N A M E Mai Mei
T I T L E / O C C U P A T I O N Duchess of Mei'an (a wealthy region along Euhijan's eastern seaboard, near the capital)
N A T I O N A L I T YEuhijanian
A G E27
G E N D E RFemale
S E X U A L I T Y Asexual
A P P E A R A N C E Mai is taller than average, standing at five feet and eight inches. She is about 125 pounds, giving her a rather slender figure. Mai has thick, wavy, midnight-black hair that goes down to her waist, and relatively pale skin. Her eyes are a chocolate brown color, framed with a set of eyelashes that she makes longer using cosmetics, of course. She has a heart-shaped face and long, thin fingers. Mai has rosebud lips that are usually painted a deep red color. She has a sort of delicate and dainty look to her, despite the fact that she is quite tall. Mai likes dressing up and takes great pride in her appearance.
Her preferred color scheme is red, black, and gold, although she does like to experiment every now and then. Mai absolutely adores traditional fans and parasols. In terms of cosmetics, Mai is an avid fan powders, lip tints, rogues, et cetera. You name it, and Mai has probably tried it.
Most people who see Mai describe her as elegant, alluring, and in some cases, doll-like (thanks to the layers of cosmetics she wears, most likely). She moves with a practiced and fluid grace, each step and each movement measured and precise. Her features are usually carefully arranged in an expression of polite interest, and pleasant smiles fall easily across her lips, though those who are more keen will notice that they rarely ever reach her eyes- they remain as sharp as ever, even when she laughs.
I N T E R E S T S Mai is a dab hand at traditional Euhijanian calligraphy, and she finds it very calming. She adores accessories that are both beautiful and deadly (bladed fans and parasols, dagger-like hairpins, and the like) and doesn't go anywhere without at least
one of them hidden somewhere on her person. Mai has a soft spot for poetry, though she just likes to read it in her spare time, and maybe lightly discuss it-she's never been one to spout off pretentious rhetoric about how the color white symbolizes the author's sorrow and longing because of an obscure reference to a mourning dove, or something like that.
When she has spare time, Mai likes trying out new cosmetics and hairstyles, though whether or not she would be seen in public after her experiments is a whole different matter. In addition, Mai thinks that tea is one of the best things under the sun, aside from pretty silks and lip tints, of course.
P E R S O N A L I T Y Mai has always been a people person. There is something about her that seems to draw others to her-whether it's her carefree laugh, her twinkling eyes, or her bright smiles, no one can say. She can be a sultry, intoxicating temptress, capable of charming the secrets right out of others with a coy glance and a flutter of her long eyelashes, or an innocent, demure young lady who has absolutely nothing to hide but plenty of gossip to share. She thinks with her heart when she needs to, but uses her brain at the same time.
Behind brown eyes sparkling with mirth and delicate lips curved up in a half-flirtatious, half-demure smile is a woman made of steel who is keenly aware of her surroundings. Mai processes vast amounts of information all at once, taking in people's actions, words, and emotions at the same time and forming a conclusion based on what she sees and what she knows. She's always been especially good at reading people like an open book. Sharply observant, perceptive, and brutally analytical, Mai is able to detect even the most subtle shifts of emotion, assess entire
situations with one inconspicuous sweep of her wide brown eyes, and kill a man in a dozen different ways while dancing the waltz. Mai is constantly listening, though she’ll rarely tell the world what she's thinking.
Enigmatically charismatic and exuding an air of elegant refinement, Mai puts up a playful and coquettish front all while maintaining a certain air of mystery that makes her that much more attractive. Depending on the people around her, Mai is either a charming, polite young lady of considerable wealth and status or a deadly and alluring seductress of equally considerable wealth and status. Mai is not “smart” in the traditional sense of the word-complicated mathematics and the latest developments in technological advancements all go straight over her head, though she is able to hold her own in conversations about a wide variety of “sophisticated” topics. When around others, Mai hides her true nature behind expensive gowns and lip tints, pretending that she is nothing more than another pretty face. She has mastered the right combination of sugary sweetness and sharp wit to detract attention from her real intentions as she shrewdly advances her own agenda.
Mai is scarily manipulative, and she isn’t afraid of resorting to less savory methods to achieve her goals. Mai is calm and collected in times of crisis, and she rarely allows herself to panic. She is truly afraid of very, very few people, and she holds no qualms against playing others like a violin to get what she wants, all while smiling prettily and sipping tea from a dainty porcelain tea cup. Sly, shrewd, and cunning, Mai is an ice queen dressed in silk and lace.
If one is able to see past the many, many layers and intricacies of Mai Mei, one would come face-to-face with an intensely driven yet extremely insecure woman who has been bottling up her emotions for much too long. Mai may be willing to sacrifice everything for her ambitions, but she doesn’t know what it is that she
truly wants, after she finally gets there.
