The Wooing of Wistaria

Lady Wistaria’s life is defined by a single, haunting memory: as a toddler cradled in her father’s arms in the bustling streets of Yedo, he forced her to stare at the noble in a palanquin—the very man who had slain her mother. The chilling command to remember his face forever sets a tone of lingering grief and quiet resolve that follows her into adulthood.

Raised in a solitary white‑washed cottage perched on a wind‑blown hill, she lives apart from the tiny, gloomy village below. The settlement, cut off from the bustling city, is steeped in an unsettling stillness, and its residents seem burdened by unseen oppression. Within her father’s austere house, the only other presence is a frail, blind old woman whose whispered warnings echo the mysteries surrounding Wistaria’s lineage.

These early experiences shape a young woman who longs for affection yet is denied its warmth, driving her to question the secrets of her noble heritage and the shadowed world that surrounds her.