Vertical Heartbeat

A note before you start: This is a slow-burn story and my first fully original work that I've poured my heart into. I'm not good at writing blurbs, so please go easy on me.

The story opens at the ending.

When Kalis let go of the sword hilt, Leon was already dead.

He used the last of his strength to kiss her.

That kiss was the only truth she had for the rest of her life.

Leon thought he only needed to do two things in this life:

Survive in the Dustfall District, and remember how his mother died.

So he endured, schemed, and became Kalis's "shadow," the favored daughter of the upper district.

But he never expected to fall in love with his enemy's daughter.

In the shadows, he was the leader of the resistance.

In the light, he was merely her "playmate."

She didn't know that every step he took was to pave her way.

She didn't know that the road he paved ended at his own heart.

The first time Adrian met Leon, he knew this orphan from the Dustfall District would take everything from him.

Kalis's attention, the place of her fiance, even her future throne.

He antagonized Leon and provoked him, yet stood by his side in every crisis.

Later, when Leon entrusted Kalis to him, he said:

"Live for me."

The "Lone King Plan":

Make the whole world hate him.

Make her kill him with her own hands.

Have her ascend the throne atop her "enemy's" blood.

Make sure she never sees the truth at the summit.

They say the Divine Mountain is civilization's last hope.

No one knows that going up means falling,

that reaching the summit means entering a cage,

and that she is his only way out.

"Vertical Heartbeat"

A story about "wrapping love in lies."

Reader's guide:

1. Devoted romance + a highly intelligent, dangerously obsessive male lead, the sort who would destroy the world for one person, a family trait, x an idealistic heroine who accepts the limits of reality, has unmatched combat skills, and turns dark after learning the truth.

2. Inspired by Japanese shonen manga, with a Japanese-inspired fantasy style. Serious drama at its core, not Western fantasy!

3. A long, slow-burn story of political intrigue and the truth about the world. Imagine an unconventional shonen manga with a devoted one-on-one romance.

Theme: Life's worth lies not in fighting its inevitable end, but in every defiant climb before that end arrives.