The story begins not with a grand event, but with the quiet, heart-wrenching sobs of a girl trapped in golden chains.
In a lavish bedroom lit only by the pale glow of moonlight slipping past velvet curtains, Rina Emberhart sat curled on her grand, silk-draped bed. The walls were lined with ornate paintings—portraits of ancestors whose expressions seemed to judge her even in her grief. A chandelier of crystal and silver loomed above like a frozen constellation, its beauty cold and distant, much like her fate.
The room smelled faintly of roses and lavender, a carefully maintained scent meant to soothe, but now it only mocked her. It was too perfect—like the life everyone expected her to live.
Rina pressed her tear-soaked face into her knees, muffling her sobs. Her long crimson hair spilled around her like a curtain of flame, hiding her from the world. Her voice cracked as she whispered into the silence:
"I don't want this… I don't want this marriage…"
Her chest heaved with every breath, every word cutting her throat like glass. It wasn't just the announcement of an arranged marriage—it was the betrayal. The cold, matter-of-fact way her mother had spoken about it. As if her love, her future, her choice… none of it mattered.
She had fallen in love. Silently. Deeply. With someone else.
But that didn't matter now.
They said she was to marry a boy named **Jin Rotchi**. A stranger. A name. Nothing more. She had never seen his face, never heard his voice. All she knew was that he belonged to the infamous Rotchi family—the most feared and mysterious noble bloodline in the world. The name alone stirred unease in people. Jin Rotchi, son of **Naoko Rotchi**, the woman whispered to have slain gods.
Her hands trembled as she clenched the silk of her dress.
*Why him? Why now?*
She didn't understand. Was this political? A move of power? Was her happiness a coin tossed for influence?
The moonlight flickered through the breeze-touched curtains, casting long shadows across the marble floor. Rina felt small in this cage of gold and velvet—this beautiful prison they called her room.
She had always been strong. She had fought with pride, mastered her flames, earned her name as the heir to the Emberhart legacy. But right now, none of that strength mattered.
Right now, she was just a girl whose world had been shattered in a single conversation.
And as her sobs echoed softly through the room, swallowed by the silence of the palace, one thought haunted her over and over:
*What kind of person is Jin Rotchi…?*
And more importantly…
*Why does the thought of marrying him feel like the end of everything?*