First Encounter
In the 218th year of the Benchu Era, Kingdom of Purple
The Kingdom of Purple is a crystalline realm. The capital, Crystal City, is adorned with various crystals and named after them. The guardian crystal of the royal family in the kingdom is the amethyst, and members of the royal family often have purple-colored hair. Currently, ruling over the Crystal Palace, the palace of the royal family in the Kingdom of Purple, and the entire kingdom is the only queen, Zi Zhao.
Zi Zhao has been governing the Kingdom of Purple for several decades. Her parents were originally the king and queen of the kingdom, and after ruling for hundreds of years, they eventually decided to let their only daughter succeed them. Once the transition of power stabilized, the two of them began to travel the world, only occasionally returning to the palace to reunite with their daughter. Eighteen years ago, shortly after a secret return to the palace, they gave birth to their second daughter, Zi Shizuru. As Shizuru grew to be over three years old, they set out on their travels once again. Therefore, Shizuru was entrusted to the care of her older sister. Zi Zhao was very fond of her little sister and, amidst managing various national affairs, made an effort to spend time with her to ensure her joyful and carefree growth, compensating for the frequent absence of their parents. Aware of the constraints and restrictions as well-known members of the royal family, Zi Zhao, in order to allow her sister to grow as freely as possible before the age of 17 as stipulated by the Kingdom of Purple law, concealed the information about the second princess from the outside world. Thus, the citizens of the kingdom only knew about the current queen and were unaware of the existence of a second princess.
This year marks Shizuru's coming-of-age. Having just completed her high school life at the Saint Purple Orchid Academy, she is about to enter the university department in a few months. Originally, Zi Zhao planned to announce Shizuru's identity as a princess this year, but due to Shizuru's decision to continue her studies in the university department, the two sisters decided, after discussing it, to wait until Shizuru finishes her university life before making any decisions.
Although Shizuru was exempted from helping her older sister in governing affairs, Zi Zhao still had expectations for her and hoped she would take on responsibilities for the kingdom. Therefore, from a young age, under her older sister's guidance, Shizuru formed a bond with her sister's spirit beast, the Murakumo Purple Snake, the guardian holy beast of the Purple Realm. Most spirit beasts can only bond with one owner at a time, and only when the current owner releases the bond or passes away can a new owner form a bond. However, as the highest-ranked guardian holy beast, the Murakumo Purple Snake can bond with multiple owners, primarily within the direct bloodline of the Purple Realm's royal family. In the past, the Murakumo Purple Snake had fought alongside the royal family multiple times, guarding the kingdom and its people.
After bonding with the guardian holy beast, Shizuru began practicing with it. Due to the Murakumo Purple Snake's ability to transform into eight snake heads in battle, Shizuru gave it the nickname "Xiao Ba" (Little Eight). Although in the presence of Xiao Ba, who has experienced tens of thousands of years, people of the Fantasy Continent can only be considered as babies, Xiao Ba was very gentle and accommodating to Shizuru. On the training ground, Shizuru often stood on Xiao Ba's head, wielding a halberd formed from Xiao Ba's spiritual power, resembling a majestic female war goddess, unstoppable in her path.
Shizuru had a hobby, which was painting and sketching. In her free time, she often took her sketchpad to depict her favorite landscapes and a few characters. The Crystal Palace hung many portraits of the queen, all of which were created by Shizuru. In the past, the Crystal Palace only displayed portraits of successive royal family members in the Royal Exhibition Hall, accompanied by brief biographies. Since Shizuru started sketching based on her older sister as a template, Zi Zhao had received various gifts from Shizuru under different pretexts. To show support for her sister, Zi Zhao ordered the attendants to hang these lifelike portraits in appropriate places within the palace. This act by Zi Zhao openly revealed her indulgence towards her younger sister.
However, the beautiful days of the two sisters depending on each other were destined to come to an end. On this day, Zi Zhao received a handwritten letter from the king of the Light Realm, Benchu Feng Mo. The letter mentioned that, according to the guidance of the Fate Stone, he hoped to engage in a marriage contract with the second princess of the Purple Realm after she came of age and marry her ten years later. Upon receiving the letter, Zi Zhao immediately rushed to the Crystal Palace's sacred site, the Temple of Fate. The Temple of Fate housed the Fate Stone of the Purple Realm, which could predict and guide the important destinies of the people of the western continent and could only be used by those of royal blood. In the Holy City Palace of the Light Realm, there was also a Temple of Fate with a Fate Stone that could predict and guide the important destinies of the people of the eastern continent. The two Fate Stones seemed to have long signed a non-interference treaty; each could only predict and guide the destinies of the people born within its respective territory and could not see the various fates of the other territory.
Zi Zhao sacrificed her royal blood to the Fate Stone, seeking to predict Shizuru's future. The Fate Stone showed Shizuru wearing a long red wedding gown, marrying someone. The groom was none other than the king of the Light Realm, Benchu Feng Mo. Zi Zhao couldn't believe it and sacrificed to the Fate Stone again, requesting another prediction of Shizuru's future. No matter how many times she tried, the Fate Stone showed the same scene every time. The same wedding, the same groom.
Zi Zhao was lost in thought for a long time, allowing the blood to drop, but the Fate Stone had refused to provide the same answer again. Finally, after who knew how many hours had passed, Zi Zhao made up her mind to let Shizuru enjoy more days of freedom before getting married. Before that, all negotiations with the Light Realm would be handled by her alone.
Crystal City, Central Garden
But fate always likes to play jokes. Sometimes, the more you want to prevent certain people from meeting, the more they have already encountered each other in unknown places.
Shizuru recently noticed that her older sister didn't demand as much rigor from her as before. Previously, her older sister always required her to practice with Xiao Ba for three hours every day, leaving her with little time for sketching. Recently, her older sister praised her training results and suggested slowing down the progress to avoid haste, stating that one hour a day was sufficient. Therefore, Shizuru had more time to go to various corners of Crystal City and paint. Lately, her most frequent destination was the Central Garden of Crystal City. In the spring of the garden, it was the season when Shizuru's favorite purple roses were in full bloom.
On this day, after finding a good spot and setting up her sketchpad, Shizuru was about to start drawing. She saw a child not far away, with golden long hair, dressed in a noble-style elementary school uniform, reaching out to pick the blooming roses.
"Oh, delicate flowers, how can they be easily picked?"
Upon hearing this, the child's hand shook in the air, and at the same time, half-crouching, turned her head to look at Shizuru.
Shizuru saw the child's appearance clearly. Although still young, her excellent features indicated that she would undoubtedly become an extraordinary beauty in the future. The deep blue eyes were especially captivating. Shizuru became curious and asked, "What's your name?"
After a few seconds of silence, the child answered in a timid voice, "Ki, Kimoon."