When a Bandit Starts Fighting in the Inner Quarters

She treated him as a pawn; he treated her as a stepping stone.

She thought he was a frail maid, never knowing he was skilled in combat and meticulous by nature.

He thought she was a cold, aloof young master, never knowing that beneath her icy exterior she was warm-hearted and had already fallen for him.

One pretended to be distant, the other pretended to be weak.

Though their love was mutual, their disguises left one agonizing over what he thought was forbidden love between men, while the other grew anxious and afraid to confess.

Then came the bloody battle at the ancestral shrine, with enemies on all sides.

She shed her male disguise, her red robes and long hair dazzling everyone.

He tore open his skirt to reveal a blade, showing his true self as a young man, and protected her with his sword.

It turned out they had both been pretending. Only their love was real.

After surviving life and death together, she could finally cast off her disguise and be herself again.

And at last, he could openly protect her for the rest of her life under his true identity.

For the rest of their lives, he would hold great power, she would be by his side, and together they would journey through a vast land and share all the years to come.