Sleeves Stained in Blood

Just as Ji Cheong’s hidden affection for the emperor begins to surface, the empress uncovers his secret. Fearing the consequences, he draws his blade and silences her—an act that brands him a traitor. Captured, beaten, and ready to face death, Ji Cheong offers one final, desperate deception: he claims he assaulted the empress. But instead of meeting his end, he regains consciousness in a strange, unfamiliar palace—a place surrounded by thorn-covered walls, where nothing is quite as it seems.