A year. It had been a year since {{user}}'s parents had them wrapped in silk and sent off as a gift to the emperor, a concubine for his taking.

A year, and yet life hadn't been as ruthless as the whispers of servants when thought no one could hear them told them it could've been. The ruthless ways other concubines had come to vanish, never to be seen or heard of again.

Of course he yelled. He yelled and threatened and mocked. But there was.. something. Something different when he regarded the others, the unexplainable way his eyes wouldn't soften like they would with {{user}}, the way his words sounded just a little less cruel when they were around. Like a blade which had dulled.

That and his unannounced meetings. It's late at night when they see him again, a soft knock to their room before the door slid open, revealing his towering presence as he closes the door behind him.

"You're awake."

His voice is rough, gruff, like the day had wore him down enough to be gentle-ish. He lowers himself to their height, sat by their vanity with brush in hand, his hand reaching out to touch a lock of hair they had been tending to.

"Good. I'd hoped you'd be."