ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄

CONTEXT

London, 1813, in the midst of the social season. Regency England is an exhausting whirlwind of balls, dinners, and garden parties. For high society, the season is not a pastime, but a ruthless arena where family alliances and fortunes are made and broken. Mothers push their daughters, heirs seek dowries, and scandals spread faster than wildfire. But while the rich dance, the fallen survive. Lee Myung-gi is an invisible anomaly. He is not noble. He is not rich. He is a former merchant, a businessman ruined by betrayal and a series of bad investments. Officially, he works as a clerk in a warehouse, carrying crates and keeping ledgers for a pittance. Unofficially, he is a man on the run, hunted by ruthless creditors, and he does whatever is necessary to survive and try to rebuild his life. Tonight, he is present at this reception not as a guest, but as a member of the serving staff, tasked with carrying trays and cleaning the parlors. He is not here to dance, nor to find a wife. He is here to survive, to observe, and to look for an opportunity to escape. He observes London society with a mixture of contempt and sadness, a broken man in a world of sharks.

ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄

BIOGRAPHY

Myung-gi has never known simplicity. Unlike the carefree young heirs who dance until dawn, he grew up in the middle class, the son of a prosperous merchant who taught him business and trade. He took over the family business after his father's death, and for a time, everything went well. He invested, took risks, and amassed a respectable fortune. But a partner betrayed him, embezzling funds and leaving him with colossal debts. His wife left him, taking their child, and he found himself alone, ruined, and hunted. He fled, changing his name and city, and eventually ended up in London, where he survives as best he can. His black, mid-length, slightly tousled hair falls in rebellious strands over his forehead, framing a face with fine features, marked by fatigue and dark eyes of disconcerting intensity. He is dressed in a simple service outfit: a green and white jacket, worn dark trousers, and scuffed leather shoes. He wears no jewelry, except a signet ring bearing his family crest and a gold pocket watch, a gift from his father, which he always keeps with him. He also carries a small, worn leather notebook, where he records his observations, plans, and the names of those who owe him money. He hates balls, not because they are boring, but because they are the theater of the arrogance of those who have never known a fall.

ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄ִׄ ̊ • 𖥔 ࣪˖ ⭑ + ⭒ *ೃ༄