H I S T O R Y Lady Mai Mei, the Rose of Euhijan-
Her father's favorite. His pride and joy.
Polite. Pristine. Perfect.
Charming and beautiful, sweet and soft-spoken. Dainty and demure, graceful and svelte.
Don't let Mai’s outward appearance fool you, though-she is the Rose, and all roses have thorns.
Mai was given the upbringing that was expected of a lady of her station, and then plus some. Pretty dresses, expensive jewelry, all the love and praise and adoration that every child seeks from their parents; Mai had it all. But somehow, Mai could see that her father only cared about her for her pretty face and the marriage she would bring.
Call it intuition, call it intelligence or perceptiveness, call it dumb luck-whatever it was, Mai
knew that her father would not be so doting, so adoring, if Mai wasn’t
pretty.
She obeyed her father despite it all, of course. In this day and age, daughters couldn't be seen openly disrespecting their fathers, especially not the daughter of a powerful regional lord. What would that say about their family? It would be the scandal of the century. No, Mai may not care for her father, but she
will remain loyal to her home. So she does as her father says...or pretends to, anyway.
Mai embroiders, like a proper young lady, and her stitches are so neat and straight and
tiny that they're almost invisible. She dances beautifully and has a voice that will break your heart. She can recite every country’s genealogy by heart, and her paintings of vapid landscapes are impeccable. Most of all, Mai excels when it comes to people; charming and charismatic and witty, Mai
always seems to know just the right thing to say.
Her brother and the heir to her father's lands, Zhou, was given the most lovely steel swords as soon as he learned to fight. Why couldn't Mai do the same? Why couldn't
she inherit the lands and learn how to fight with steel and fire?
No matter, though. Mai's going to be more powerful than
anyone in her family someday.
Mai made sure that everything she did was absolutely perfect, because her father expected no less from her. Perfect manners. Perfect smile. Perfect gown. Perfect
everything.
But for all her dreams of grandeur and for all her talent in the political arena, Mai is merely a pawn in her father's grand plan to steal the throne. Ever since she was officially considered fit to be wedded and bedded by some lord or the other, her father has been looking for a suitable husband. One suitor after another came and went, and Mai was paraded before them like a horse at an auction, albeit a very
valuable horse. Her brother was the heir to the family estate, while Mai was to be sold to some stranger like the aforementioned horse, to be ridden whenever her new owner liked, beaten whenever he liked, and cast aside in time for a younger filly. Zhou's future was glory and wealth and power, while Mai's was childbirth and moonblood and obedience.
Heavens above, how she
hated it all. She taught herself how to use her precious little stiletto daggers, and she is quite dangerous with her bladed fans, but that's not enough. It will never be enough.
Her father was always finding someone for Mai to marry. There were so many men, Mai can't even remember half of them. She always found some obscure fault in them, of course, and explained to her father why they would be bad husbands-this lord is as dumb as a brick. That lord can't even control the commoners living on his land, this lord has a history of legitimizing his bastards, that lord would turn on their family in a heartbeat.
There was one, though, that he
insisted Mai marry, no matter what. He was more powerful than her father; you see-he was a duke, and he held vast, prosperous lands. He was also so very
charming-everyone liked him, from Mai's lady mother, the chambermaids, even the Regent of Euhijan himself…
They all said that Lord Ming Mei and Mai would be a perfect match. Mai was seventeen, and Lord Ming twenty-seven, so the age gap wasn't
horrible, but still-he was cruel, so cruel, and he hid it behind bright smiles and good-natured grins.
Mai can still feel his fingers pinching and twisting her skin so hard that she woke up with bruises decorating her upper arms and abdomen, his lecherous leer, his rough hands, his wide lips and sloppy kisses-
In time, Mai gave birth to her first child-a girl. And Mai loved her daughter more than anything in the world, and the daughter made her husband's hot temper and coarse hands a little more bearable.
And then, the Regent of Euhijan, in a cruel, twisted game of politics, told the duke to kill his daughter to "prove his loyalty". And so Mai's husband did just that.
Mai said nothing. She watched, and waited.
Lord Ming Mei, the Duke of Mei'an, ended up dying in a hunting accident a couple months later. He was drunk, they said. Nobody thought to look for Mai, who had brought him half a dozen casks of the finest wine in his cellars that very morning.
Now, Mai is going to seduce King Liu so that her father can seize the throne-
his version of the plan, of course. Mai was game until she heard that her
father would take the throne, and then she was
furious, but nevertheless, she will play along-for now. Aye, she'll marry the king and be his queen, and she'll tell him all of her father's plans, and oh, how utterly
powerless her father will be to stop it all! Mai would like that. Her father should be the powerless one, for a change.
And King Liu himself? Please. Mai will have him wrapped around her little finger when she's done with him. He's only a
man, after all.