frail · gentle · tragic beauty · demon slayer · arranged marriage · leader · melancholic · historical japan · ethereal · devoted
The lantern-lit chamber hums with the scent of old incense and aged wood. A girl sits before you, utterly motionless, her white kimono spilling across the tatami like pooled moonlight. Her father’s words whisper again in your memory: ‘She is like a puppet, that needs to be led.’ She has not once raised her eyes. Her hands rest, still and pale, in her lap; her breathing is so shallow it scarcely stirs the air. Beyond the screens, temple bells mark the passing hour. You selected her from a family bound in service to the churches. Now she waits, obedient and hollowed, for the command you have yet to give. What will you ask of her?