Dream of the Celestial City

Leave Notice: I had to postpone one of my exams last semester because I was unwell. It's a content-heavy exam, so I may need to spend some extra time studying now that the new semester is starting. Updates will resume on March 7.

The Xilici Star System is home to a long-lived race with an average lifespan of over 500 years.

The Lisita royal family rules the entire Xilici Star System alongside the three great noble houses.

Though the Lisita Dynasty possesses advanced science and technology, it is astonishingly feudal in certain respects.

Ran's teacher told her that Lisita hadn't always been this way.

But had Lisita been happy in the past?

Ran's teacher told her that Lisita hadn't been happy back then, either.

Ran was still a little cub and didn't really understand. Her teacher said she had tried, and hadn't failed completely, but she was out of time.

Her teacher passed the torch to Ran.

Ran was just an ordinary commoner from the remote planet of Wuci, so poor she didn't even have a family name. But her teacher passed the torch she held on to her.

Ran didn't know when to use it.

Not until her little sister was born.

Then Ran knew what to do with it.

Ran lit the torch and became the first light.

Ran knew that this single flame would set all of Xilici ablaze.

Gelier was a noblewoman. She wanted for neither food nor clothing, yet even her mother couldn't understand why such a wonderful life didn't satisfy her.

Gelier had no need for them to understand why.

One day, they would.

From the moment she was old enough to understand, Gelier knew what she wanted. To get it, she learned to lie low, endure hardship, and wear a false face.

Gelier had towering ambition and a grand ideal.

She would bring about the fall of the Lisita Dynasty with her own hands.

Notes:

This is an ensemble story with an all-female cast.

The two characters above are the central leaders. Though many names are listed in the character section, they won't be changed for a while. For quite some time, everyone will have Western-style names, and those names may never change.

Important characters may die at unpredictable times in the early chapters.

The story has multiple viewpoints, but focuses mostly on Gelier and Ran.

There isn't much romance. First they are comrades who risk their lives for one another and confidantes who share life and death, and only then do they become lovers.

There are side couples, but they haven't been decided yet, so feel free to ship whoever you like.

Unless otherwise specified, all characters are female. The top senior figures are also female.

Theme: Change can only come from within.