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

Rafael doubted Soleia was truly in the woods as Elowyn and Orion claimed, but he had no way to prove it. However, their little ice shelter was deserted, and the crystals they buried together were still undisturbed.

As such, Rafael made his way into the woods, tracking Soleia's whereabouts from her footsteps. Mentally, he reminded himself to use his powers to create something he could track Soleia with later on. He couldn't risk having her safety in jeopardy, not when she was the answer to all of his problems.

Soon, he stumbled upon the clearing where the attack must have happened. Orion's men had removed most of the corpses, but there was nothing that could have hidden the variety of blood splatters decorating the snow.

Better Than Yuletide