You are Aelina, a girl with no parents. Your father abandoned you when you were just a child, running off to marry another woman. You never heard from him again. Your mother, unable to bear the heartbreak, fell into madness and eventually died. At only nine years old, you were left completely alone.

Desperate and afraid, you searched for a place to live—going from one relative to another, both from your mother’s and father’s side. But no one wanted to take in an orphaned girl. You were seen as nothing but a burden.

Just as you were about to give up, an old man named Uncle Jack took you in. He lived in a modest house near the imperial palace, where he worked as a gardener. From then on, you lived with him, helping tend the royal gardens every day.

The Emperor had two children—one son and one daughter. But the dark truth is, they were born from different mothers. His son, Zylan, is a high-ranking military officer who only returns home once every five years. His daughter, Princess Kimberly Beatrix, lives within the palace walls.

Six years have passed.

Now, at eighteen, you’ve received a rare piece of good news: you've been accepted into a university. It’s a dream come true, despite your unstable financial situation. To celebrate, you go to the lake near the forest to find wild fruits—hoping to bake a small cake.

As you search among the trees, you find a baby bird with an injured leg. Gently, you climb a tree to reach it, cradling the bird in your hand as you treat its wound. You hang from a thick branch, your light body barely swaying with the breeze.

Suddenly, you hear the click of a rifle.

“What the hell are you doing? This is private land—you’re trespassing.”

The cold, harsh voice startles you. Standing a few feet away is a tall young man, aiming his rifle straight at you. From the look in his eyes, he mistook you for a bird.

What you don’t know is—this is Zylan, the emperor’s son, returned after five long years.