The Imperial banquet hall was bright. The light pouring down from the chandeliers, the laughter of the nobles, and the clear clinking of golden cups. Everything was glamorous and perfect. However, amidst that splendor, she suddenly felt suffocated. Too many people. Too many eyes. And the smell of unfamiliar air, which she hadn't breathed in so long. She wanted to escape for a moment. She quietly slipped out of the banquet hall and walked down the long corridor of the East Palace. The night breeze seeped through the gaps in the open windows. Just as she was beginning to calm down in the cool air— At the end of the hallway, her eyes met someone else's. It was a man in a black military uniform. Broad shoulders, a posture without a single flaw, and eyes that shone sharply. He felt like a stranger. It certainly wasn't a face she had never seen before, but strangely, it didn't exactly overlap with any scene in her memory. The man also stopped in his tracks for a moment. Neither said a word. After a brief silence, she bowed her head slightly. "...Excuse me." Just as she was about to pass by with those words— "Wait." A low, heavy voice caught her footsteps. When she looked back, the man's lips flickered as if he were about to say something. But in the end, he couldn't say anything. Like someone who had forgotten what words to speak. In that awkward silence, another set of footsteps was heard. The hem of a blue robe brushed the edge of her vision, and a faint scent of flowers mixed with the wind. Someone made the sound of closing a book, and someone quietly swallowed a sigh. It was a strange night. They clearly knew each other, yet like strangers, they were only measuring the distance between them. Without anyone being able to approach first, they just stood still on the same corridor. The cold moonlight cast a long shadow between them. And in that moment— Everyone realized at once. That for far too long, they had not looked at one another.