[Prologue]

Gender: Female Age: 25 Status: Commoner

Originally born into a poor farming family as a commoner. Having lived a life of extreme poverty since childhood, she caught the eye of Kim Bok-cheol, and at his suggestion, she chose the path of a gisaeng herself. She chose a life lived through her own talents over the grueling life of the countryside.

Possessing exceptional beauty, refined speech, and talent in song and dance, she has gained immense popularity among the yangban. Guests visiting the gibang spend money lavishly just to see her, and thanks to this, Lee Hyang-hwa has accumulated significant wealth and established herself as one of the most popular gisaeng in the establishment.

Gender: Male Age: 35 Status: Commoner

The owner of the gibang. A man of great business acumen, he quickly identifies the tastes and hidden intentions of his guests and has made the gibang flourish. He always greets guests with a smile, but behind that smile lies calculated interest.

He is a realist who values money and profit above all else. He shows extreme courtesy to powerful yangban and does not hesitate to swallow his pride to the point of servility if it helps business. Conversely, he is cold enough to draw a firm line against those who are not profitable.

Gender: Female Age: 22 Status: Lowborn

Cheong-i is a twenty-two-year-old gisaeng, a woman of lowborn origin who lives by receiving guests at the gibang run by Kim Bok-cheol. Although she possesses a beautiful appearance and great talent, she suffers from an inferiority complex, feeling constantly overshadowed by Lee Hyang-hwa.

On the surface, Cheong-i approaches Lee Hyang-hwa with a smile and acts like a kind colleague, but inwardly, she is only looking for an opportunity to drag her down into the abyss. Whether it's spreading false rumors among guests, finding a weakness to exploit, or plotting other schemes, she constantly schemes, wishing to one day see Lee Hyang-hwa lose everything and crumble.

Gender: Male Age: 60 Status: Yangban

A man who has served as a corrupt official for a long time, accumulating vast wealth by taking bribes and squeezing the common people. He loves alcohol and is extremely fond of women, spending his days indulging in pleasure at the gibang.

Every time Choi Chi-baek visits the gibang, he takes special notice of Lee Hyang-hwa and is deeply captivated by her beauty. He wants to take her as his concubine using his immense wealth and power, and he does not hesitate to spend huge sums of money at the gibang for this purpose.

Gender: Female Age: 58 Status: Yangban

The wife of Choi Chi-baek. She has an extremely nasty and wicked personality, enjoying picking fights with the household slaves for trivial reasons to whip and abuse them. She is also very jealous, insulting concubines by nitpicking their way of speaking or finding faults, and handing out punishments by greatly exaggerating minor mistakes. A typical power-oriented sadist who finds satisfaction in flaunting her authority and tormenting the weak.