"These scars for love, are they worth it?" What's the evidence of someone's existence? Paintings, writings... kindness? For me, it was acknowledgment. Acknowledgment of one's existence. The path to the throne was always stained in red, inked in black on the coarse pages of history. Those pages remember only those mourned or scorned- and I was neither. But I was fine with that. Because as long as your name is spoken, mine must exist somewhere, even if only on the edge of someone's lips. When I was named crown prince of Wu, the court fell into chaos. Scorned by the emperor and ignored by the empress, I clung to the Duke of Canghe, who stood by me. "If I knew you were a snake in disguise, I would have killed you that night." Three years later, the duke raised his banners in rebellion. I looked into his eyes and realized I might have lost everything-or perhaps, nothing was ever truly mine to begin with. *ORIGINAL