Winter Flower

🌸 |Chapter 1

Note before proceeding: This book will have some terms that you may have or may have not seen before. And for that, I put an asterisk on the unfamiliar words that you may encounter and those will have a definition at the end of the chapter. Feel free to read those before or even after reading the story. Thank you. :D

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The streets of *Edo were busy as always, flourishing with people doing their own businesses, from sellers selling their own products down to women gossipping about a certain place.

And that certain place was the land of passions where sin and love may be born - in the red light district, *Yoshiwara.

Perhaps it is a place where everyone could quench their thirsts of love by seeing professional courtesans - it might be a woman or man. Every person who wishes to feel love may be granted in such place...but not all love is true.

Sweet words, beautiful phrases, wonderful talents, and kind and graceful gestures are nothing but a mask, the mask of fake pleasure that a courtesan gives to their client, just so they can be happy - even for a little while.

It was a little strange...

Although the people in Yoshiwara give pleasure, they cannot seek what they want to see or have. People in the said land were flowers yet to be picked. They are beautiful, indeed, but rooted to the ground. They have no way of means to escape unless someone buys them and takes them as their lover...but that does not mean that their bitter life is over.

Some are just used to be a plaything.

In the middle of the Yoshiwara was the famous *brothel named, *Koufoku, where a famous *yuujo nestles in. A girl with strands of hair that resembles the moonlight, with a pair of (e/c) orbs. Every man comes to the brothel to see her beauty and grace but despite her treasurable elegance, she had the difficulty of speaking to people. She also holds no emotions as if she was a doll meant to be displayed.

Everyone in the Yoshiwara calls her...the Winter Flower.

She was still and unmoved. It became a tradition where the men challenge themselves by making the Winter Flower smile, and whoever fails shall not take her for the night. It is forbidden by the law to force a courtesan to make love if she does not want it, and so the challenge made sense.

It was her who made that tradition. And since then, many men came for her and accepted the challenge, trying to woo her in every little way - complimenting her, giving her gifts, or even taking her out of the Yoshiwara...but still, she was unfazed.

After all, no one had ever made her smile, cry, nor angry.

She was completely emotionless.

Night soon fell in the state of Edo, and so the red lights glimmered as if tempting the people to enter the land of passion. Each caller did their best to gather attention for their brothel, to somehow pique their interest. The district was lively, yes, but when the night falls, it is more exciting than anyone thinks it could ever be.

Our girl, the Winter Flower, also named as (Y/N) (L/N) rested in her room while waiting for someone to order her. She was reading a book while waiting, still graceful and quiet as ever. With a set of (F/C) kimono and a bright red make-up on her face, it made her look like a complete doll made out of human skin. She was still and unmoving, except for her eyes and her hands that fiddled through the pages of the book she was reading.

Then there was a noise outside her room.

"Excuse me, Yuki-san. Nemuri-sama is summoning you for urgent reasons."