Chapter 3

When she next awoke, she was surrounded by swirling golden lights. She looked beyond the lights to see the silver-haired man above her, his long fingers manipulating the lights as though he was playing a zither.

"You're awake," the man said upon seeing her open eyes. "I'm almost done. You're quite messed up," his eyebrow furled in dissatisfaction before he continued, "I mean, your body has been quite abused."

She understood what he meant. She was frequently starved to maintain her figure and to ensure that she would fit into the ceremonial dress they designed for her. Plus, she wasn't their biological daughter. She was given the same education as a noble lady, but she wasn't given the same love and affection. In her memories, she wasn't mistreated, but she did have her fair share of suffering in the name of discipline and beauty. The most recent bout of starvation and exhaustion surely did not help.

Seeing that she did not respond, the man's eyebrows furled, and his fingers moved even more quickly. The lights swirling around her sped up and a warm, comforting feeling emanated from them. Her body was slowly gaining energy.

"Can you hear me now?" the man asked, his fingers not relenting.

She managed a nod, and the man sighed in relief. His fingers slowed to a stop, and she was gently lowered onto a straw mat. It was only then that she realized she had been floating to begin with. As she lay on the mat, she felt much better than she had the previous day. She understood that he had been healing her. A thought suddenly popped into her mind: why heal her if they were just going to eat her? Did he want to hunt?

"How are you feeling?" the man's deep, smooth voice broke into her thoughts.

As she opened her mouth to speak, her stomach made an embarrassing growling sound. At that sound, the man stopped asking and directly picked her up, walking out of that empty room into a tall corridor. Her mind went blank. What exactly was happening?

He brought her into a large dining room in which was a long dining table that took up most of the room. Gently, he set her down on her feet, and, while supporting her with one arm around her waist, he pulled out a chair. Then, he silently guided her onto it and pushed her chair in. With a snap of his fingers, a servant came in with a large tray on which was a small bowl of soup. She could smell it as it approached her, and her mouth began to water.

The man took the seat beside her as the servant set the bowl in front of her. Leaning forwards, he placed his elbow on the table and rested his head on his hand, watching her. With his other hand, he gestured to her as though he were saying go on, eat.

When her stomach made another sound, she didn't refrain and directly picked up the spoon to eat. Spoon by spoon, the soup disappeared into her stomach. The flavor was light, perfect for someone who hadn't eaten in over a day.

When the soup was gone, the man snapped his fingers, and a maid came back through the hidden doorway to retrieve the bowl and spoon. The maid was gone as quickly and quietly as she'd come, and another servant returned with some cut fruit.

"What's your name?" the man asked from her side as she began to eat the fruit.

She froze with a piece of fruit halfway to her mouth. She thought back as far as her memories went, but couldn't remember a single name. Even her own parents, before they'd sold her, hadn't named her. The commoners of her village had a tradition of not naming children until their naming ceremony at the age of 12, since too many children didn't end up surviving. Then, when she was sold at the age of eight, she wasn't given a name either since noble children were given names at five years of age.

No one had ever asked her that question before. A girl who was destined to die. No one cared what she was called. They only wanted to ensure that she would not embarrass them. Everyone she met cared only about her knowledge and her actions. None cared about her emotions, and no one cared about her identity. In fact, she so rarely spoke to other people that she only just remembered that she didn't have a name.

After a long pause, the following words finally reluctantly left her lips, "I don't have one."

He seemed startled, stunned for a moment. Then his face contorted in what seemed like pain or anger, she wasn't sure. She quickly stuck the piece of fruit in her mouth, looking down in shame. It was a feeling foreign to her. Although she lacked many things growing up, she'd never felt ashamed of it before. But now, in front of this man, she suddenly felt lacking. Without a name, she felt like she had no identity. And, without an identity, she felt like she had no right to be sitting there, next to such a beautiful man, casually eating fruit.

As she slowly chewed on the fruit, she pulled her arms in around herself, trying to hold herself together while her body felt like it was slowly disintegrating, a stinging pain flickering across her skin. She had always been strong. This was the first time she felt such strong emotions.

She heard the man beside her sigh, and she stiffened. Then, she felt him gently lifting her head, and, looking up, she saw another piece of fruit in front of her lips, held by a set of long, pale fingers. She forced her mouth open, and the fruit was very quickly shoved into her mouth. With much difficulty, she forced herself to chew, and, when she swallowed, it felt like it had to go past a giant lump in her throat.

"Is there a name you would like to be called by?" his voice broke through her emotions like a ray of sunshine through stormy clouds.

She couldn't help snapping her head up to look right into his bewitching face. He smiled gently back at her shocked expression, and she momentarily forgot to breathe. His smile became even warmer when he noticed that her breath had caught, and he gently poked the tip of her nose.

"If not, could I choose one for you?" he asked.

"Yes," she blurted.

She felt as though she would agree to anything he asked as long as he looked at her that way.

"Alright, let me think about it," he said, his smile widening.

He watched her silently as he continued to feed her fruit. She could only obediently open her mouth to take in the fruit. The fruit was the perfect mix of sweet and sour to soothe her stomach that had been starved.

When the fruit was all gone, the man snapped for his staff to take away the empty plate. As she was chewing the last piece of fruit, she suddenly realized that she didn't know the man's name either. Swallowing the fruit, she made up her mind to ask.

As she opened her mouth to ask, the man stood up and held out his hand to help her up. She closed her mouth and took his hand, standing up. Preparing to ask once more, she was, then, cut off by him suddenly picking her up again.

"What… where are we going?" she asked, forgetting her original question altogether.

He simply shot another smile straight through her heart and walked out with her in his arms.