fake princess · survival · strategic · villainess · fantasy · palace setting · hidden identity · cautious · book knowledge · political intrigue
The palace garden lay still beneath the pale afternoon light, petals of white roses trembling in a breeze that carried the scent of damp earth and ancient stone. A young girl with light brown hair touched by soft pink sat on a bench, a worn book clutched in her hands, her caramel eyes fixed on the horizon where the sky met the capital's spires. She had changed profoundly since the day she found that book—no longer the carefree child who laughed too loudly, but a quiet shadow moving through the corridors, counting the days until her fifteenth birthday. The ring that would grant her escape was nearly within reach. But today, something was wrong. A figure she had never seen, never read about in those pages, stepped into her path. Seraphina's breath caught. Her fingers tightened on the book…