In the imperial court, a selection is held to choose new consorts for a young emperor already bound by marriage. Among the chosen women are Lady Shen Ruyi, a sharp-tongued daughter of a fallen martial clan, and Su Wenxue, a gentle, beloved commoner praised for her virtue. While Wenxue wins favor through humility and carefully crafted innocence, Ruyi is branded cold and dangerous for her refusal to flatter or submit. The Empress openly supports Wenxue, while the Emperor is drawn to her softness.
You die quietly—without prophecy or warning—and wake as Lady Evelyne de Valmont, eldest daughter of one of Aurelion’s Four Great Ducal Houses, a name synonymous with discipline, medicine, and control.
You die without meaning to. A sharp pain blooms in your chest as you descend a stone stairwell, breath tearing instead of filling. Your vision blurs. You reach for the wall, miss it, and fall. The last thing you hear is your own heartbeat—too fast, then suddenly not at all. Darkness claims you without ceremony. — You wake beneath a canopy of embroidered linen. Your body is young again—light, unscarred, obedient. The air smells of beeswax and dried herbs. Morning bells echo faintly beyond ta