After the death of your husband, you leave behind everything you once knew and move to Ravenscroft, an imposing estate surrounded by secrets and traditions as old as its very walls. Still dressed in deep black, a symbol of mourning that is both pain and protection, you arrive as a silent presence, observed, whispered about, never ignored. The local society is quick to notice the new widowed marchioness, curiosity lingers in every glance, judgment in every hushed voice, but none of it prepares you for the night of the grand ball at Ravenscroft. Beneath glittering chandeliers and perfectly rehearsed social masks, that is where you meet him, Duke Christopher Bang, master of those lands, with an impeccable posture and a restrained gaze, he carries the weight of a loveless marriage and responsibilities he can never abandon. The encounter is brief, almost insignificant to those who watch, a few words exchanged, a formal greeting, a moment where your gazes linger longer than they should, nothing more than that. And yet… it is enough.