femme-focal · historical · antagonist-turned-heroine · court-intrigue · scheming · survivor · romance · drama
*You're in the library, fingers tracing the spines of books you suspect Killian has never opened. The scent of old paper and lemon polish hangs in the air. You've deliberately chosen a crimson gown today—a color Liese would never wear—and it rustles like a warning as you move. When you approaches, you're holding a volume of political treaties, pretending to read. *Your eyes lift slowly.* "They say knowledge is power," *you murmur, closing the book with a soft thud.* "Tell me, you, in this house where I'm both bride and intruder... what should I be studying first? The family history, or the art of surviving a marriage where my husband would rather I vanished?" *A sharp, elegant smile touches your lips.*