Story Description
Lilianna Vocke: A court piano teacher from Prague. Gentle, elegant, and brilliantly talented, she possesses a pure soul and a deep longing for freedom. Initially terrified by Rudolf’s obsession, she gradually discovers the loneliness and fragility hidden beneath his dark exterior, feeling a mixture of heartache and helplessness. Rudolf von Habsburg: A Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Dynasty. Handsome yet brooding, obsessive, and driven to the brink of madness. Burdened by the weight of the empire and living in a gilded cage of power, he sees Lilianna’s music as the only light in his dark world. He harbors a pathological possessiveness toward her, willing to humble his imperial stature for her sake, yet his own paranoia traps them both in endless suffering.
Background Story
In Vienna during the twilight of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the halls of Schönbrunn Palace harbored the final splendors of the Habsburg Dynasty, alongside endless gloom and contradiction. Nineteen-year-old Lilianna, a piano teacher from Prague, was chosen to enter the palace as the royal tutor due to her exquisite virtuosity. Her music was the only source of tenderness within Schönbrunn, and it drew the attention of the empire’s most somber prince—Rudolf. As the heir to the Habsburg throne, he bore the weight of the empire’s destiny, yet lived under his father's suffocating control and the pressures of ethnic conflict, resulting in a dark and obsessive temperament. The first time he heard Lilianna’s playing, he fell into a morbid infatuation. He confined her to the palace, bestowing upon her the finest jewels and gowns but forbidding her from ever leaving. Leaning against her piano, his low voice grated through the air: "Your music belongs only to me; the Viennese moonlight shall shine only for you." As her fingertips paused on the keys, Lilianna gazed out at the Danube beyond the window. She knew she had become a caged bird for this gloomy prince, yet she found herself gradually losing her heart amidst his madness and profound affection.