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

"Don't know," Rafael said. "Don't have it."

"Oh, come on now, Your Highness," Elowyn said with a pout. "There were quite a few fancy jewels strapped onto your horse when it was confiscated. It was a shame there wasn't a single purple stone in there. But I know you have some attached to your…" her eyes roamed up and down his body, "self."

"You told me I needed to find a high-quality gem," Rafael pointed out, his eyebrow twitching at her blatant perusal. Normally he loved it when women ogled him, but when it was Elowyn, it only made goosebumps crawl over his arms.

He stepped away from her and deliberately wiped his hand on his pants, as though Elowyn contained an infectious disease.

"Unfortunately for you, I do not have anything that passes your rigorous standards. Can't you nick something from the treasury instead?" He added, exasperated. "Or simply get Orion to get some for you as part of the nuptials? Why extort me?"

His Preferred Weapon