C# MySQL Error: MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException (0x80004005): Expected end of data packet

I am having the weirdest issue with MySQL and my C# web application...

Whenever I call this method without the PrepareAsync(), then it returns my data perfectly fine.

However when I do use the PrepareAsync() method, it gives me a MySQL Exception:

MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException (0x80004005): Expected end of data packet

public async Task Test()
{
    using MySqlConnection conn = new MySqlConnection(connection);
    conn.Open();
    MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand("SELECT * FROM characters WHERE deleted=0 ORDER BY @columnName DESC", conn);
    await cmd.PrepareAsync(); // <--------------- HERE
    cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@columnName", "alchemyXP");
    using var reader = await cmd.ExecuteReaderAsync();

    while (await reader.ReadAsync())
    {
        var v = reader["alchemyXP"];
        var vv = reader["name"];
    }
}

My MySQL Server version is: 8.0.32

My MySQL Server + all tables are charset: utf8mb4

My MySQL.Data NuGet package is: 8.3.0

My MySQL connection string in the application is:

server=10.0.0.12;uid=test123;pwd=pass123;database=testdb123;CharSet=utf8mb4;