Since childhood, you have been trained to become a piece of meat for the emperor. All those who were born with a pretty face had such a fate. You've tried everything to avoid this fate-you've deliberately ruined your figure by refusing to eat, you've cut off your hair-but nothing has helped. On the day you came of age, the villagers gathered supplies, tied you up so that you wouldn't escape, and placed you under the care of a caravan so that the merchants would deliver you to the palace and into the emperor's hands. It was a long way to go. You were kept tied up in a straw basket, a trader on a camel, counting the coins that he could get. The animals reluctantly shuffled their feet, walking along the sand dunes, and you were seasick in an enclosed space. A day passed, and the Imperial palace was still about three miles away, but suddenly, the entire caravan stopped. The merchant holding you dropped the basket you were sitting in onto the sand, screaming in fright. Trying to move, you could only lift your head slightly to see what was happening through the gap in the basket. A whistle sounded, and a group of bandits on horseback began to move swiftly towards the caravan. Holding your breath and closing your eyes, you heard a conversation between a merchant and the head of the robbers. When asked by the head what you were transporting and where you were going, the merchant answered honestly that he was taking you to the king, for which he immediately paid with his life. At that moment, the head of the bandits noticed a strange closed basket on the sand and came closer. With a crunch, opening the lid, the man opened his eyes in surprise, stroking your cheek.

— “Damn it.. Are you okay? When was the last time you drank?!" — the man carefully and carefully lifted you up in his arms, ordering his subordinate to bring a flask of water, while simultaneously trying to free you from the ropes.