Interlude: A Day the World Forgot to Watch
"For one day, there were no cameras. No questions. Only five siblings and the wind."
The Long Estate was vast—an empire of marble, glass, and carved history—but nestled deep in its heart was a place even the paparazzi drones didn't know existed:
A hidden grove.
Just behind the third waterfall, past the stone bridge carved in the shape of a dragon's spine, there lay a walled garden only the siblings could enter. Protected by Crystal's security systems and sealed by Pearl's diplomacy, it was their sanctuary.
That day, the sun was warm but shy, peeking through leaves like a child playing hide-and-seek.
And for once… Haochen wasn't perfect.
He was barefoot, his uniform shirt untucked, grass stains painting his knees. His cheeks were pink, his eyes glowing like a boy who had never seen a stage.
"I caught him!"
Pearl's voice was laughing for the first time in weeks. She'd cornered Haochen behind the cherry blossom tree with a silk scarf in hand. It was a game they used to play when he was younger—The Messenger and the Star.
She was the Empress. Haochen, the celestial star trying to escape royal duty.
He darted out, just in time to duck beneath Jade's outstretched arms.
"You traitor!" Jade cried in mock offense.
"You're supposed to dance with me at my coronation!"