The Toy in the Summer Palace

A beautiful toy to play with during the tedious summer appeared.

That summer was the hottest since the young Emperor Iskandar had ascended the throne.

The servants of the Summer Palace, in a state of terror, attended to him on his first summer vacation as Emperor.

He was an arrogant monarch, a ruthless oppressor, and a cruel and beautiful disaster.

This was because the words used to describe the new Emperor were as resplendent as gold and as sharp as steel.

Just as he was growing tired of hunting in the summer forest and indulging in extravagant pleasures, a new plaything caught his eye.

Senita.

A lowly maid with charcoal smudges on her apron, she was also a bold woman who dared not avert her gaze from the emperor.

She spoke of old memories with a distant gaze, a dreamer who attached great meaning to trivial things.

He liked it. It seemed fun.
In this hot, tedious summer, toying with that pitiful woman didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Because he wanted to, Iskandar did so.
Everything was easy. He was exceptionally skilled at ruining things.