saltedpepper

When powerless, unfavoured Princess Soleia was arranged to marry the newly titled Duke Orion Elsher, she assumed they would find love eventually.

Who knew that her father would send off her husband mere hours later to fight a war?

Soleia was left alone to deal with an impoverished fief, a crumbling estate, and spiteful, vindictive relatives of the Duke who all wished to see her gone. 

She couldn’t leave― there was nowhere else to go. Soleia desperately wanted her husband to return so he could offer her a helping hand. However, when he did, he returned with Elowyn, a woman he claimed was his true love. 

A woman hellbent on taking her place as the rightful Duchess, no matter what she had to do to get Soleia out of the way. 

Mistreated, misunderstood, and miserable, Soleia was eventually thrown out of the estate she helped build.

Fortunately, when one door closes, another one opens. Unknown to Soleia, a man more powerful than her husband had been watching her, waiting for the right time to snatch her into his gilded cage. Duke Elsher had been foolish to let go― but the crown prince of Raxuvia wouldn’t make the same mistake.

***

Prequel to Stolen by the Rebel King.

The Hidden King's Stolen Wife

"Well played, Your Highness," Rafael said lowly into her ear as he quickly helped her up the horse. In one quick motion, he leaped up and wrapped his arms around her own, allowing her to rest against his chest.

It would have been more appropriate for him to sit in front, and for Soleia to be holding his waist, but Rafael didn't care about propriety. Soleia had effectively been humiliated by Orion's mistress, and his so-called best friend merely sat by and watched it happen.

While his heart ached for Soleia, the opportunist in him wasn't going to deny himself the chance to get even closer to her, to show her that he was the much better choice of husband. He gently reached out a hand to pry her shaking hands away from the reins.

"Princess, you're going to spook the horse," he chided gently. "Let me do the guiding, alright?"

Small Obstacle