Yume no Shizuku, Kin no Torikago

In the early sixteenth century, a young Ukrainian woman named Alexandra is seized by slave traders during a violent raid. Transported to Greece for sale, she is purchased by a striking young man named Mateus, who pledges to grant her true freedom. He employs an array of scholars, instructors, and palace attendants to refine her into the most accomplished woman of the era. Deeply moved by his devotion, Alexandra falls in love with him, quietly hoping to become his concubine. Yet fate intervenes cruelly: Mateus has already promised her to his closest companion, Suleiman the Great, Emperor of the Ottoman Empire. Trapped within another man’s harem and forced to admire her beloved from afar, Alexandra realizes that the liberty Mateus offered remains out of reach. Refusing to accept this torment, she vows to eventually liberate them both from their gilded cages. Because Mateus serves as Grand Vizier—a position second only to the Emperor—Alexandra must rise to become the most powerful concubine in the court, which requires bearing Suleiman a son. However, an existing concubine has already produced an heir and will stop at nothing to ensure her child remains the sole successor. Thus unfolds the remarkable journey of a captive who transforms into Roxelana, one of history’s most formidable empresses.