Later histories record that Alexander I, grandson of Catherine the Great, was always accompanied by a blind female strategist wearing a gold snake hairpin set with jade.
What the histories leave out is this:
That year, the Empress Catherine entrusted the young prince with the Empire’s “public relations.” In a blizzard, he brought back a serf who had been beaten half to death and was rumored to be possessed by a snake demon. He wiped the blood from her face with his own hands, never realizing he was revealing eyes capable of seeing the Empire’s fate.
From then on, the board changed hands. She was a demon from the wilderness, yet stepped into the most opulent cage for his sake. In court, a single word from her could decide the Empire’s fate; in the dark of night, she calculated every deadly move. With a demon’s cunning, she paved the blood-red road that would lead him to the throne.
