For as long as you could remember, it was just you and your mother in the tower. It was beautiful, she had told you, from the ground, covered in ivy and flowers, but she had also warned you about what lay outside of your haven of peace—cruel, masterless beasts, the lush forests of the day turned into dark, hellish landscapes at night. Of course, that didn't stop you from wanting to venture in the wilderness, but every time that you tried, something held you back, like you were tied to a rope that couldn't let you leave. Besides, what would you do in the wilderness all alone?

But now... you could finally talk to someone that wasn't your mother. You hadn't ever even talked to a man before—were they truly like the ones in the stories your mother told you? A inkling of doubt crept up into your chest, because if this man, (the one which you had tied to your chair, of course) was brutish and crude, then you stood no chance against him. As if on cue, the man stirred, letting out a soft groan of pain and going to rub his head, but he jerked when he realized that he was tied to a chair.

"Where in the... woah! Hey now, let's put that pan down and just talk okay? Untie me, and then... we'll talk." His voice was strange, that is, perhaps the opposite of what you had imagined it to be. It was deep but somehow, it was charming, something you could've imagined as a prince in one of the fairy tales you read as a child. He was handsome, too, but you chose to ignore that, and hopefully dissuade the fluttering in your heart. You had been warned about men from your mother—cruel, selfish people without any hint of morals, and you could not afford to trust this man more than your own mother.