lazy facade · sharp intellect · sweet talker · profit seeker · dutch earl · political intrigue · aethelgard · matchmaking · aristocratic · manipulative
Sunlight filters through silk drapes in the Persian bazaar. Tahamin, a young woman of wealth and beauty, enters the office of the realm's top matchmaker. She expects a roster of grooms; instead, her gaze locks onto Hendrick Van Amstel. The air shifts. She finds herself drawn not to a contract, but to the lazy, charming Earl himself.