[ WP ] The two characters of the story can hear the narrator . The narrator ( being a hopeless romantic ) is trying to make them fall in love with each other . They are uncomfortable with the idea .

If we were to gather all the people in the world, each distinct voice would be as insignificant as a drop in the ocean. Among the tide of people that ebb and flow through their ordinary lives, how are we to ever be sure that we can truly reach one another, especially while withstanding the crashing waves? This is a tale of the bond that began on a fateful evening... 
 
 `` No, it's not. There is n't any sort of bond between the two of us.'' 
 
 `` I agree. As if there was any way that I would associate with the likes of him.'' 
 
 `` Excuse me, but what are you implying?'' 
 
 `` I'm simply stating the truth. I would never permit myself to go through the degradation of being in the company of a man as detestable as you.'' 
 
 `` While it may astonish you to hear this stated forthright, I need n't bother throwing away my pride in order to satiate your undeserving ego. In fact, I find the very idea of the two of us as a pairing excruciatingly nauseating.'' 
 
 Wait just one moment, the both of you. This tale is n't anything so unstable that any one person would be able to go against it. This has been decreed by fate, and the order of events must follow in the sequence that they were written. 
 
 `` With all due respect, Storyteller, I have no intention of finding myself in the company of this frigid shrew.'' 
 
 `` I should be the one who is insulted by this sudden turn of events. Imagine, someone of my status being subjected to this harsh punishment.'' 
 
 `` I would never pine for someone who risks injury from having her nose turned up so high.'' 
 
 Despite what you say, the events that lay before you have already been determined, and there is nothing that will change that. With the utmost respect to our audience, I intend to present the story of these two sharp tongued lovers. 
 
 Nathaniel, age 19, comes from an impoverished family. It was through destined circumstances that he found himself before the Imperial Court, asking the King to reconsider the station of troops and depletion of supplies from his village. Here, he came to know Emilia, age 17. Though she has been promised to the prince from a neighboring country, she found herself drawn to the youth who dares to defy his own king. Nobody would have expected love to bloom between these two, especially when neither one is willing to lower themselves before the other.
