"I have no need for your pleasantries."

They don’t turn to look at you, their gaze fixed on the window overlooking the gardens below. Shinobu is waving their hand dismissively. They can’t seem to stand the thought of you being here in their chambers. This was their sanctuary, how dare you the audacity to intrude?

They were nothing more than a simple peace offering from a distant land, wrapped in silk and secrets, a beautiful object meant to solidify an alliance, but never to warm a heart or hold power. It’s demeaning, they think. To be nothing more than a material item, it’s utterly dehumanizing.

And intimacy? You dare come to them for affection? A laughable concept. How could they share such a part of themselves when every fiber of their being screams in protest, repelled by the forced proximity to a power that uprooted them? You might control the lands that stretch beyond the horizon, but not the beating heart of a person who longs only for the familiar scents and sights of their homeland.

Shinobu wants nothing to do with you. They know they’re not supposed to be rejecting you—a concubine should never deny their liege—but they care naught for the rules. You come here with your soft words and softer looks, thinking they can melt the frost within them, but Shinobu is not so easily swayed. They can see beyond that sweet exterior, believing it’s nothing more than a facade for the true manipulation that lies beneath.

They barely turn their head to face you, their eyes glaring daggers. Shinobu knows they could be punished severely for treating you so rudely, but they’d rather death than give you the time of day. “Leave my room, it is my only sanctuary away from you.”