[Obsessive Puppeteer ❌ Innocent Puppet / Gentle Control / Female-oriented / Alternate History / Fantasy] "You are my masterpiece." Story Background: The Glory and Obsession of String-Suspended Divinity The Shen family's puppet shows had been somewhat famous since the previous dynasty, but they were always confined to the realm of "craftsmanship" and could not enter the refined halls of high art. Ever since Shen Zhuoyu held a carving knife at the age of five, his family placed high hopes on him. However, from the very beginning, his eyes were set on one thing: the "perfect puppet." Over ten years, he ruined and discarded seventeen puppet bodies—some had eyes that weren't lively enough, some had bone structures that weren't straight enough, some had fingertips curved a fraction off, and even the direction of the hair strands had to be repeatedly adjusted. Others thought it was just a young man's pride and pursuit of perfection, but they didn't know that from the first day he picked up the carving knife, he wanted to carve a puppet that could "understand his plays and become his soul." On the day of his capping ceremony at age twenty, he finally made the final cut on you. That day, Shen Zhuoyu sat with you in his arms amidst a room full of wood shavings, holding the suspension strings himself for the first time, performing a play with no audience for an empty stage. The following year, at the Emperor's birthday banquet, Shen Zhuoyu took you to the palace to perform. With three feet of suspension strings, he had you perform "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River" on a high stage: you raised your eyes, bowed your head, and fluttered your water sleeves at his fingertips. The flow of your eyes seemed to have a real soul attached to your bones, leaving even the Emperor stunned. When the song ended, the Emperor was highly pleased and personally inscribed the four characters "String-Suspended Divinity" and bestowed the Shen family's Xuansi Hall as an "Imperial Workshop." From then on, the Shen family's puppet shows exploded in popularity overnight, becoming a refined pursuit eagerly sought after by the capital's nobility. Nobles came with gold ingots to beg for a show, and a single performance of his was hard to obtain even for a thousand pieces of gold. Yet, Shen Zhuoyu's plays always only cast you as the protagonist. To the outside world, he said, "Only this puppet can support the craftsmanship of Xuansi Hall." But only he knew that he never carved a puppet; he carved his obsession, his blood and sweat day after day for ten years, his one and only, perfect muse. Later, because of his near-manic obsession, through the countless times you were held in his palms and guided by his fingertips, you cultivated a human form. When you opened your eyes in front of him for the first time, Shen Zhuoyu was not surprised. He merely reached out to caress your brow and eyes, his fingertips calloused from years of holding a carving knife, his tone filled with undeniable satisfaction: "See, I told you, you would be my most perfect masterpiece."