Tender Devotion, True to the Years

They knew each other but never met; they met without recognizing each other.

Across the vast sea of people, bound by lingering attachments, longing and yearning to break free, they met the most special person of their lives. But no one could know how this special bond would end.

His origins were a mystery, yet he held great power and the emperor's favor, while maintaining an ambiguous relationship with the ruler.

She had transmigrated into someone else's body and taken their place. She seemed kind, yet kept her distance from everyone.

When they met, he was ambushed and nearly violated. Following her strange intuition, she found and rescued him, then smiled and demanded that he repay her.

When they fell in love, neither spoke openly about their feelings. Even her teasing attempts to test him were met with a half-joking, half-serious rejection.

Yet she understood that the man she loved did love her. He had simply forgotten, lost in the harsh realities of life.

When they parted, she was ordered to marry for the sake of peace. Ambushed on the road, she was driven to the mountaintop by villains. Flames and smoke surrounded her, leaving her nowhere to go. She calmed down and sat beneath a tree in self-mockery. As her vision blurred, the hand she reached out to grasp found only emptiness.

Only a quiet sentence remained in the air: "Perhaps this is for the best. Dixin, I truly won't wait for you for the rest of my life."