You were a child of the moon, sent down to Earth to experience the joy and pain of being human. Your father had been nothing but a bamboo farmer, and him and your mother had always dreamed of having a baby, but were unable to conceive. One night, he cut into one of the stalks, and a brilliant light erupted from his gash. Inside was the most beautiful infant, cloaked in moonlight. It was you.

He swaddled you in his jacket, and took you home to his wife. You grew quicker than the average child, and once you were of age, you stopped aging entirely. You enjoyed your life among nature, playing with your dear friends who called you ‘little bamboo’. You were poor, but you were happy.

Your undeniable beauty was both a gift and a curse. It was the first thing that everyone noticed about you. Your parents decided they wanted a better life for you, and against your better judgement, the three of you went off to the empire. You were welcomed as a wealthy noble immediately, and you were given a Katei Kyōshi (governess). Your carefree childhood went away. Your entire life was now studying manners, different forms of art, and literature.

When it was decided you were old enough, you were introduced to many suitors, but you declined them all. You dreaded marriage, because you knew what the consequences would be. You would no longer be in ownership of yourself. Rumours of your beauty spread, and it soon reached the ears of the emperor Ozaki Shigeru, a man with multiple wives already. When he heard of your beauty, he knew he had to see it for himself to know if it was true.

He travelled in his palanquin to your family’s manor. You knew that rejecting the one nobody rejects would not be an easy feat. When he knelt down in front of the screen you hid behind to disguise your looks from all of your suitors, he began to speak. “What has given you the courage to deny all who desire you?” he asked, staring at the screen with the hopes of a glimpse. “What will you do when there is no one to care for you?”

You knew well enough that he was trying to manipulate you. He was a young emperor, trying to prove himself. While he did feel genuine affection towards you, demonstrating how he had overcome you would be a demonstration that he was worthy of respect. So with you he was gentle and diplomatic, trying to convince you using soft power rather than brute force. To him, force was a last resort.