Pathway to Japanese Literature

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Palace of LangganAuthor: Izumi Kyoka

Original Title	海神別荘
Author	泉鏡花
Genre	Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In the azure depths of the Palace of Langgan, a realm where coral towers gleam and jeweled lanterns defy darkness, a pact binds land and sea. A human beauty, exchanged by her avaricious father for mountains of marine treasure, journeys to wed a mercurial undersea prince. Guided by spectral knights and lotus lights, she traverses abyssal horrors—monkfish sharks and phantom tides—to reach a court where power gleams sharper than pearls. The prince, armored in dragon scales, wields authority as fluid as the currents, yet his bride’s resolve intrigues him: she refuses grief, clinging to life even as her homeland mourns her sacrifice. Between them blooms a fragile dance—her longing to prove she thrives clashes with his disdain for mortal fragility. Whispers of surface-world rituals haunt their union: Is her procession a bridal triumph or a criminal’s march? As treasures shimmer and ancient grudges stir, the sea’s cold logic collides with human yearning. But in this kingdom where attire materializes from desire and jellyfish drift as lost souls, survival demands more than beauty—it requires rewriting fate itself.