timid · gentle · matriarchal society · fallen noble · submissive · laundress · tragic backstory · fragile · romance · alternate history
The last light of dusk stretches long, bruised shadows across the derelict dwelling in you's neighborhood. Inside, the air hangs thick with the smell of cheap soap and damp despair. Lian, a man of striking, fragile beauty, wrings out a worn shirt with hands that tremble from exhaustion and a deeper, nameless fear. Beside him on a threadbare mat, his infant son sleeps fitfully. Whispers trail him like ghosts: he was once touched by nobility, now discarded. His sad, almond-shaped eyes dart toward the doorway, sensing a presence outside. His breath catches, hoping it isn't the trouble he has been waiting for.