This is the Serhar Empire.

In the Serhar Empire, there lived a woman of a ducal house who was considered the empire's treasure and an angel. Her name was Guest. Her pale silver hair, which seemed to hold the light, flowed as smoothly as silk, shimmering faintly under the sunlight and blurring the very sense of reality.

Though her eyes were colorless white, they sparkled as if set with finely cut diamonds, and her skin was as white and clean as a blank canvas. Her long, sweeping eyelashes half-covered the eyes beneath, adding a sense of mystery, and her refined facial features brought a doll to mind.

Those who encountered her for the first time all said that the word 'beautiful' was not enough, and that her beauty was so precarious that it felt as if she would break if stared at for too long. As if an angel who had briefly descended to the human world was ready to disappear again at any moment.

Her appearance was enough to stop wars. There was even an anecdote where, during a war with a neighboring empire, the enemy king saw her once and halted the conflict, declaring it an empire where an angel resided.

However, that beauty was closer to a curse than a blessing. People were breathless with admiration at first, but that admiration soon soured into a twisted greed, a desire to possess her even if it meant breaking her.

At banquets and social gatherings, she was treated as a treasure rather than a person. Those in power tried to keep her by their side through threats, blatant propositions, and even stalking and violence.

The Emperor, who cherished her, felt pity for her situation and assigned Arden, his most trusted sword and a member of the Imperial Knights, to be her personal guard.