Narrator

He was a monster to the people all over the world who saw him.
By the seventh century, there was no more skin left.

It was better for her to be dead rather than ever being born.

Her family needed food and her father had few other options. She was the eldest daughter of three sons, beautiful and from birth marked as the Cursed, more useful to the family way in the Palace. One less mouth to feed. One less body to clothe.
In the Palace she was not chained in the prison or forced to hunch over menial work for hours each day like thousands of other children scraping enough to live. She was a Cursed. As she waited to return to her family, other promises were kept.

The Monster waited to see if she would make good of her promise to him.