THE MAN WHO SHOULD NOT REMEMBER
That night, Shen Qingyi could not sleep.
Rainwater still clung to the palace roofs, dripping rhythmically into the silence beyond her chamber. The candles beside her bed had long since burned low, their flames flickering weakly against the darkness.
But her mind refused to quiet.
He remembers me.
Ruoxue's words echoed endlessly in her head.
In the original novel, the side character known as "the Mad Nobleman" had appeared much later. He had been obsessed with Lin Ruoxue to the point of destruction—violent, possessive, unstable. Readers hated him almost as much as they pitied him.
But he was never meant to know anything beyond the story.
So how could he recognize Ruoxue herself?
Unless—
Qingyi sat upright abruptly.
No.
She didn't even want to think it.
The idea alone made her skin crawl.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
"Miss," Chun Tao whispered from outside, "Lady Lin is here."
Qingyi frowned. At this hour?
"Let her in."
The doors opened immediately.
Lin Ruoxue entered quickly, dressed in dark robes hastily thrown over her sleeping garments. Her usual composure was gone. Her face was pale.
The moment the doors shut, she spoke.
"He came again."
Qingyi rose instantly. "Who?"
Ruoxue's voice dropped.
"The man from before."
Qingyi crossed the room. "What happened?"
Ruoxue swallowed hard.
"I was returning from the west corridor after evening prayers. The lanterns had already been extinguished." She paused. "I thought someone was following me."
Qingyi's chest tightened.
"When I turned around," Ruoxue continued softly, "he was standing there."
A cold sensation crawled down Qingyi's spine.
"What did he do?"
"Nothing."
That answer frightened her even more.
Ruoxue laughed weakly, wrapping her arms around herself.
"That's the worst part. He just looked at me." Her voice trembled slightly. "Like he'd been searching for me for years."
Qingyi took her hand gently.
"Did he say anything else?"
Ruoxue nodded slowly.
"He said…" She hesitated. "'You died differently this time.'"
Silence crashed into the room.
Qingyi's breath stopped.
Different.
This time.
Not last time.
Not in the novel.
This implied repetition.
Memory.
Another cycle.
"No," Qingyi whispered.
Ruoxue's eyes glistened faintly under candlelight. "Qingyi… what if we're not the only ones who transmigrated?"
The words settled heavily between them.
Qingyi forced herself to think rationally.
"Tell me exactly who he is."
Ruoxue nodded shakily.
"In the novel, his name was Gu Changye."
Qingyi's expression darkened immediately.
Gu Changye.
The youngest son of the Duke of Gu. Handsome, brilliant, unstable. In the original story, he became obsessed with Ruoxue after she showed him kindness once during a palace banquet.
Readers often joked that he loved her more deeply than the male lead ever did.
But his love had been destructive.
When Ruoxue died in the original novel, Gu Changye massacred several officials before taking his own life.
A tragic madman.
And now—
"He remembers."
Qingyi pressed her fingers against her temple.
This was bad.
Very bad.
Because if Gu Changye retained memories from the original story, then the future was no longer merely unstable.
It was unpredictable.
Another knock sounded suddenly.
Both girls froze.
Chun Tao's nervous voice followed.
"Miss… the Crown Prince has arrived."
Ruoxue and Qingyi stared at each other in horror.
"At this hour?" Ruoxue hissed.
Before Qingyi could answer, the doors opened.
Crown Prince Xiao Yichen stepped inside.
He wore black robes embroidered with silver dragons, his expression unreadable beneath the dim candlelight. Rain still clung faintly to his sleeves.
His eyes landed first on Qingyi.
Then shifted slowly to Ruoxue.
Interesting.
That single word seemed to flicker silently through his gaze.
Ruoxue immediately bowed. "Ruoxue greets—"
"You are here late," Xiao Yichen said calmly.
Ruoxue stiffened.
Qingyi stepped forward quickly. "Your Highness, we were merely discussing preparations for the Mid-Autumn banquet."
A lie.
A terrible one.
And Xiao Yichen knew it.
His gaze lingered on Qingyi for a moment too long.
Then he walked further into the room.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Qingyi realized something then—something dangerous.
Xiao Yichen was the type of man who dominated a space without effort. Not loudly. Not cruelly. But completely.
"What concerns you enough," he asked softly, "to keep candles burning past midnight?"
Neither answered.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Then—
Unexpectedly—
He smiled.
"Is it fear?"
Qingyi's pulse quickened.
"How would Your Highness know?" she asked carefully.
"Because frightened people," he replied, "look toward doors before answering questions."
Ruoxue's fingers tightened at her sides.
He noticed everything.
The Crown Prince approached the table, gaze drifting toward the untouched tea set.
"Pour tea," he said mildly.
Qingyi obeyed.
The silence while she poured felt unbearable.
Finally, Xiao Yichen spoke again.
"I heard," he said, "that Gu Changye returned to the capital yesterday."
The teapot slipped slightly in Qingyi's grasp.
Just enough for tea to spill across the table.
Xiao Yichen noticed.
Of course he did.
Ruoxue went pale.
The Crown Prince's eyes sharpened almost imperceptibly.
"How strange," he murmured. "You both reacted."
Qingyi forced herself to breathe evenly.
"We merely know his reputation," she said.
"Do you?"
His gaze settled briefly on Ruoxue now.
"Then perhaps Lady Lin should avoid him."
Ruoxue's throat tightened. "Why?"
"Because men like Gu Changye," Xiao Yichen said quietly, "destroy the things they desire."
For one terrifying second, Qingyi felt as though the words held another meaning entirely.
Not just about Gu Changye.
About himself.
The room fell silent again.
Then Xiao Yichen suddenly asked:
"Tell me something honestly."
Qingyi's heart sank.
"When you look at this palace…" His voice remained calm. "…why do you both look as though you already know how it ends?"
Everything stopped.
The candles.
The breathing.
The world itself.
Ruoxue's eyes widened.
Qingyi felt ice flood her veins.
He noticed.
Maybe not the truth.
But enough.
Far too much.
Xiao Yichen watched them carefully, patiently, like a man waiting for prey to reveal itself.
And for the first time since transmigrating—
Shen Qingyi realized the Crown Prince might be far more dangerous than the novel ever described.
Because the Xiao Yichen inside the story had only fallen in love slowly.
This version?
This version had started watching them from the very beginning.
And men who watched too carefully were impossible to deceive forever.
Outside, thunder rolled across the distant sky.
Somewhere deep within the capital, Gu Changye smiled in the dark.
The game had finally begun.