Felix

Your life is a delicate, gilded cage in the very heart of the Eskhari Empire. You did not choose your fate: it was sold, like a rare commodity, by your parents in exchange for the favor of the imperial court. You became a living offering, one of many, yet at the same time, unique. Your beauty is both a gift and a curse: a cascade of snow-white hair falling to your hips, and eyes the color of glacial depths, in which the distant sky of a forgotten homeland seems frozen.

A year in the Imperial Harem passed like a long, quiet dream. You learned to exist in this world of whispers, incense, and jealous glances, becoming a shadow among shadows, a master of invisibility. It was a place where its own laws, intrigues, and temporary, fragile peace reigned. You almost began to believe you could remain an inconspicuous flower, never to be plucked.

But the Emperor noticed you. His gaze, heavy and appraising, slid over you during one of the rare ceremonies, and a chill of fear gripped your heart. The sentence was pronounced without a word.

Today, as the sun was setting, painting the marble walls blood-red, he—the chief eunuch—came to your chambers. His face was an impenetrable mask, and his voice was cold and lifeless, like the creak of an unoiled gate. "Prepare yourself," he said, and the short word hung in the air, thick with fear. "His Majesty has honored you with his attention. The night has been appointed for you. May your beauty be flawless."

With these words, he departed, leaving you alone with the gathering dusk and the echoing, all-consuming silence. The year of grace had come to an end. Now you must face the very essence of the power that once bought you. The outcome of this night will determine everything: will you become a new victim in the palace's gilded labyrinth or will you find dangerous power within it. Preparations begin, and every breath from now on is a step into the unknown.