Episode 1
The air was thick with the stench of smoke and blood.
Haena was curled tightly inside a small storage closet.
Through the crack in the door, she could see a scene of blackened chaos streaked with red.
“Execute the traitors!”
“Not a single one is to be spared!”
A thunderous command echoed throughout the vast manor.
The sound of running footsteps.
The chilling ring of blades and relentless screams filled the air without pause.
Thud, thud!
Heavy impacts shook the ground—likely the sound of bodies collapsing after losing their lives.
“Ugh… h-haa…”
Haena pressed her small hands tightly over her mouth.
She felt like her suppressed sobs would spill out at any moment.
The Yeon family—the wealthiest merchant house in the Heavenly Net Kingdom, a clan so powerful that even noble families paled in comparison.
Everyone had said they would thrive for at least a hundred years more.
But now, the Yeon household was collapsing under blades and flames.
No one had expected its downfall.
But Haena… had always feared this day might come.
She had grown up in the Yeon household since the day she was born.
Though only a lowly maidservant, she understood what kind of place she lived in.
Yeon Gimon, the head of the Yeon family, was a greedy man. Even after multiplying the family fortune and expanding trade routes to foreign lands, he was never satisfied.
Eventually, he began to covet what was forbidden.
In the Heavenly Net Kingdom, nobles inherited the power of the heavens.
This was proven through “Celestials”—beings born once per generation in each noble house.
These Celestials carried the power of the star their family worshipped.
A family’s status was determined by the strength of that power.
As a merchant house, the Yeon family naturally produced no Celestials.
So Yeon Gimon decided to create one himself.
Within the grand, palace-like manor stood a hidden underground complex—just as vast as the estate above, built in secrecy.
His plan had begun long before Haena was even born.
Under the guise of “rescuing orphaned children,” he gathered the homeless.
But those children only died beneath endless experiments in the underground chambers of the Yeon estate.
Haena had been assigned to work in that underground facility.
She was an orphan with no background, raised entirely within the Yeon household—meaning there was no risk of information leaking.
From the moment she could walk and speak properly, she was sent below.
And she saw everything.
Every day, she heard the screams and pleas of children.
And she worked there.
She knew it was wrong. But there was nothing she could do.
Even high-ranking servants like stewards were carried out as corpses if they opposed the master.
Haena was only an eight-year-old maid.
Refusal meant death. Escape meant death.
She did not want to die. So she pretended not to see anything that happened in the basement.
But she was always afraid.
Because she knew—wrongdoing always brought punishment.
The heavens were surely watching everything.
What the Yeon family had done. What Haena had done.
And today, imperial soldiers had stormed the Yeon estate.
People fell beneath merciless blades.
Those who fled outside were cut down by surrounding soldiers, and those who hid inside were consumed by raging flames.
It was extermination—leaving no rat alive.
And soon, that blade would reach Haena as well.
It’s divine punishment.
Haena thought, swallowing her tears.
She was young, but she knew right from wrong.
No—perhaps because she was young, she understood even more clearly.
And yet, she had chosen to ignore it.
Because she wanted to live.
Today, she would die.
It was the punishment she deserved.
But—
“Ugh… sob…”
Haena buried her face in her knees and cried.
She was afraid.
Pathetically, she wanted to live. She did not want to die.
Step… step…
Then, footsteps approached.
Haena froze, forgetting even her tears, her face turning deathly pale.
The sound grew closer.
It was heading toward the closet.
Please… please pass by…
She clenched her trembling hands and prayed with all her heart.
Her heartbeat roared so loudly it drowned everything else.
A brief silence fell.
But before she could even exhale in relief—
BANG!
The door was violently torn open.
The sealed space was flooded with light, and the stench of blood and screams grew even sharper.
A shadow fell over the child.
Through her lowered gaze, Haena saw black boots.
She slowly lifted her head, trembling violently.
Dark navy eyes met hers.
In that instant, her face turned ghostly pale.
“T-Tamnang Star Lord…!”
Gray hair tied up high, stained with fresh blood.
Blood dripped from the pale face of the woman standing before her.
One of the Seven Stars of the Heavenly Net Kingdom.
The first among them—Yul Seowan of the Yul clan, bearer of the power of Tamnang.
One of the Seven Star Lords granted noble title by the royal court.
And the merciless blade of the kingdom.
The Tamnang Star was already fearsome.
But in this generation, Yul Seowan’s name had spread across the entire nation with particular terror.
The hound of the royal family—obedient to every imperial command.
A cold-blooded executioner who showed no mercy regardless of the target.
A monster who had once slaughtered even his own kin within the Yul clan.
If it were any other soldier, she might have begged for mercy.
But the one standing before Haena now was the Tamnang Star Lord—Yul Seowan.
Haena could not even cry anymore.
Drip.
A single tear fell from her eye.
“….”
She closed her eyes, trembling, waiting for death.
But no pain came.
“Eep—!”
Startled, she opened her eyes again.
Yul Seowan was right in front of her.
A pale face stained with dried blood stared down at her silently.
Without a word, Seowan grabbed Haena’s arm and pulled her out of the closet.
“Eek…”
Too frightened to resist, Haena was dragged out.
Seowan stood upright now, looking down at her.
“General. So you were here. We have rescued all the children held underground.”
A soldier approached and spoke.
“The Yeon family head, Yeon Gimon, has been captured and sent to the palace. The household members have been executed on the spot. However, among the servants listed, there was no maid named Haena, so we assumed she was inside the burning building… but—”
Harsh words poured out. The soldier glanced at Haena.
“So it was her.”
The gaze was as sharp as a blade.
Haena trembled without realizing it.
All Yeon household servants wore brown uniforms embroidered with cloud patterns.
Haena’s clothes bore the same design.
“P-please… spare me… please…”
She collapsed, clasping her hands in desperate prayer.
Even her voice and hands shook violently.
Seowan’s gaze returned to her.
Trembling amber eyes met emotionless blue ones.
“Do you want to live?”
Haena nodded frantically.
She did not believe she would be spared—but she clung to hope anyway.
“Then I shall grant it.”
An unbelievable answer.
Before Haena could process it, her body was suddenly lifted into the air.
“…Huh?”
Slowly, she realized what was happening.
A strong hand was gripping her back. Cold armor pressed against her lower body.
Yul Seowan had picked her up—though more like slinging a sack over a shoulder than carrying her.
“Any other survivors?”
The cold voice sounded closer than before.
After a brief pause, the soldier replied nervously.
“No. However… as I mentioned, that maid child—”
“Confirm again whether the body matches those on the registry. We will return once this is done.”
“But, General. That child is also part of the Yeon household.”
Silence.
But the hand holding Haena did not loosen.
“I will take her with me. Report this to His Majesty as well. I will personally face the Emperor and take responsibility.”
Haena could not believe what she was hearing.
It felt like Seowan might drop her at any moment.
She instinctively grabbed his clothing with her small hands.
Still holding her, Seowan walked out of the manor with long strides.
The smell of smoke and blood faded behind them.
Haena clenched her lips tightly as tears fell uncontrollably.
She had survived.
Shamelessly… she was glad.
And for the first time, she truly felt it.
