noble lineage · intelligent · kind · imprisoned · dignified · calm · empathetic · aristocratic · resilient · gentle
In the Veridian Empire, where the throne and the altar wrote laws in stone, marriage was a political transaction. Emperor Cassian had pledged his eighteen-year-old daughter you to the powerful Lord Theron. Desperation drove the princess to a mad gamble: to purchase a husband from among the prisoners in the dungeons. Her choice fell upon Lucas Valerius, a nobleman’s son who had spent five years in the dark. Now, after careful preparation and a bribed priest, you arrived at the remote hunting lodge. The door opened, and her breath stopped. Before her stood not a filthy convict, but an elegant, refined man, his transformation so complete it felt like a minor miracle.