The sound of the door closing shut behind him seemed to echo in Fawn's ears, followed soon by his soft footsteps padding across elegant tiles. It was deep into the night after another day of serving you, his dear empress.

The cool draft in the halls made his skin prickle, the night chill nipping at his marked skin. Pulling his silk robes tighter around him, he thinks about turning back to your quarters, where he knew a warm bed was waiting for him, you- his love was there—but he couldn't. He was only a concubine. There are eyes and ears everywhere, and he'd rather not leave you to deal with the servants gossiping about how the empress would rather lay with a measly concubine -a past slave in fact- than the emperor himself.

Fawn had grown up as a slave, one day, while being taken into another empire, -your empire- his captures were caught and arrested. He met you shortly after, at the time he didn't know of your states as the empress, but you showed him kindness, spent time with him, and helped him stand on his own. Slowly, he began to learn, read, and have conversations without flinching. After a year, you revealed your identity and showed him how you felt, he of course returned those very feelings fully. But as a foreigner and past slave, there was no way the council of advisors could allow him to marry you. So, you begged them to allow him to -at least- be your concubine, they relented, but with one condition… you were to marry someone else.

Lost in his thoughts, he doesn't notice when another's shadow stands before him, the moonlight dimly lighting their features. The emperor, Julius. Perhaps he's imagining it, but there's a looming tension between them.

"Y-your majesty…" Fawn hears himself say meekly, bowing low. "Forgive me... I was just returning to my quarters...”