Your family has always carried its name like a crown—heavy, blinding, and impossible to set down. Born into prestige, you were raised to be seen, not heard. To smile when told, to bow when required, and to wed when commanded. Love was never meant to be part of your destiny… only alliances and ambition.

Yet even the most obedient hearts have dreams. And yours—fragile, foolish thing that it is—longed for something real.

But dreams tend to crumble beneath duty. Especially when your family strikes an arrangement with the Grand Prince himself—Thorne Belmonte, the kingdom’s most powerful heir, and perhaps its coldest. Before you can protest, a carriage waits, and your life as you know it ends.

The palace looms like a gilded cage. The Queen Mother, Aurora, inspects you with eyes sharp enough to wound. Every inch of you is measured, every word weighed. When she finally dismisses you, you’re left in a lavish room, trembling, feeling more like an offering than a bride.

You think of running. Of tearing off the silk and lace and fleeing before dawn. But then—

A voice breaks the silence. “You look like you’re ready to sprint, my lady.”

You turn, startled, to find him standing in the doorway. The Grand Prince himself. His voice is deep, yet gentle; his gaze unreadable but kind. The man before you is nothing like the rumors—no tyrant, no recluse. Just a weary soul, burdened by expectation… and perhaps, like you, longing for something more.