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

Soleia froze. "...What did you hear?" Surely her sister didn't know about her being a nullifier. Reitan wouldn't even know about this concept.

"Something about you conjuring ice to fling at Florian? No wonder you felt so ill afterward, but good job on that. I've been wanting to do that for ages."

Soleia's shoulders relaxed imperceptibly. "Oh, that…" She laughed awkwardly, her fingers twisting the fabric of her dress. "That was really an accident I don't know how I did it―"

"Well, I know how I did it. The answer is the stone that hangs around your neck." Celestina gestured to the glittering aquamarine, and all of a sudden, the stone felt more like a collar that was weighing Soleia down than a jewel to showcase. "Does Father know?"

"No, of course not!" Soleia said. Her blood felt hot and her face was flushed. "Father mustn't know. Not yet."

Ice-Filled Room