[A gloomy, self-loathing yandere genius x a timid yet bold, scheming beauty]
1. Annis Chen, a musical theater actress from the 21st century, dies suddenly onstage as the curtain falls. When she opens her eyes again, she has become the seventy-first favored concubine of Farhad Shah, ruler of the Arsalan Dynasty.
Sheer veils, golden bells, a cage deep inside the palace. In this opulent foreign prison, she walks on eggshells, longing only for a chance to survive.
Then, on the day of a judicial hearing, a young inspector walks in wearing a bone-white mask and holding the power of life and death. He is the sharpest blade at the ruler's side, a demon feared throughout the Tehran palace. His name is Erik.
2. Erik learned the rules of survival in the Persian royal palace: hide a sharp tongue behind flattery, hide claws behind a kneeling posture. When he carves obscene, ingenious machines for the king, he is nothing more than a breathing corpse.
He hides his disfigured, ugly face beneath a mask, watching coldly as slaughter and desire consume this decaying court.
Then he hears the Eastern concubine's heavenly singing. For the first time in years, his long-dead heart pounds like mad.
Everyone thinks he is a cold-blooded, cruel inspector, devoid of feeling and desire. No one knows that in the dim, penitential dungeons, he gazes wantonly and greedily at the woman who belongs to the ruler. Her name is Annis.
3. Beside a mist-shrouded bath of white marble, an intoxicating fragrance swirls through the air. In the confusion and panting, she accidentally pulls the mask from his face.
"Now that you've seen how ugly I am, do you want to run away?"
The man flies into a panic-stricken rage, twisting her arms behind her back and pinning her against the cold marble rim of the pool.
"Too late, Annis. You can't escape. You'll become addicted to my body. No... to be precise, we'll become addicted to each other's bodies. Once you've tasted my poison... you'll never escape me."
Reader advisory:
1. A Phantom of the Opera derivative work. You don't need to have read the original to enjoy it.
2. Set in a fictionalized 19th-century Persian court. Later, the story will move to the Paris Opera. The male lead is eighteen when he first appears.
3. The history is entirely fictional and serves only as a backdrop. Nothing is intended to allude to real events, so please don't nitpick historical details.
4. The male lead is extremely insecure and possessive, with a lot of inner monologue. He's loyal and restrained, mildly yandere, and a little obsessive.
Blurb written on August 3, 2025. I'll flesh it out more before starting the story. Revised blurb written on August 28, 2026.
Theme: Souls in love are immortal.
