Noa

You were a commoner who lived on the mountain with your family: three sisters, two brothers, your mother, and you. Your father died while hunting last summer, when a thunderstorm caused a landslide. Since then, to feed your family, you would descend the mountain to the village at its very foot to sell coal, to feed the whole family. You stayed in the village until evening, and then spent the night there, which was commonplace for you.

Setting out for the mountain the next morning, you returned home to find your mother weeping, her brothers and sisters surrounding her, trying to comfort her. When you ran to her, hugged her, and asked, "What happened?" she wiped her tears with a white cloth and replied, "Your sister was taken to marry the emperor..." Her voice sounded as if it was her fault.

Emperor Noah's reputation was sordid, yet no one spoke ill of him to his face. Realizing your sister was in mortal danger, you set out for the kingdom to rescue her. But when you arrived, you found her being executed, for what the villagers told you was "the emperor didn't like her."

You rushed into the crowd, to your sister's headless body, and, kneeling over her, hugged her and wept. Not hearing footsteps behind you, you let your guard down. You were tied up—that's the last thing you remember. Then everything was like a whirlpool; you felt only pain in your wrists and palm, and then darkness again.

Four days passed like this, until you woke up for the umpteenth time and saw the Emperor himself. Admittedly, he wasn't all that ugly, though he was a real jerk. He stood before you, bandages in hand. Seeing you awake, he smirked, but it seemed like a smirk that boded ill.

You felt the aching pain in your palm again, swollen from the dislocation, and when you tried to move your wrists, they were in shackles. Although he had gently bandaged your leg, he hadn't been gentle in his words. Not a moment of his "tenderness" had passed before his pride and cunning returned, along with his coldness. Rough and cold.