Since he was little, Soo Hyuk always liked pretty things. As an infant, he couldn't fall asleep unless sheets and covers in his cradle had a certain colour he liked. He also rejected all the nannies his parents brought home until, in act of desperation, they asked a young and beautiful servant Yoona to take care of him. At the age of 3, he wouldn't wear clothes that were not made of the finest materials, in colours that the little boy liked. He wouldn't play with other children unless they were his older sister Chaerin because "their faces are red and dirty, their eyes are weird and they are not as pretty as Rin-Rin". Everything he liked, everything he owned had to beautiful, perfect, without any flaws.

At the age of 5, the little boy gained a new object or rather a person of adoration. His mother gave birth to a beautiful boy, Seunghyun. In 5-year-old Soo Hyuk's eyes, the little boy was the prettiest baby he had the privilege to lay his eyes on. And such a little boy taking care of his younger sibling in a way Soo Hyuk did was nothing but adorable in the eyes of his parents and servants. The arrival of a new member of the family made the boy more open to the world. Soon he started to attend the best school in Metropolis, learning about maths, science, history, the power of words in literature, and the beauty trapped behind the art. He no longer loathed people that are not fitting to his standards, he started to play with his older sister's friends and even gained few on his own. His best friends- Kwon Jiyong and Choi Seunghyun were also noblemen from rich families of Zone 0, Jiyong being the same age as his older sister and Seunghyun being his age. The trio always did everything together starting from sitting in the class and ending on bunking lessons and going to the street markets in Zone 1. This is where Soo Hyuk saw them for the first time. Dolls. Delicate, little human figures made of porcelain in beautiful dresses and costumes looking at him with their large, glassy eyes from behind their golden bangs. Light skin not tainted by a single scratch, faces small with a faintly visible blush on their cheeks, hands small and slender, holding paper fans and silk umbrellas. But what was even more interesting for a back then 8-year-old Soo Hyuk was the way he could personalise them, play with their hair and small bodies, change their fancy dresses and hairstyles the way he wanted, to make them even more beautiful than they already were. Without much of thinking, the young boy entered the doll shop to look and admire every single one of those small pieces of art. The old shop owner just looked fondly at the young boy marveling gaze as if seeing himself 50 years ago looking at dolls made by his dad.

"Are you looking for something, young man?"

"What?" the said boy looked at a man with embarrassment from being caught, "N-no sir. I just... they... they are really beautiful."

"What? The dolls?"

"Yes."

"You're right. They are really beautiful. Made of the finest and most delicate porcelain in Metropolis. It takes a long time to make one." The older man noticed small flames of interest in the boy's eyes.

"Really? Did you do it by yourself, sir? How did you do them? They look so fragile and small."

"Would you like me to show you how to make a doll?" The older man raised his eyebrow.

"I would love to!"

And that's how Soo Hyuk's passion for dolls started.

###

At the age of 15, one of the biggest tragedies in the young life of Lee Soo Hyuk happened; his back then 10-years-old brother died from high fever. The young heir of 7th District distanced himself even more from others, even from his parents, and became cold and tamed, not caring about anyone apart from his 2 friends and older sister, gaining the nickname of an Ice Prince. His handsome face and tall posture have drawn women to him, trying to play different tricks to seduce him but none of those actually worked and poor girls run away from the young boy as fast as they came after being publicly humiliated and embarrassed. At first, his parents thought it is normal, that he is just too young for girls but as time passed they became more and more worried. Soo Hyuk would rather spend time in his atelier than on balls; he would rather make dolls than flirting with young ladies that were dying just to hear his voice. His hobby became his obsession, his definition of beauty, his standards that none of those girls could ever reach. Dolls became his best friends, not leaving him for a moment, always listening to him, always looking just at him with their glassy eyes. However, there was a small problem with them. None of them could understand what he is saying, none of them could talk, none of them could bring him the needed comfort. Their porcelain bodies were way too small and cold to give him the warmth he wanted. They were lifeless and he was lonely.

This was until at the age of 18 his dad sent him to Zone 2 with his best servant Park Jinyoung to show his heir how are Lords making money and how is his job going to look. There was she, the most beautiful girl he ever lied his eyes on with the petite body, light like porcelain skin, and long, heban hair. She was sitting on a small rock facing the sun with closed eyes, wearing simple white, cotton shirt with 3 first buttons ed, and light gray skirt made of crinoline, her hair flowing like a waterfall on her half- shoulders down to her waist, framing her face and body like the finest painting. Even his most beautiful doll couldn't compare to this girl, a living creature that could move, talk, and think. It was the first time Soo Hyuk had this sort of feeling towards another human; he wanted to own her, treasure her, keep her in his pocket so no one aside from him could ever look at her beauty. Jinyoung noticed that the young heir is distracted, looking at something with small flames of passion in his eyes, not wanting to lose even the smallest detail of what he was seeing. Then he noticed a beautiful girl grazing sheep in a field, her face turned to the sun and he finally understood why his master behaved like this. Guess he had to talk with the Lord about his newest discovery. 

From that day Soo Hyuk every day took his sweet time to ride to Zone 2 and admire the young girl from afar: her beautiful smile, kind eyes, and perfect figure. He tried to portray her beauty with a new doll but even the finest porcelain and horsehair cannot get close to the girl. His servant, who originally came from this area, told him that her name is Park Bom and is 3 years younger than him. She comes from a poor family, her dad is working in the field and her brother works in a factory. She also has 2 younger siblings that she and her mother are taking care of. As time passed, his desire to know and own the girl grew bigger and bigger when suddenly, his dad came to the living room and announced he has a new pet for him and it should arrive in 30 minutes. Expecting a new horse or a dog Soo Huk didn't pay much attention to it and just kept sitting there and reading a new novel. What he didn't expect was a young girl he was wanting to meet so badly for the last year entering the room and scanning him with her curious and slightly fearful eyes as if she's not sure if she should stay or run away. He admired her body for a second and smiled slightly; it was his first time seeing the girl so close.

"Park Bom, am I right?" she just nodded slightly. "I'm Lee Soo Hyuk, the Lord's son, and your master."

a/n: This is the last introductory chapters, I wanted to give you guys a closer look at the characters. From the next chapter, the story is finally going to start. I hope you'll enjoy reading the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it (even though I gotta do plenty of research and it takes forever to write it, even though I'm not even sure if I can give out the climate of that era in an understandable way ;(( I'm sorry)