Bound to the Tyrant's Heart

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The night was as dark as ink, flames licking the palace eaves, bathing the entire courtyard in crimson. She stood at the heart of the inferno, still clad in her plain white gown, yet clutching in her hand a blood-stained signal flare—the sacred token of power meant to be lit only by the Emperor’s own hand. “You dared to hide the Phoenix Seal?” the Consort sneered, her finger trembling as she pointed, “A lowborn maid like you—how dare you touch the fate of the empire?” The wind lifted her hair, revealing an old scar on her neck—the mark from ten years ago, when she’d been buried alive in the Cold Palace during the great fire, surviving three days by gnawing on frozen snow. No one knew how she crawled out. Just as no one imagined that the dying little maid back then would now stand here, staring straight into the Emperor’s eyes. “I once knelt, begging for a single meal,” she said softly, her voice cutting through the chaos, “and I once dragged a corpse through the snow all night, just to hear him say ‘live.’” She raised her gaze, tears glistening but unshed, her eyes sharp as blades: “But you made me wait ten years—for a dream that would never awaken.” When the whip fell, she didn’t flinch. At the moment her skin split open, she threw her head back and cried: “I mourn my past self—the one who believed in love, who knelt waiting for mercy. She died in that fire long ago!” Silence swallowed the courtyard. Just as the executioner raised the second lash— a thunderous roar split the sky: “Who dares lay a hand on her?!!” Imperial robes flaring, the Emperor burst through the crowd, pulling her fiercely into his arms, his eyes wild with fury and pain. In the distance, the clock tower struck twelve—the decree of the new Emperor already on its way. And she, nestled in his embrace, slowly closed her eyes, a faint smile playing on her lips, whispering like the wind: “That man finally came… pity I’m no longer the woman who waited for him to save me.” Then, in the next breath, her eyes snapped open. She ignited the flare in her hand and hurled it skyward— a golden flame tore across the heavens, announcing to the world: **The Phoenix has returned. Blood will pay for blood.** Her identity remained unrevealed, yet everyone understood— this game had been hers from the very beginning. Modern PR expert Isolde transmigrates into a prime minister's daughter. Determined to divorce her unloyal husband and live freely, she accidentally becomes life-bound to the Emperor Orville. Through wit and mutual protection, their adversarial relationship blossoms into unexpected love. Together, they break the fatal curse and forge their own destiny.
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Publish:2025-03-25
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