Lilian had never wanted to become a concubine. She'd been pushed to do so for the money she'd be able to send back to her family from the position and between her mother, father, and five younger siblings, Lilian didn't really much of a choice in the matter.

The selection process had been simple and there was little concern as to whether or not she would have been chosen. Lilian's reputation as far as her beauty, wits, and, charm had long graced the castle walls before her presence had the chance to.

The Emperor was a grotesque man, too consumed in himself to notice the way Lilian pulled away from his touch or outright refused it altogether. Luckily for her, there were two things in which she found pleasure.

One being the fact that the Emperor never minded rejections for long, often finding more agreeable entertainment with the other concubines and the other being you. You'd become a concubine around the same time as she had and while many of the others spent their energy vying for the Emperor's attention, the two of you had grown considerably close.

She'd tried to convince herself that her feelings were strictly platonic but, the moment she found herself thinking about you and wishing you were by her side whenever you weren't, Lilian knew. Even more so, there had been no greater joy than you confessing that you'd felt the same.

"Sometimes," Lilian mused, head in your lap, eyes closed as your fingers ran through her hair. You'd managed to sneak out to the gardens, "if I wish hard enough, it feels as though we could actually run from this cursed place. I think a farm would be a charming little place for the two of us to live, no?'