Gabrielle_Johnson_6482

“You must bear a child, Celia. what good is a woman who isn’t a mother? What good is an empty womb?”

“Especially when it’s a foreign womb, like yours…”

It’s not an easy life when you’re watched month after month, when all the blame is placed at your feet for your young husband having no heir. 

Celia Devon Tralhamir, Crown Princess of Havietten, waits every month with hope mingled with fear. 

A child will secure her future. But it will also bind her for life to a husband she neither loves or respects, who refuses to see her abilities. Is that what she wants?

Is she content to prioritise security over happiness, and be a wordless decorative vessel all her life?

Or is she brave enough to try to forge her own path and seize fulfilment on her own terms? Even in a society that cannot recognise individual brilliance in a mere woman.

A sequel to the WEBNOVEL book “Earning the Love of a Princess”, this novel follows another woman born into the Royal House of Devon, trying to fight the confines that threaten to stifle her happiness.

The Loneliest Ballad

"Don't you want love, Celia?" Lucas said in a rough whisper, then pushed his chair back and stood up.

Celia stood up from the table as well, now confused. "No. I mean…love was never one of my expectations. I was married off to benefit Islia. I've known it would happen since I was a child."

"But don't you ever long for something that benefits you? And I don't mean Celia the royal princess but Celia the woman?"

She blinked. Why would she ever dream of that? When was marriage ever about love or your own personal happiness? Perhaps it was a possible dream for humble peasants without a single coin between them. But not for those with any kind of fortune to protect.

How did Lucas not understand that when he was a nobleman too?

"I don't want the love of the husband I'm stuck with. Why would I? I don't respect him." Celia said stubbornly. "And even if I did, Tobin will never love me."

Temporary Things