”

Her voice, thick with terror, quivered as she called out to him.

And in the midst of this nightmarish hell, the very one who had orchestrated it all stood there, half of his face hidden behind a mask, the corners of his lips curling into a cruel, twisted smile.

Yeon-oh held the princess tightly in his arms, but his gaze remained locked onto that man’s laughter.

“…Ah…”

An arrow, loosed from somewhere unseen, found its mark—piercing straight through the princess’s heart.

She crumpled to the ground, blood spilling from her body, a deeper crimson than the daeryebok¹ she wore. As the wind carried away her veil, her face—etched with the remnants of terror—was laid bare.

With the light of life fading from her eyes, she clung weakly to Yeon-oh’s sleeve. Even as her last breath escaped her lips, her eyes remained wide open, unseeing.

His kin. The child who, had she just completed the ritual of the hapwanju², would have become his family. The young princess—now lifeless.

Yet, even in the face of her death, Yeon-oh’s gaze remained fixed on one thing alone.

“I promised you a rare and precious gift for your wedding. But look at you… You failed to keep your end of the bargain and ruined it all.”

The man strode forward, his boots treading upon the royal path—a sacred ground where only the emperor himself was permitted to walk.

Slowly, he removed his mask.

“It has been a long time.”

Even without the mask, Yeon-oh knew exactly who he was.

“Yeon-oh.”

The one I loved so deeply that I wished for my own death. The one who made me destroy the world itself. The only one who could kill me.

For five long years, I endured a wretched purgatory, clinging to that knowledge alone.

“…Your Majesty.”

You smiled. And so, I smiled too.