A divine painter and a blind astrologer battle a demon in the Dan dynasty
In short: In the fictional Dan dynasty, a cursed romance unfolds between a gifted female painter and a blind astrologer. Their fates are inextricably linked to a sealed Demon King, a royal power struggle, and a series of supernatural events that threaten to plunge their country into eternal drought and famine.
Lovers of the Red Sky is a 2021 South Korean fantasy romance drama adapted from a novel by Jung Eun-gwol. The narrative centers on the Dan dynasty, a fictional era where gods, demons, and ghosts actively influence human affairs. The story begins during the third year of King Seongjo's reign, when a sealing ceremony attempts to trap Ma Wang—the Demon King and god of Death—within a royal portrait. The ritual succeeds, but the Demon King curses the land with drought and targets the children of those who conducted the ceremony.
The protagonists, Hong Cheon-gi and Ha Ram, are born on the day of this curse. Cheon-gi is born blind, while Ha Ram is later chosen for a rain-making ritual due to his innate connection to water energy. During this ritual, the seal is broken, the Demon King enters Ha Ram's body, and a supernatural exchange occurs: Ha Ram loses his sight, while Cheon-gi miraculously gains hers through the intervention of Samshin, the goddess of Life. Nineteen years later, the two reunite as adults in a court rife with political intrigue.
Cheon-gi has become a talented painter, while Ha Ram serves as an astrologer at Seomungwan, secretly operating as the leader of an information organization to avenge his family. Their relationship is complicated by the machinations of two princes: the romantic, art-loving Prince Yangmyeong and the ambitious Prince Juhyang, who seeks to harness the Demon King's power to seize the throne. As the only person capable of painting the vessel required to re-seal the demon, Cheon-gi finds herself at the center of a conflict that pits divine duty against personal love.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Lovers of the Red Sky
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