EMILY ZHOU

It had been some of the strangest days of Emily Zhou’s life. Honestly, the strangest months.

Emily had no delusions about her family. She and her twin, Elise, were from a lower mid-tier noble house—technically respected, technically ranked, but nowhere near the political spotlight. Their names didn’t start wars or broker peace. No one expected them to shape the Empire. They weren’t really players in the Imperial courts.

And that was fine. Emily loved her life. She loved her house. She loved her parents. She loved her sister and her brothers. Even Caleb—even if he could be a jerk sometimes. She loved Ryan; he was kind and earnest and still figuring things out.

And Ethan? She loved her odd, seemingly cold, apparently indifferent older second brother.

Because the fact was, Ethan was special. In the past, no one really knew that. People overlooked Ethan, ignored him, tried to downplay his thoughts and accomplishments. At least until a couple of months ago, when everything started to shift.

Emily had always known her older brother was a genius. When he talked, people listened. They didn’t always understand, mind you—half the time they wore that vague, nodding expression, the one people used when they were too proud to admit they were lost. But Ethan never held it against them. He just… kept going.

He was loyal. Quiet. Brilliant. Never a fighter, not like Caleb, but he’d helped her and Elise with spell arrays and tempering mantra modifications more times than she could count. When Ryan hit a wall with meridian fortification theory, it was Ethan who stayed up all night diagramming his specific paths until it made sense.

He never boasted. Never demanded credit. He was just there—always working, always watching out.

But then the marriage happened. And everything changed.

Ethan married Vivian Li—and suddenly he wasn’t the quiet, overlooked brother anymore. Suddenly he was walking into noble halls and silencing rooms. Suddenly people had expectations along with hopes and fears.

The fact that he hadn’t cracked under the pressure—that he was somehow thriving—was the strangest part of all. Ethan wasn’t slowing down. Wasn’t stopping. He was driving faster into whatever goal only he seemed to see.

And it was getting everyone in his orbit caught up in it.

Consider now, for example: Emily found herself in a diplomatic caravan with her sister, Vivian Li, the Imperial Princess, the Princess’s handmaiden, Lady Lui Anmei and Marissa Lin—on a journey that might lead them straight into an active Gate.

Honestly, someone should have called this what it was.

Bloody insane.

Instead, here she was—and honestly, she hadn’t thought twice about it.

Emily looked down at her own message crystal. She had written Ryan and told him a little white lie so he wouldn’t worry about them.

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She also couldn’t have him go to their parents before they got to the destination.

Just a couple more days and they would be there, but even she had to admit, the travel in the carriage was getting old.

It was late evening. She couldn’t sleep another night in the admittedly comfortable carriage. She wasn’t the only one awake. Vivian, by all appearances, wasn’t even pretending to be asleep. Elise was curled up nearby, definitely not asleep, if the rustling under her blanket was any indication.

The Princess, Marissa, and Elizabeth were all asleep. Anmei was actually snoring. It was pretty funny, actually.

Emily watched as Vivian tapped her messaging crystal, scrolling idly.

She looked disappointed. Clearly, no new messages.

Emily wondered if Vivian was waiting for Second Brother to message her. It made sense. She got awfully worked up when talking about Brother Ethan. And of course, leave it to Ethan to build something that might change the Empire and forget to message his wife.

She glanced sideways. Vivian hadn’t moved.

“Sister Vivian,” she said gently, “I have to ask… are you waiting for my brother to message you?”

Vivian froze. “What makes you think that?”

“I saw you send that man away,” Emily said with a small shrug. “I figured it might be because of my brother. Also, you keep checking it and…”

She felt her cheeks go a bit red. “I know what it’s like when a boy you like ignores you.”

Vivian gave her a soft smile. This made Emily say what she was thinking.

“Sister, if you want to talk to my brother, why don’t you just message him first? Nobody would look down on you for messaging your husband.”

There was a pause.

Then Vivian shifted, ever so slightly. Not enough to look at her—just enough to sigh.

“Because it’s not really fair for me to just change the dynamic.”

“I’m sorry, Sister, I don’t know what that means.”

Vivian finally looked at her. “You want to know what I told your brother on our wedding night?”

Emily nodded.

“I told your brother, when we were first married… that we weren’t really married,” she said softly.

Emily blinked. “What?”

“I told him it was a political arrangement,” Vivian continued. “That there would be nothing between us. No affection. No support. Nothing.”

Emily stared. “Why would you say something like that?”

Vivian hesitated. “Because I was upset. Because I was arrogant. Because my mother made a decision I had no voice in, and I didn’t want to feel like I was being owned.”

Emily nodded slowly. “That… makes sense, I guess. But…”

“But what?”

“I don’t know,” Emily said. “I just think Ethan’s kind of special.”

Vivian didn’t respond right away.

Then—barely above a whisper—she murmured, “Yeah.”

She glanced down at her crystal. It hadn’t lit up. No response. No message.

“I wouldn’t worry,” Elise said suddenly, still under her blanket. “He’s probably just as concerned about you as you are about him.”

Vivian looked up sharply. “You think so?”

“I know so,” Elise said, pushing her blanket down and meeting her twin’s eyes. “We know our brother. You made an impression. And it’s not easy to impress Ethan.”

Vivian looked down again.

“I just… don’t want to make it worse.”

“You won’t,” Emily said. “Unless you keep pretending nothing matters.”

The carriage rocked slightly as they passed over uneven stone.

They were heading into the southern territories now, through a patchwork of independent cities and crumbling dynastic roads. The route was risky—but the shortcut was necessary. They needed to reach the coast. The Divine Moonsteel Rift was waiting.

And Ethan—Ethan was already moving pieces ahead of them.

Sophie had said as much the night before: that Ethan was doing something that would change the structure of cultivation. Maybe even topple the Empire’s old ways.

Emily wasn’t entirely sure what that meant.

But she was sure of one thing: Whatever happened down there—between ancient metals and sleeping gods—Ethan was going to need people who remembered who he was before he became a legend.

She didn’t know if Vivian would ever say the words aloud she needed to out loud. Emily considered this thought.

She was going to have to find away to help her sister-in-law. She needed to be honest only then when she have the strength to see thing through.